To help you start the new year with a fresh look, we spoke to striking and unsung style heroes around town, and asked these questions: How would you describe your style? What inspires the way you dress, or the way you style your home or work space? What would you like people to know about you—who you are, what you care about—just from looking at your style? How would you advise readers looking to define their own style in 2023? (These responses have been edited and condensed for length.)
Family fashions
William “Will” Jones, III, Yolonda Coles Jones, and their children, William IV, Yosiah, Samari, and Shiloh
William IV (Age 9): “I like turtlenecks and blazers and I like hip-hop, street. Laid-back New York, pro fighters, street dirt bikers, my older sister, my dad, hip-hop dancers.”
“I care about myself and my family. I’m respectful. I can sometimes have an attitude and sometimes not. I can control myself. I want to look cool.”
“Style how you want in whatever makes you feel good.”
Yosiah (Age 9): “Skaters and BMXers.”
“I’m a gamer. I care about my family. I’m not a threat.”
“Pick what you think looks good.”
Samari (13): “I would describe my aesthetic as kind of hippie street wear. I wear a lot of baggy clothes, and a lot of different colors and patterns.”
“When I go out, I usually dress up a little. I just want people to know that I care about what I look like. I have this rule that I try to follow where I don’t wear the same outfit too many times. It helps me to not feel boring, or basic. Sometimes I don’t care though.”
“Try new things, always switch it up until you find a style that you love. Think about what you want people to think when they look at you and build your style off of that. Enjoy and express yourself, feel beautiful, ’cause you are.”
Shiloh (14): “Alternative grunge, like if I had a job, my entire wardrobe would be black and white with maybe some dark earthly colors splashed around. Lots of jeans, hoodies, and platforms. Can’t forget the beanie.”
“I’m going to wear what makes me feel comfortable on some days and beautiful others, sometimes both. If it’s a pair of sweats and my dad’s hoodie, or a corset and high heels, or a tuxedo, I’m simply doing me, and me has a lot of versions.”
“I went through being a very cutesy girly-girl, to being goth (as much as I could living with conservative grandparents), to not even knowing what my gender was. I still don’t know! Only to settle with this very neutral grungy look, so I guess you just gotta roll with the punches, and allow yourself room to grow and discover, and make sure you’re doing the same for those around you.”
Yolonda (Age 40): “Eclectic, ethnic, regal, intuitive, soulful, sensual.”
“I’m unapologetically true to my whole self. I don’t follow trends. I wear what feels good to my body, my soul, my mind, and my heart. I appreciate functionality, flow, energetic alignment, and comfort.”
“What does your soul say?”
Will (Age 40): “I think my style is simple. Pretty true to south Jersey and Philadelphia culture. Clean white tee and jeans to pink slacks with a fitted hat. … I wear a lot of Prolyfyck gear and Black-owned clothing as a way to support—and hopefully help steer our culture away from—spending money with companies who don’t appreciate our lives.”
“I care about culture and staying true to who I am. While also being willing to explore [and] adopt new things that feel true to who I actually am as a Black-bodied person. In our disenfranchisement we have had to find our way back to our ancestors’ ways, and my style is part of my journey.”
“I would only advise humans to find out who they are. And go from there. Be true to who you are and be true to who you have grown to be. No one can judge you for that.”
Yolonda Coles Jones is founder, coach, and consultant of Empowered People™ Coaching & Consultancy. Will Jones is a barber and founder of Prolyfyck Run Creww.
Decades of decoration
Elizabeth Pelly
“I love walking into a room that looks like it took decades to decorate. Paintings and pictures climbing up the walls, books covering bookcases, trinkets and curiosities on every tabletop. In dressing, I am not afraid to go out on a limb—you can wear anything if you wear it with confidence.”
“It’s not about price, it is about what speaks to you. There is a great quote by Elsie de Wolfe (regarded as America’s first interior decorator) that sums me up: ‘I am going to make everything around me beautiful—that will be my life.’ My beautiful thing might not be what you consider beautiful, but I hope you will find it at least interesting.”
“Style, whether home or self, should feel right. A house that’s beautifully designed should still be comfortable, cozy, and lived in. And a look, whether black tie or everyday, should make you feel good in your own skin.”
Elizabeth Pelly is a co-owner of Merrie Mill Farm & Vineyard.
Creating a persona
Jocelyn Johnson and Billy Hunt
Jocelyn: “I’ve been thinking a lot about nostalgia, dressing like the ’80s and ’90s, wearing cut-offs and flannels at home. Also, I experienced this huge change from being a public-school teacher to becoming this author [of My Monticello]. So I kind of moved from printed dresses and cardigans, to suits and jackets, like a kind of armor, but also to create a new persona.”
Billy: “When I think about style I always want to look like a supervillain in an action movie. I love the way supervillains dress. You’ve got the brilliant person in the volcano who’s slightly flamboyant. And I’m like: That. I like that.”
Jocelyn: “I love things that are inviting, where someone recognizes something, or they’re like, ‘Oh, I like that too.’ Just general warmth.”
Billy: “I wear stuff that makes me happy. I just bought a shirt that I ordered from like, Walmart, and it’s a pickle with sunglasses, and it says, ‘Dill with it.’ It’s such a childish thing to have. But it just makes me really happy. I just try to wear what brings me joy.”
Billy: “Just look around and see what you like, and then copy it. That’s what I always do with art and music and everything else. It’s just like, figure out your fashion heroes.”
Jocelyn: “It also can be good to look at an old book of photography or something that’s out of time then mix things together in a way that feels interesting to you.”
Jocelyn Johnson is an author and Billy Hunt is an artist.
Faith-based fashion
Sisters of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery
“As women monastics, our ‘style’ is inspired and expressed by the life we have chosen. The deepest values we believe in are the inspiration of all our daily doings. Each sister expresses these values differently, which is what makes our community life so engaging and enriching! Faith, hope, love are the source of it all, and this makes for equanimity and enrichment, and a good bit of the spice of life!”
“We hope that people seeing us, speaking with us, buying cheese from us can pick up our love for God and love for them—each one of them—precious in God’s sight and in ours.”
“For your readers looking to define their ‘style’ in 2023, may it always include others, especially the others whom no one pays much attention to, who ‘fall through the cracks,’ who need most of all respect and concern, love and care.”
Our Lady of the Angels Monastery is a school and community of Trappist-Cistercian nuns, self-supported by cheese-making since 1990.
On a roll
Courtney Commander
“I tend to mix a little bit of femininity and masculinity in my style. I love to style myself in a comfy but cute way. You often may find me in some comfy, dressier pants and a T-shirt (my T-shirt collection is out of this world) or vice-versa in sweatpants but a nicer sweater.”
“In a professional setting, I dress for how I want to be perceived. If I’m going for a run, I dress in a way that makes me feel good about the workout I’m about to do. I want to communicate to others that I am a kind and caring person.”
“Wear what makes you feel comfortable and most like you! Get that piercing or tattoo. Wear all the patterns if that’s what makes you feel like you!”
Courtney Commander is the founder of mobile pop-up skating company De La Roll.
Wearing a story
Ian Dillard
“Comfort. Cool, classic. Easy.”
“What I’m wearing, in a way, tells the story of how I got here and where I’m going. I have coats from my grandfather, Timex watches from my uncle, and T-shirts from my dad. And through my time in fashion, I’ve developed friendships with people who are starting their own lines. Being able to wear part of their story, and tell and expand that story is something that I love to do.”
“There’s no Prime Minister of Fashion. There’s your personal taste and your personal life. You set the standard. You set the rules for yourself.”
Ian Dillard is co-founder and manager of Quattro Tizi, and a SolidCore coach.
Beauty of the weird
Annie Drury
“Colorful and eclectic and comfortable. I was born curious and find inspiration in all that is ‘other,’ be it other people, centuries, locations, cultures.”
“I really cherish people who think outside the box, especially finding like-minded appreciation in the beauty of the weird.”
“If you’re making your space, fill it with things you love. It doesn’t have to match. If you see something [or] someone that makes you clock, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ don’t be afraid to try it. Make it your own. Be playful. Have fun. Be open to things that make you feel curious and creative. Dress for the life you want.”
Annie Drury is a hospitality designer, curator, and owner of Neon Soul vintage store.