12 Signs Someone Doesn't Know How to Dress

I'll be the first to say that I know how to be a total fashion disaster. When I was in college and high school, I spent most of my years being asked, "Why do you dress like that?" At points, I was even told I was hideous due to the clothes that I wore.

I was the person people pointed to when they wanted to show another person what someone who doesn't know how to dress looked like. Little did they know that I actually did, but didn't really have the budget to avoid the kind of clothing that suited me well.

Speaking as someone who understands how to put together an outfit really well, I can tell the difference between a fashion failure and a person who simply doesn't have the money or impetus to rock an outfit the right way.

Wondering if that person you know is clueless? Here are some key indicators that they just aren't good with fashion.

Their clothing fits poorly all the time.

One of the most obvious signs someone doesn't know how to dress is the way their clothing fits—at least, in most cases. A person who is fashion-savvy knows how to dress for their body type and will do what they can to accentuate the good without showing the bad.

Unless you have a very unusual body type or a very niche dressing style, it shouldn't take much effort to find an outfit that at least partially flatters your figure.

A person who knows how to dress can put together a wardrobe using very few clothing items. Why? Because they know how to work basics well, invest in high quality clothing, and are also able to figure out when it's time to get rid of clothes that don't fit their style anymore.

A person who doesn't know how to dress will stock item after item in hopes that they will eventually figure out a way to wear it without looking like a fool. (Hint: They won't.)

They don't wear clothing that's actually well-kept.

The quality of a person's clothing can tell you volumes about their ability to pull together an outfit. Fashionistas will care for their outfits, and will do what they can to keep their clothing pristine. If clothes no longer are wearable, or have stains, they'll either modify them or throw them out.

Fashion victims, though, won't toss bad clothes out. Those clothes could come to life and beg to be put out of their misery, and yet they'll still not be thrown out. Why? Because people who don't know how to put together an outfit will assume that no one will notice.

One of the worst fashion mistakes that women make is not accessorizing their outfit. Anyone who has ever worked in fashion can tell you that accessories make the outfit. If clothing is the building blocks that make an outfit, then accessories are the glue that holds them together.

Rings, chokers, necklaces, ties, hats... all those accessories make your outfit yours. In many cases, they are also what pull a look together or help your outfit look complete.

A person who doesn't accessorize tends to have an outfit that looks drab, incomplete, or just plan "off." Ergo, a person who doesn't accessorize is a person who doesn't know how to dress.

They follow trend after trend, never really establishing their own sense of style.

This is the most common sign of a fashion victim out there, and it's one that tends to be overlooked because of how mainstream it's become. This issue can be seen everywhere.

A lot of people would claim this isn't a sign of a person who can't dress, but I beg to differ. If you see someone wearing all the typical "basic" goods, with all the trendy wares mentioned in recent magazine prints, you have a person who doesn't understand the purpose of fashion.

Fashion and style are not dictated by the mainstream, nor is the purpose of fashion supposed to be about fitting in. Fashion is meant to be a statement, a form of personal expression that signals your status, your mood, and your outlook on life.

Every single person should have a different sense of style, because every person is different. If you see someone who doesn't understand that concept, then they are a failure in fashion.

Dressing is often something that needs to be done around a central theme, especially if you need to dress up in a snap. That's why most fashion designers, models, and other aesthetic individuals have wardrobes that are based on a particular color scheme or look.

By centering everything around a single theme, you make it easy to pick out an outfit that works well with your body. Fashion victims, on the other hand, don't do this; and therefore, their lack of theme results in outfits that look kludged-together.

They wear clothing that's clearly uncomfortable in one way or another.

Nothing makes onlookers wince like seeing clothing that looks like it's about to burst on a person. It's not a good look, nor is it a good move. When your clothing is uncomfortable, you can't look your best.

On a similar note, nothing says awkward like having a person who's wearing an outfit that clearly doesn't match their personality or sense of style.

Fashion victims will force themselves to wear things they really don't like, just so they can try to look good. On both a mental and physical level, the most attractive outfits will always be the ones that make you feel comfortable and let you feel sexy.

Macklemore might have looked incredible wearing your grandad's clothes, but that doesn't mean you will. Wearing clothes that aren't quite appropriate for your age isn't appealing, period.

Don't get me wrong. Dressing younger than your years is totally awesome—provided that you know how to do it correctly. Dressing older, though? It's never flattering and often makes you appear stuffy, snooty, or otherwise prematurely aged.

They don't layer clothes.

Layered clothing isn't just for winter, you know! Layers give clothing a certain dimension that usually can't be achieved when you're wearing a single layer.

Things like wearing layered stockings, a good undershirt, or even something as simple as a zip-up hoodie can help you look more put-together.

One of the most jarring signs of a person who doesn't know how to dress is overkill. Fashion disasters have a tendency of showing how trendy they are by doing every single "in trend" thing they can in order to impress people.

So, they'll overdo everything. They'll add bright makeup, slather on highlighter, add tons of bangles, go for shockingly bold, brand name clothing, and everything else. Yikes!

They rely on designers to do the thinking for them.

Contrary to popular belief, couture does not always translate into good taste. In fact, one of the worst fashion mistakes you can make is to assume that wearing couture will automatically make you stylish.

Just because you're wearing Oscar de la Renta doesn't mean you can pull off your couture—or that you even know how to make your outfit work with your accessories. To be truly fashion forward, you need to be able to think outside the label.

One of the best ways to figure out who doesn't know how to dress is to see how strictly they adhere to commonly accepted fashion rules. Fashion is what you make of it, and if you know what to do with your outfits, then experiment!

Fashion rules are made to be broken. End of story.