When it comes to getting dressed in the morning, for me it’s all about efficiency – working out how to put together the best outfit using the least time possible. Because honestly, who has hours and hours to get dressed in the morning? Because I’m sure you face the same *staring at the wardrobe, clock is ticking* conundrum some mornings too, I thought I would share a little trick I’ve been using recently to help me put outfits together, and that’s Pinterest. Yes it’s a great way to plan your baby shower, and yes it’s how I find that chair I want to buy. But did you know that when organised and used properly, it can act as a functional morning dressing guide that can cumulatively save you hundreds of hours in your week? Ok so maybe not hundreds but you get what I mean… Read on to see how.
Wearing: DIY gladiator flats, Zulu & Zephyr shorts, Witchery tank, J Crew Jacket, Dylan Kain Bag
How To Use Pinterest To Create Better Outfits
Get Pinterest on your phone
The first thing to do is to make Pinterest as accessible as possible for when you’re getting ready, and for me that means putting it on my phone. The app is really easy to use, and this makes it super handy!
Create a style/dressing board
The next step is to create a style board on your Pinterest profile, a place to store everything you see that inspires your outfits. Keep this separate from any other fashion board you have where you include other inspiration, just focusing this one on outfits you would wear. You can check out my style board here – chances are you’ll see me decked out in a few of those outfits soon!
Reflect pieces that you own
When you’re adding images to your board, try to make sure the outfits are reflecting items that you actually own – a striped top for example or a khaki jacket. Look for various interesting and inventive ways to wear these pieces and pin them.
Or adapt what you see
You also don’t have to copy exactly what you see on your Pinterest board, the outfits are there as inspiration. So don’t be put off if you don’t have all the pieces, just adapt what you see. Here’s an IRL example: I loved this outfit and filed it away on my style board. One day I was dressing to go to a long lunch with friends. I literally only had ten minutes to get dressed (late as usual!) and took one of those minutes to review my style board. Instead of trying on 15 outfits and being late, I saw this photo and then pretty much straight away put together the outfit you see above. It’s actually not that similar in the end but you can see she (unnamed blond lady) provided the structure/basis for the outfit, and I adapted with what I had. For me this also works because I think it’s a good way for you to put your own spin on an outfit.
Try to build your style
You want your board to reflect outfits that suit the things you need to do and the places you like to Go, but also try to build your style with this process by thinking about different ways you could wear the pieces you own, or different outfit structures you could start wearing.
Create a shopping list
Finally, use your research on your style board to help inspire smart shopping choices – if you see a piece cropping up over and over on your board but you don’t have it – say the perfect LBD or a blazer – add it to your list and know when you buy it you’ll have 750374 ways to wear it! This makes for a much happier closet in the long run. 🙂
So that’s my little trick guys, and it’s come in handy recently, particularly when you’re rushing somewhere and have no time to be creative. Here’s to more ‘pinnable’ outfits in real life!
Photos by Nicola Lemmon
Ps. Remember these DIY gladiator sandals? They’re still going strong!
