Catching up and wrapping up my Pinterest challenge with two outfits from this weekend.

Photo 1: inspiration image:
-textured pullover
-relaxed jeans
-layered outerwear (I have been intrigued by layered outerwear for a while)
-tote bag

My version, photos 3-5: 
-I'm neither a denim jacket nor a trench coat kind of girl, so I used a pale pink lightweight puffer vest (interestingly, I bought this vest because I have a Liberty-print puffer vest and thought a solid color vest would be useful -- but I hardly ever wear the solid one!) and my long vintage velvet coat (which I've owned for a good 35 years and have been wanting to wear more often).
-I liked the tonal mix of the sweater and puffer vest so I decided to stay in that color family with footwear, adding my burgundy stompy boots.
-But I introduced some contrast with the tote bag -- one with a green print. I wore this to a reading/book launch -- tote bag was very useful for carrying multiple copies of the book that I bought!

Photo 6: inspiration image:
-printed midi skirt
-big sweater
-tall boots

My version, photos 7-9:
-Pretty self explanatory!
-wore to my niece's choir concert
-I don't think I would have put together this combination without the challenge but I really like it!

Sorry this round of photos are so dark & the colors are not great -- these are the challenges of Seattle winter afternoons.

Overall, I'm really glad I did this challenge, as it has indeed got my creative juices flowing a bit again after a period of being really head-down at work and kind of losing track of style. I really appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions, you have helped me feel more confident and also provided some new directions and experiments to explore.

A few overall thoughts:
-I wanted to avoid feeling like I had to copy inspiration outfits exactly, and I think I accomplished that, BUT I would like to be even less literal still. A couple of folks gave me some ideas in their comments and I'll be thinking about how to abstract what I like about an outfit a little bit more.
-Maybe that will be easier if I use as inspiration not single images but several similar images? 
-I also want to experiment with taking inspiration from landscape or other non-outfit images, as Brooklyn does so well.
-I've been thinking about Pinterest and how algorithms shape one's inspiration and sense of style. I think that by showing you more of what you like (I repinned one outfit with loafers and bare ankles and somehow ended up with a dozen variations on that theme), Pinterest's algorithm can tend to narrow your style possibilities. 
-Also if your style is offbeat and not easily summarized in some kind of subculture or "core," it can be hard to avoid getting steered in a more mainstream direction. That is, I notice that a lot of the outfits that I have pinned are rather neutral and minimalistic -- that's been quite popular recently, AND plays well as a thumbnail sized image. And, yes, I like those images. But I don't think they quite represent "my style."

OK, it's late and I'm kinda fading here so I'll leave it at that. As always, grateful for any thoughts you care to share!