Thursday, July 7, 2011

Style discovery / Look Book

I just finished cutting out 3 patterns (hoping to sew up a bunch before my vacation--will blog about later) and I thought I'd take a quick moment before bedtime to write a post I've been itching to write for the LONGEST! You may recall in May that I did 2 posts (Style Safari I & Style Safari II) which centered around my  my quest to better understand my style. Well over the last month I must say that I think I've figured it out. Mind you one's style is forever evolving but I really have come to define my style. The following words sums up my style pretty well:

Simple
Feminine
Colorful
Fun
Youthful
Classy w/ a little Sass (wink!)
Effortless
Timeless
Modern
Elegant (on special occasions)

These words definitely describe my style. For the most part you've seen my work. What do you think? Did I describe it well? Am I missing anything? I don't know of any particular style category that I would fit in but I'm not one for categorizing myself anyway. I love what I love. And I love to make clothes that make me feel as I've describe above.

Around the time I was exploring my style I also decided that I would create a "Style Look Book". I have to admit that this project, which will always be ongoing, helped me narrow down my style attributes. I started it about a couple of weeks ago. I had a ton of old fashion magazines that I was preparing to recycle and I'm so happy I didn't. I threw on " The Kennedy's" miniseries on Netflix (I loved watching this. It's interesting to learn from the lives other's have lived, especially such prominent figure) and began ripping out pages and cutting out looks that caught my eye. It was so therapeutic and relaxing and not to mention FUN! I found an old, unused photo album and thought it would be perfect. There's nothing fancy about it's exterior.....it's really boring.....
  
but we all know that the good stuff is inside. Take a look at a few of my pages......
(Cute looks from head to toe)

(Pretty dresses that make me salivate)

(Cool, laid back outfit ideas)

(Summer wear)

I've got tons more pictures and magazines to go through and add. Trust me by the time I'm done, and it may take a few years, there will be no empty spaces left.

I kept the construction and organization of this Style Look Book simple. I organized pictures based  on whether they were full outfits or separates and grouped them somewhat by season and category (fancy, casual, etc.) I have a habit of over complicating things and didn't want to do this with my Look Book. I mostly used old subscriptions of Lucky and Harper Bazaar magazines and found great materials in them. I LOVE my book!!! It's really inspired me to try some new looks and revamp some old ones.  Anywho.....how do you describe your style? Also, how do you get your style inspiration? Do you have a look book or style board?

10 comments:

  1. What a great idea. About once a year I go through all my old magazines and rip out anything that I had marked as liking. I just keep everything in a folder so it is not organized at all. But I do change out my inspiration board for each season with those images. I like the idea of the book though. It would be much more organized and I would probably be more apt to sew a season ahead of time if it was already laid out for me. I am going to have to use your idea for myself. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  2. That's such a great idea! I have a lot of magazines that I've honestly never looked through at all and are just taking up space on my bookshelf. Now I definitely want to look through them and cut out what I like. There's no use keeping the whole thing! Thanks for posting! I never would have thought of it! =]

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  3. I have a very unorganized look book. I mean this thing is HUGE!!!! It's so big it's spilling over. It's nowhere as neat as yours. I am so thankful for this post as it has inspired me to get it crackin' and organize it. I also have some color cards in which I have glued like colors together on a 8-1/2 by 11 cardboard piece; These help me alot! Hmmm...I think will pull the look book out right now! Again, thanks for the inspiration!

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  4. I've started the same sort of collection of "my style", but I am using Pinterest. Have you seen Pinterest yet? It's awesome, I'm not good with papers so having it electronic and easy to pull up anywhere is helpful to me. Plus I keep my pattern wish list on a board and my style inspiration on another board, I have one for my daughters and one for my son who I also sew for. I know for me, I could never keep all of that going in an actual book. Either way, it's great to have a collection of inspiration all in one spot to look over be motivated by.

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  5. Those are great words to describe your style. I would chose a lot of the same words for mine. Love your look book. Seems like a lot of fun. I just may have to do this.

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  6. Great Look Book idea. Like several commented, I have a lot of pages from magazines that I keep or even scan and save to a folder on computer labeled Fashion Ideas!

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  7. Ok, you made me chuckle at your "Classy w/ a little Sass (wink!)" comment.

    I think your keywords fit exactly what I've been seeing in your work. I think you nailed it.

    Btw, the yellow-orange halter dress in your book is just too cute! If I were a thinner woman I'd wear that in a heartbeat.

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  8. I love your Look Book, and I keep one too. Mine is not organized into such specific categories, but has fashion, home, yard, etc. I see themes and colors emerge as I look it over. I clear it every year or so, and can see that I have unconsciously added elements to my wardrobe, my home, my yard.

    I also keep a sketchbook for design ideas. That is my sewing inspiration notebook. Your reviews are a part of my inspiration!

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  9. What a great idea to use a photo album - that way you can discard/rearrange things as you evolve, much better than gluing pics into a scrapbook which is what I used to do!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and for following me on my 10,000 Hour Sewing Challenge:)

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