Last week, Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye sat [1] front row at the
Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture show [2] in Paris, right next to Cardi
B, and Nigerian timelines have not recovered. If you look past the
glamour though, couture week is really about one thing. People deciding
exactly who they want to be, then dressing like it in public, without
apology. You do not need an invitation to Paris to do that.
Nigerian Gen Z already knows this. The alté kids bending every fashion
rule. The thrift and vintage curators turning market rails into runway
looks. The guys keeping their braids no matter what their uncles say.
Personal style in Nigeria has never depended on a big budget. It depends
on research, resourcefulness and knowing what you actually like, and
Google Search happens to be useful for all three. Here is a practical
guide.
1. TURN EVERY SCREENSHOT INTO A STARTING POINT
Your camera roll is already a mood board. The Okoye fit from Paris. A
jacket you saw on a stranger at a rave. A random frame from an Ayra
Starr video. Inspiration has never been the hard part. The hard part is
moving from “I love this” to knowing what the piece actually is and
where to find it.
Google Lens handles that. Open the Google app, tap the camera icon in
the search bar and upload any screenshot from your gallery. Lens will
identify the item or show you visually similar pieces, from the designer
original down to lookalikes at friendlier prices. You will never again
have to type “black jacket with the shiny things” into a search bar and
hope for the best.
2. CIRCLE IT THE MOMENT YOU SEE IT
Sometimes the fit shows up in the middle of a video and you cannot be
bothered to screenshot, crop and start a whole investigation. On
Android, long-press the home button or the navigation bar, then draw a
circle around the item right there on your screen. It works while you
are watching a music video, a TikTok or someone’s story. Circle to
Search answers “what do you know about this?” before anybody in your
group chat has even seen the message.
You also never leave the app you are in. Circle the sneakers, check the
results, go back to your video. Your style research now moves as fast as
your scrolling does.
3. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR AESTHETIC IS ACTUALLY CALLED
There is a quiet thrill in discovering that the way you have always
dressed has a name, a history and a whole community behind it. Maybe
your thrifted blazers and cargos sit somewhere between quiet luxury and
streetwear. Maybe your love of leather, dark tones and layered chains
has been whispering alté all along.
Open AI Mode in the Google app and describe yourself honestly. Something
like this:
I mostly wear oversized vintage shirts, baggy jeans, beaded accessories,
and I like mixing ankara prints with streetwear pieces. What would this
style be called, where does it come from, and which Nigerian designers
or brands work in this lane?
Once you know the name, everything gets easier. You can search it,
follow the people shaping it, and build your look on purpose instead of
by accident.
4. SEE THE LOOK ON YOU BEFORE YOU COMMIT
Some style decisions are expensive to regret. Coloured hair. The big
chop. That dramatic new silhouette you have been considering for months.
Before you spend money or frighten your mother, get a preview. With Nano
Banana in the Google app, you can upload a photo of yourself and
reimagine it. Burgundy locs, a clean bald head, the oversized tailored
agbada you have been eyeing since couture week. Try a prompt like this:
Here is a photo of me. Show me how I would look with short honey-blonde
twists, and in a second version, with a clean bald head and silver
earrings. Keep my face and skin tone exactly the same, natural lighting.
A ten-second preview can save you from three months of growing out a
decision you made at 11pm after a few shots.
5. ASK THE QUESTION YOU'D BE SHY TO ASK A TAILOR
A lot of style confidence is just knowledge gathered over time, and AI
Overviews make the gathering much faster. What separates aso-oke from
akwete? How should you wash thrifted denim before wearing it? What does
single-breasted even mean? Is brown shoes on black trousers a crime or a
choice?
Type the question the way you would say it out loud. A clear answer
appears at the top of your results, with links underneath if you want to
go deeper. Nobody needs to know you did not already know.
6. SHOP YOUR OWN WARDROBE FIRST
This one needs no technology at all. Before you search for anything new,
bring everything you own out onto the bed, including the things you have
not worn since NYSC. Most of us are not short of clothes. We are short
of combinations, and pieces cannot combine if they never meet.
One honest hour with your own wardrobe is the cheapest upgrade
available. And when you rediscover something you forgot you owned but
cannot figure out how to wear, that is your cue to search “how to style
an oversized denim jacket” instead of buying another one.
7. BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE GOOD TAILOR
Another low-tech truth. The best dressed people you know rarely own the
most clothes. Their clothes simply fit. A three-thousand-naira
adjustment can make a thrifted find look like it came off a rack in
Paris, and a tailor who knows your measurements by heart is worth more
than any shopping spree.
Search still helps you find them. Look up tailors near you, read the
reviews, study the photos other customers have posted. Then treat that
relationship with the seriousness of a friendship, because over time
that is what it becomes.
8. REMEMBER THAT STEEZE IS WORN FROM THE INSIDE
When it is time to step out, resist the urge to interrogate yourself in
the mirror. The outfit is decided. The research is done.
Drop your shoulders, take a breath and walk out the way Okoye walked
into Gaultier, completely unbothered about whether he was supposed to be
there. The clothes in Paris were couture, but the confidence cost
nothing. Personal style is simply the daily decision to be yourself in
public. Google can help you with everything else. That decision is yours
to make.
