Fashion Stylist Alarna Hope talks about why she thinks magazines aren't giving you personal style. Know what your style is by paying attention to yourself before any fashion trend.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of great magazines out there with some brilliant fashion and lifestyle articles, but something that's really hit home to me lately after a recent chat with my book agent, was how many of them actually consider you as a person and not as a consumer?

How many of them are a beacon of knowledge that you can relate to and think 'thank god I'm not the only one!' or "yep, that's me all over!". For me, there isn't one and I'm left wondering, when did they stop being relatable instead of thoroughly based around aspirational marketing?

In recent news, Cleo Magazine has closed it's doors after forty four years in print. It was the go-to fashion, sex and lifestyle bible to women for years. You'd toss up between Cosmo or Cleo and no matter what you got, you'd swap it with your friend and end up reading both because every month you hung out to read the exciting articles and look at the beautiful pictures.

With the internet age, by the time we're wanting to read about something exciting, it's most likely already shown up on our news feed on Facebook or gotten to us one way or another online. So why would we pick up a magazine for the left overs filled with advertisements, advertorials (adverts made to look like editorial pieces) and celebrity endorsements?

To me, picking up some magazines these days feels like a nagging sales person following you about a store offering products you don't need and didn't even care for before you were told that 'everyone is wearing this' so you have to have it too.

What does a fashion magazine teach you about working with your body? Apart from the latest cleanse you should be on, or why waist training is a must have for summer.

What do the images of teenage girls wearing clothes aimed at thirty year olds do to our body image? Sure, for a second we think we're going to go out and get some miracle anti-ageing cream and look like spring chickens again, but in the long run what is it saying? Look younger, lose weight, follow this trend and you'll be happy? It's not a healthy way of thinking and it's not what effortless style is about.

Need A Little Help Establishing Your Own Personal Style?

This week I wanted to share with you what you need to know before choosing a Personal Stylist and letting them into your wardrobe because, believe it or not, not every client is a perfect fit for a Personal Stylist.

Personal style in essence is about individuality, it's about showing off who you are before a single word has left your mouth. Trends is what keeps you looking up-to-date for all of a month before the next big thing comes along and we waste our money on it, all for what? So we can look like the rest of the fashion crowd? Who wants that?

What we sometimes forget, and have to remind ourselves is that those women who are long standing style icons are called style icons for a reason.

They've never gone out of style because they created their own, they didn't follow each trend religiously or aim to be someone they're not. Audrey Hepburn, Diane Keaton and Iris Apfel, are all a testament to this and funnily enough are referred to constantly by fashion magazines for having amazing style and being individual - but yet, they push a particular type of perfection towards us every issue and no wonder we've stopped biting.

So this week, glorious Effortless Bitches, I want you to go through your wardrobe and really consider each item. Pull out those items that remind you of those thinner times that make you feel like you're not the amazing woman you are. Donate those trend pieces that make you feel dated and make yourself a promise that in everything you put on from that moment on, is something that feels unique to you.

We don't need to be told what's in fashion and why we need it right now, what we need is to feel great about ourselves and be our own style icons, and if you can do these things, maybe magazines will start thinking about you again and that excitement you used to feel waiting by the mail box for your monthly subscription will come back, breeding a community of women who embrace each others individuality and teach only a few key things; self love, quality and style.