"Mood board": have you made one?

minimalist

In developing your style, have you done an exercise like the "mood board" into-mind describes?
http://into-mind.com/2014/02/28/mood-boards-2-0/

This weekend, I finally pulled the trigger on a footwear purchase which feels like a big step toward loyalty to my own style. And it's giving me an injection of confidence and desire to get the rest of my essentials lined up.

I'm willing to go through constructive exercises, just not sure which ones are really helpful.

9 years ago

Inspiration

15 replies

Latest reply was from rachylou

dashielle (Ann)

(website)

Veteran

For me, using Polyvore on my iPad serves the same purpose and I can do it anywhere. There is also a Moodboard app that is for any photos you may have on any topic.

9 years ago

Yolicr

Active Member

Great idea, Pinterest does it for me

9 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

Yes, I did this mood board exercise (from the same blog) a couple of months ago. It was *so* helpful. It really helped me focus on what I wanted to accomplish with my wardrobe this fall. As a result, I was able to rein in my shopping quite a bit, because it was much more focused.

I was also surprised at a lot of the silhouettes that showed up. I had thought that I was done with miniskirts, but a lot of my silhouettes showed them. So I had to rethink my silhouette preferences. I was also surprised to see how strong some likes were—I had thought they were just "regular" likes, but they were very prevalent all over my board and deserved more attention than I was giving them.

Thanks for the reminder. I need to review my mood board again to stay on task with my shopping!

9 years ago

Nicola

Active Member

I've done one but don't actually use it very much.

9 years ago

Astrid

Veteran

I have done one on Pinterest, but I didn't create one IRL like she suggests. I just don't have printed pictures or fashion magazines at home that I could use and printing it all out just to create a mood board seemed like a bit of a waste.

9 years ago

Lynne

Veteran

Another yay for moodboards here! Isaac Mizrahi recommends them in his book How To Have Style....I also like Pinterest but I really enjoyed the cutting and pasting of creating one IRL. And I have lots of magazines, they are my kryptonite....

I did read a very good tip for collecting images for an inspiration board (sorry I can't remember where): flick through the magazines upside down and select the images that 'grab' you; by seeing the pictures upside down you bypass your reasoning, logical, interpreting brain that might censor some of what you're drawn to. I still do this - it really works for me. It does look odd if there are onlookers nearby :).

9 years ago

Astrid

Veteran

Lynne, looking at the magazines upside down - that's an interesting method. I don't really read magazines, but I'll have to try that sometime.

Oh and here's the mood board, in case anyone's interested: http://www.pinterest.com/ridrin/mood/. I just changed it to visible. I think for me this might be a better idea than just pinning outfits, because I know I never use those as inspiration anyway. But "the mood" might be something abstract enough I can work with it.

9 years ago

Lynne

Veteran

Astrid, I love the colours in your board! They're warm and soft and rich at the same time; they feel cozy and friendly to me. I adore the burgundy bag.....

9 years ago

Astrid

Veteran

Thanks Lynne! I love the colors too, although I wouldn't wear all of them literally - that mustard yellow of the scarf would be horrible on me for example. But these all capture the mood I'm going for. I do have a board for colors too.

9 years ago

Isabel

Veteran

I did one...without realizing what it was ! LOL !

I started a couple of pinterest boards on looks I like, colors that I like and I realized that I was pinning a lot of the same thing or types of things. It really helped coalesce my neurtal, essentials capsule and my "expander" capsule ( colors ).

For decades, it seemed that most of my wardrobe always matched. BTW, I have never bought in outfits except for suits. Yet, somehow ( ? ) , so much of what I owned always went together, right down to my scarves. It finally hit me during the pinterest exercise that it is because I usually buy the same colors ( maybe varying shades ) and saturations across many things. It makes me laugh how unaware I was until I SAW it in one place. : )

9 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

I did a very short-hand version of this in the summer, mainly looking for inspirational images to create outfit capsules around (actually I didn't use any images of clothes) and collecting them on pinterest and then creating outfits based on it.

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....-white-out
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....oid-bright

It was quite a bit of fun and helped me figure out some new outfits. I have some inspiration pictures collected for the fall and should complete it and do an outfit capsule post. I'm mostly shopping my closet, but I think it's a very useful exercise for outfit creation and seasonal wardrobe cohesiveness.

Here's some of my possible fall pictures below:

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9 years ago

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I started with an actual board (many years ago) & have now moved on to Pinterest. Pinterest (or similar) is really helpful for identifying the trends I want to try for the coming season - I usually pin EVERYTHING I really like then leave it for a week or so & go back to edit the ones I don't think will work for me.

Since 2008 I've also kept a large sketchbook that I use for images I tear out of magazines. It isn't just clothes it's everything I'm drawn to, I find it really helpful to look back to see what is constant & what changes

9 years ago

Anonymous

I pin away like mad on Pinterest, and then never look at them again I've been known to pin up a photo from a magazine on the bulletin board beside my desk that absolutely knocks my socks off - could be anything from a whole outfit, to a makeup look etc. Reminds me to step up my game . Plus I just love looking at images! I read probably 15-20 magazines a month

9 years ago

Alex L

Active Member

Using Pinterest really keeps me focused on my style! I often won't buy something because I know it wouldn't fit in with my image-- It prevents impulse purchases! To me, it's like virtually shopping ahead of time so you already know what you like and don't like before actually spending money.

9 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

This marime (unclean), but I have a real bulletin board in my bathroom that I put pictures on. I like to stare at it when I'm getting ready in the morning. It *is* different than Pinterest - Pinterest adds a level of design, a lot of white space, that makes everything look a certain way.

But this is not to say I don't do Pinterest. I have like 30 Pinterest boards too.

I have to say -- I really like the idea of photographing things you already own...

9 years ago

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