Everyone searches for their own identity and an individual sense of style, but we don’t get there alone. We’re inspired – both positively and negatively by everything around us. We take pieces of what we like and what we admire, and we try not to emulate what we dislike. So when it comes to your fashion sense, who has inspired you and who continues to be your fashion mentor? We asked women who has set them on their style course and how long-lived each of those influences have been.

“In 1984 I lived and breathed Joan Jett. My mother thought I had joined a cult because I wore black eye liner like a halo around my eyes. I saved lunch money forever to buy a motorcycle jacket – which I still have and proudly wear to ‘80’s parties. Joan was legendary not only because she was a rebel in a boy’s world, but because she never apologized for her style or her music or her guitar skills. She just hung tight and is still as legendary today as she was back then. My kids would freak out if I went Jett again (it might be worth it!) but I think I still hold onto her “fashion mentoring” because I wear what makes me feel bold and secure in myself, not what all the other moms or wives are wearing.”

“I may not b able to afford Prada, but she is amazing. I love to look at her clothing and accessories because you can see the genius in her designs. I’ve read a lot about her and she seems like a fascinating person. I buy off the rack, but my fashion soul is Prada all the way!”

“My grandmother and my mom are my life and fashion mentors. That might sound June Cleaver-ish but it’s true. My mom is lovely without makeup, bumming around the house in her sweats, but I remember her getting ready – doing her hair and makeup – before my dad came home everyday. The day I sat in the bathroom with her and watched her put on her makeup and asked why she did all this in the late afternoon changed my life. I can still see her smile and hear her say that she promised to give my dad the best of her on their wedding day and she planned to be true to that promise every day for the rest of her life. She said it was just a little thing she could do and so she did. That may send feminists up in arms, but to me it was a testament to her real beauty. My dad certainly never expected her to do that, but she did. She said she learned that the little things counted most from my grandmother.”

“If I’m honest I think I still hold onto the fashion of Friends. I still love the repeats! I continue to watch them more for new outfit ideas than for the story.”

“I love anyone who isn’t afraid to go out in total Bohemian style. You get a lot of that here in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. I love the freedom of that style. Helena Christensen does it well, so maybe her if I had to pick a name people would recognize.”

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