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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Shopping your closet by Pinterest

maximumene

At the risk of being Captain Obvious, I thought I'd share a little strategy to remedy my lust for all the clothes I spot online.

I've found tracking down and saving items I *already* own on Pinterest to be a great way of shopping my own closet and encouraging myself to want what I have.

Seeing all these pieces styled impeccably and photographed professionally under proper lighting conditions makes me fall back in love with my own closet. Throwing everything together on the board gets my creative juices flowing on how to style and couple items. Bonus: my actual dress-up sessions can be more focused with less tidy-up.

It's kinda like shopping your closet virtually.

Anyone else use this strategy? Any other tips on how to see (and love) your clothes in a new light?

Shopping

23 replies

Latest reply was from Helena

Golden

Veteran

I do, I love Pinterest and it is so useful to put together outfits with items I already have! I will also search for things like Tan Pants and see what they have including tan pants...Works pretty good.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I don't keep up with pinterest, but it sounds like a great idea - letting others style your stuff for you!

Jeanie

Veteran

I like this idea. I think I will give it a try.

pastrygirl

(website)

Veteran

Yes! Whenever I buy something, I try to remember to add it to Pinterest. Though I usually forget to look there after that initial entry...

AndiB

Veteran

I've been "recreating" my own outfits, sometimes with actual items, usually with close approximations, to help me remember combos that worked. I do that using polyvore and then pin and sort

Anonymous

At the risk of sounding like a Captain Clueless, how does one track something they already own on Pinterest? This sounds like a great idea. But how do you find outfits with the items you have?

deb

Veteran

I have a pinterest board titled 'my closet'. I also date the item so I know when I purchased it..

SarahTheWhite

Veteran

I love this idea! I need to try that. I especially like what you said about feeling more content with what you already have. I have also used the Stylebook app on my iPad to catalogue clothing and create outfits. But I let some time get way from me without adding, so I need to add and subtract some things.

Heather

I so do this. I look for inspiration outfits as well, but then I pin the actual items, so I really know what I have, and likely, what I need.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

I hadn't thought of it. Great idea!

Joyce B

Veteran

I don't use Pinterest but it sounds like a good way to keep track and it may help curb the shopping.

leopardluxe

Veteran

I totally do this and love it. I also use Polyvore to create outfit inspiration sets based on what's already in my closet. It helps me pull together items in ways I might not think of while standing in my closet thinking about what to wear.

I find it a fun and creative exercise not dissimilar to creating a painting or other form of art.

rachylou

Veteran

I have kept the "My Style" board that came with when I signed up. I put what I've actually got on it. It's interesting to see.

Of course, all of my boards are out of control...

Claudia

Veteran

I just had a single fashion related board and pinned mostly inspiration and items I liked with only a few of the items I actually own pinned. Thanks to your idea, which I think is really great, I made a new board of many things in my real closet. It was such a helpful exercise to see all I have to build outfits at a glance, to limit impulse purchases, etc. Thanks for the idea.

maximumene

Appreciate your thoughts, everyone! And glad to hear some of you found this helpful. This could also be a helpful way of providing wardrobe advice remotely.

I had no idea if everyone had long been on this bandwagon already. This came about because I thrift the majority of my wardrobe, and part of my post-thrifting rush comes from tracking down the item online to see its provenance, approximate age, reviews, and to get smug about how much I saved from the original price.

Joy: to locate an item I’ve bought, I’ll Google some identifying details about the piece. Many of my acquisitions are thrifted, so the item may not be available online anymore. Easiest thing is to do a Google image search with the brand and key words and comb through the results or refine the parameters. Example: “Baraschi grey ponte skirt” eventually got me to here http://notcouture.notcot.org/post/4645/, and then I pinned it using the Pinterest extension on my browser, which allows you to pin pretty much any image currently loaded. Pinterest is often incorporated into e-commerce sites so you don’t have to install the Pinterest extension. Sometimes I have to settle for a cruddy picture taken by an eBay seller, but that’s still useful for closet inventory.

Deb: I snooped your closet and, oh my, you have an incredible wardrobe. My own Pinterest board suddenly feels very inadequate. I want to poach each and every pair of your shoes! But I’ll settle for poaching your idea of noting purchase dates.

Lisa

Veteran

I am always looking online for remixing ideas for pieces I own. I find it very helpful to keep from boredom with my clothes. And I often find new combinations I would not have thought to try.

MsLuna

Veteran

I used to have a My Closet board on Pinterest but got rid of it since I'm redoing/rethinking my style and will be getting rid of most of the stuff I own. But you're right - tracking what you have and shopping your closet is definitely helpful and this is an excellent way to do it!

Anonymous

Thank you for your explanation, Maximumene. I can see that this inventory would be very helpful.

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

Ooooooohhhhh.... this is a GREAT idea!

MsMary

Veteran

Practically all I do is copy Pinterest looks! LOL I don't usually bother tracking down the exact items I own, but I do like to pin looks that include similar items.

Andrea W

Veteran

I use Polyvore.com to do a similar thing. When I buy items I save them to my relevant sections (such as knitwear) and I make up boards with different outfits when I get the inspiration. I can then look back over older outfits from different seasons and remind myself what I have and how I put them together.
I find it to be quite a useful tool.

Susie

Veteran

I love this idea. I admit that all I really do on Pinterest is pin things that others have pinned. I guess I need to start adding pins from shopping sites too, right? Does anyone just take pictures of their actual garmments and add them that way?

Helena

Veteran

Great idea - am going to do this tonight!