25 Ways to Develop Your Fashion Knowledge and Skills for Free

Everday is an opportunity to take one more step on your path to fulfilling your dreams of becoming a fashion designer. This post is based on a lesson in our free course, Advice And Guidance On Choosing A Career As A Fashion Designer.

Read it and learn about specific steps you can take over the next 12 months to develop a better understanding of working in fashion.

Ok so here's a list of things that you CAN Do over the next year to move closer to your dreams. All of these steps are actionable. In other words, you can make this happen.

When you enroll on the free course you can download the list too in a Word doc and make use of it as an action planning tool.

They're not listed in any particular order of priority.

1. Review who you follow on social media and only follow people that help you to learn more about fashion design and the skills you need. Look for professional designers, pattern cutters etc as well as fashion colleges and universities.
2. Make sure you are signed up to our general information newsletter and emails. You can do that here using the form on the page.
3. Buy three books from Amazon on fashion design. If you can't afford new, buy used as they are always as good as new in condition. Or ask for them as gifts at Xmas or your birthday.
4. Subscribe to the Business of Fashion for news and updates.
5. Visit a fashion museum.
6. Find out if there are any fashion designers, pattern cutters, graders etc that live in your area. Contact them and ask if you could visit them to find out more about the work they do or volunteer to work for them for free in your free time. That way you'll get some experience in their field.
7. Set up your own blog and start writing on practical topics related to a fashion subject you are interested in. Focus on a very narrow section so that you get to research it thoroughly. That way you'll learn about the topic you are writing about.
8. Ask for feedback from people that can support you. Asking for feedback gives us an additional perspective. Approach friends, family, colleagues, boss, or even acquaintances (they have no preset bias and can give their feedback objectively.) Ask for feedback on your vision statement (we teach you about this in the course) or any area of your personal development that could help you towards fulfilling your personal development plan.
9. Learn from people who inspire you. Think about people you admire. These people reflect certain qualities you want to have for yourself too. What are the qualities in them you want to have for yourself? How can you acquire these qualities? What other actions can you take that will improve your qualities?
10. Get a mentor or coach. There’s no faster way to improve than to have someone work with you on your goals.
11. Watch at least one educational video per day. You can find some great ones on YouTube, The Fashion Student Hub, Ted.com etc.
    
12. Create a YouTube channel and add educational fashion videos to your playlist and share the playlist.
13. Join Twitter chats on fashion discussions.
14. Create some boards on Pinterest as a way to collate fashion educational material and inspiring content.
15. Take another course on The Fashion Student Hub.
16. Review your PDP every month and plan what you can do to achieve your goals during the month. Set SMART goals and take action, rewarding yourself when you achieve your goals for the month.
17. Contact fashion students at fashion degree courses and find out what it is they wish they knew about fashion before they started their course. Then learn about those things.
18. Learn to draw freehand fashion illustrations.
19. Learn to use Adobe Illustrator to create fashion illustrations.
20. Design six handbags.
21. Design six belts.
22. Design six pairs of shoes.
23. Design a jacket.
24. Visit stores in your local mall or shopping center and review the way clothes are made as well as how they are presented in store.
25. Work in a clothes store for a week as a volunteer to see how a retail store works.

So that's 25 things you can do that will change you for the better and develop you positively. These will also be great things to discuss at an interview for a job or university course to prove how you take personal development seriously and your interest in fashion.

This is not an exhaustive list so add your own ideas and go do it.

Now that you've read the list it's time to act. Here's what you need to do:

1. Enrol on the course and download the list. Do it now.
2. Select three things you can do over the next week and tell us what these are in the Comments area.
3. Select two things you can do over the next month.
4. Select one thing you'll complete by the end of the first three months from today.
5. Plan to review your progress against each item weekly.
6. When you complete an item, treat yourself to something to celebrate your progress. Then add a new one to your list.
7. Rinse and repeat until you are done this time next year.