Tips to Make a Look Yours (Customizing Inspiration!)
Good day, my dear reader!
I love to play in my clients’ closets and help them see what they own with new eyes. One of my favorite things is when a client goes “Aaah, I get it!” because that means they see something they didn’t see before. Often, they have bought a look right off the mannequin, a magazine ad, or copied a Pinterest pin and ended up feeling like they were wearing a costume. These are all great places to find inspiration, but can fall flat in the interpretation. Today I’m sharing a pin I loved, the questions to ask, and how I get from inspo to dressed!
Starting Point
Here’s where I started… I saw this Polyvore (RIP) by kelley74 on Pinterest and had add it to my Color Files board.
What do you love about it? I loved the freshness of the mint, grey, and white. These are all colors that work well for me, feel like spring, and play well with silver jewelry. All wins in my book. But here’s what doesn’t work for me: I prefer blouses to tees. I only wear sandals like these for very casual (read: play). My everyday look is more structured. The cardigan stops at an unflattering spot for my hips. Last, but certainly not least, I have a grey moto cardigan, and pewter sandals, but that’s about it. Where to begin?
What do you already have? To start, I pulled out my grey, white, and mint/ clothes and accessories to customize this color combo for my personality, body shape, and lifestyle. This is the perfect place to break out the new necklace I bought last fall from a friend and Premier Designs jeweler. If you don’t have a PD jeweler, I can highly recommend a few! (WARNING: My husband calls her my “dealer”… Not saying anything. Just saying.) Comment below if you need a sparkle fix, and I can help you find your own! Last year, I wore my mint goodies mostly with blue and white, so imagining them with grey gives me a fresh place to start.
How can you combine it for you? This is about knowing your preferences, and what works best for your body. I like a column of color, so I will start by basing my outfits on a column (either inner or outer) and working from there. I have been feeling a shift to a more simple style this spring, so all the jewelry pictured in the inspo would feel like too much. Last year, it was a the-more-the-merrier approach to bling for me. Make sure to include what you love, and what speaks your personality language. Playing dress-up is not just for children! You have to play around with what you have. Take some selfies to see what your new outfits really look like. Keep the ones you like on your phone in a Style Inspo file for those days when you are in need!
How I Styled It!
I have to admit. I went a little bananas here, although I will only share five! The inspiration was all about the color, not necessarily about the vibe. (Sounds like another post coming on!) I found everything from a boss babe going to a meeting look, to a beach babe getting a bite to eat look. I think I found my wardrobe capsule for a spring or summer trip… And I didn’t even use my chambray shirt (which might be considered more blue than grey anyhow). These are certainly not all the possibilities, there are oodles more, but this was a great start. I think I might be sold on a light turquoise/mint ballet flat if I can find one!
(with a cami under the jacket)
(Lose the cardie and slip on sandals later in the day…)
(I get cold at the beach after a day in the sun.)
(scarf as sarong)
If you want to see more of the looks, hop on over to my Instagram feed… I posted even more options there!
How about you? Where do you find style inspiration? How do you like to use it? I love to hear from you! Let’s start a conversation in the comments below…
Stylishly yours,
RIP Polyvore
4 Comments
Gill Hormann
Haha, not that brave, just practical. We both suffer from Duck’s Disease (short legs), so every pair of trousers that enters our house has to be hemmed. Don’t worry, I’ve trained him up over many years and he is an extremely useful sewer’s assistant! Will let you know about the packing.
Liz K
LOL-ing! I’ve never heard it called Duck’s Disease! We have the same syndrome at our house… Oh, well. It’s easier to shorten than to find trousers long enough when you have legs to the ceiling!
Gill Hormann
So glad to find this post again! This was a lightbulb moment for me! With lots of ideas percolating in my head, I caught a glimpse of a long lost pair of spearmint coloured jeans in my mending pile and the dominoes started to topple – I have a new-found love of the white tee and two almost-orphan grey cardigans which I have found a little tricky to style – and voila, it all came together! I hauled those unloved jeans out of the mending pile, got hubby to re-measure them at a cropped length (more current!), quickly hemmed them and now they are in constant rotation in my wardrobe! Loving this new and quite versatile set of outfits – in fact, they are about to feature as the core of a travel capsule next month (weather permitting) and I can’t wait to see how that works out! So, many thanks for your inspiring thoughts on how you put outfits (or ensembles) together, how you can springboard your own clothing choices off copycat styles, and how to put together travel capsules – great stuff!
Liz K
Glad to provide some light! Thank you for letting me know, Gill! And btw, you are a brave woman… I don’t think I’d ever give my husband the power of the tape measure! Can’t wait to hear how your little travel capsule sorts itself out; please come back and share?