Monday, March 26, 2012

Defining My Style: Using Pinterest

Since I have been blogging and posting my outfits (about 1 1/2 years now) I have really been working on defining my style, becoming a smarter shopper (not wasting money!), and most of all, being confident in what I wear. For the next little while I want to occasionally share what I have been doing to define my style.

In February I shared with you this link to the No Brainer Wardrobe. I loved the idea of making a board on Pinterest where I could collect images of outfits that just "spoke to me" and seem to really reflect my style. Click here to see the entire board I made. Here is a sampling of some of the images from the board that reflect what I see as my personal style:













After several weeks of collecting pins, I analyzed them and made a list of things that make up my style. Now, some of these items are trendy, but some I have liked for years and years (even before the trend- such as stripes) and I know I will like them for a long time. Maybe some of these things will fade and I will have to rework the list (such as maxi skirts/dresses). However, having a solid base of things I like in my wardrobe will allow for some trendy purchases.

Patterns: Stripes, polka dots, floral

Colors: Yellow, red, blue, orange- the colors straight out of the crayon box and some shade variances

Style: Nautical, ladylike, structured

Items:
  • Jackets and blazers
  • Cropped pants
  • Skinny and flared pants
  • Belts
  • Big necklaces
  • Maxis
  • Midi skirts (solids and prints)
  • Pencil skirts
  • Boots
  • Wedges
  • Pretty blouses with high necklines and many possibilities
  • Cardigans

I knew I wanted to get several new items for this spring so I made a shopping list of things that I was missing from the above list (or just wanted!).

  • Jacket
  • Cropped pants in colors that coordinate with my wardrobe
  • Solid pencil and midi skirt
  • Wedges in colors that coordinate with my wardrobe
  • Pretty blouses... no t-shirts and no funky patterns


I have done a lot of shopping over the last few weeks and feel that I have done a good job at purchasing items that will be remixable and not regret purchases. In an upcoming post I will show you all I bought and together we can analyze it and see how I did. In yet another part of this series I want to examine items in my closet that were good purchases and analyze why. I will also look for items that I regret buying and find out why. This will enable me to make another list... a list of items to avoid purchasing. I think that will help me to avoid making poor choices in the future.

Do you have any suggestions of other exercises or tactics I can use to be a smarter shopper? Do share!!!