I have prospective clients come to me all the time telling me they buy stuff from their favorite influencers, but that it never translates well when they get the items and put them on. It can leave a feeling of confusion, frustration, and overwhelm. Sometimes, however, people have no problem buying things from their favorite influencers LTK or Shop My; so what gives, why does it work for some and not for others?

I did a post recently about different types of stylists. You could add influencers into the mix because they are essentially telling people what to wear and people are going to them to figure out how to dress. However, just like store “stylists”, there is something in it for them, commission. It’s not a secret that they earn money through LTK, Shop My, and brand partnerships. It’s beneficial for their livelihood to show themselves in a positive light looking great in that new outfit because it encourages their followers to buy.

Influencers are good at dressing themselves. That’s why they’re able to influence because they know themselves so well and often have great confidence that shows through each little square on their Instagram feed so much so that it makes it intoxicating to want to dress exactly like them, almost as if dressing like them will put you in their shoes and you will feel confident and be happy just like them. But friends sometimes it’s all smoke and mirrors. Now leaving the deeper level psychology behind it aside. Why can some replicate influencers’ outfits with no problem while you can’t? That largely depends on some key things:

1. People who can replicate influencer outfits know their body type and most of the time how to dress it. Because they know this they only replicate influencers with the same body type or they know when a look will work on them or not.

2. They know what style they like and what works for their lifestyle. Even if the influencer has the same body type, if they have a different lifestyle their style is not going to work for you and you’re going to have a big ol’ case of imposture syndrome on your hands trying to wear their clothes. Confidence makes or breaks an outfit. When the style you’re wearing doesn’t fit who you are, you’re not going to communicate it well because you won’t have the confidence to pull it off. It’s that simple.

3. They can tell when an influencer is pushing items just for payoff or when they actually like what they’re wearing. Have you seen the influencers who market Dior one minute and then it’s Walmart or Amazon fashion the next….Do you think they wear the Walmart and Amazon stuff for long? People who have success replicating influencer outfits can see through this and will only buy items they know the influencer really feels good in and will wear again and again. Because chances are if they only wear it once, you will too.

My best advice for having success with replicating an influencer’s look is to follow ones that look like you and have a similar lifestyle to yours. Make sure you know your style and what works for your body type and follow the ones that dress in a way that inspires you. Also, keep your eyes open. Does the influencer’s values align with yours? Do they push fast fashion on you one minute, but their feed is full of designer looks? Some influencers do a seamless job of combining fast fashion and high-end pieces for balance, but they usually market their wardrobe and platform as that and stick to it. Remember that what is represented on someone’s feed may be smoke and mirrors and try not to put too much weight in dressing like them to reach goals etc. You will have much better luck reaching personal goals if you work with a transformational stylist, life coach, therapist, or all of the above.

Before I end this post, I’ll also leave you with one last piece of advice as someone who has worked on editorial fashion photoshoots. I use all sorts of tricks to make clothing fit and look great in photos. So question fit if they’re only posting still photos and you’re not getting a good 360 of the outfit. All-in-all there are some great, very stylish influencers out there and I can’t blame you for trying. Sometimes my clients and I can use an influencer’s style as inspiration to create something that’s more fitting for their lifestyle, body type, and goals. Reach out if this has happened to you or you have any questions about this post.