Falling Back in Love With Pinterest
Sometimes all we need is a little bit of inspiration.
It should come as no surprise that I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. It's complicated. I love it because it molds my teen obsession with finding pictures in magazines, saving my favorites and creating collages into a doable hobby accomplished in a few minutes instead of an endless Saturday wasting tape.
I don't subscribe to many magazines anymore, Vogue the exception, and sitting on my floor meticulously cutting out images and creating a mess is not too appealing after working all day. Pinterest is the solution. You can scroll or search for basically anything and find it or something similar which you might like even better.
When I first started using Pinterest it was for wedding planning which I highly recommend during the post engagement high when you are gathering inspiration and don't want to know the reality or price of the beautiful images engulfing you. Falling down the rabbit hole of Pinterest wedding inspiration is fun until you try to claw your way back out.
As a lover of fashion drooling over wedding dresses you don't know the price of is intoxicating. You aren't prepared for the sticker shock ahead. You hope and pray these masses of tulle and lace will somehow fit into your imaginary budget which isn't ironclad yet. Those beautiful dresses will cost you a couple months salary or like me all your savings because I didn't have a job at the time. Yikes! You promptly faint or blackout.
Former bride tip: Make your Wedding inspiration board private to bug the least amount of people with incessant and late night pinning binges. Once you reach full inspiration saturation and your eyeballs feel like they are popping out of your head or you have an inexplicable headache take a break from pinning. I promise all your pins and many more will still be there when you come back.
After my wedding Pinterest binge I slowly started pruning down my board to only things I liked or seemed doable. I love DIY normally but I couldn't subject myself to that amount of pressure during wedding planning. I knew if I tried one project it would escalate to ten so I didn't do any. The only DIY I did was my makeup.
Coming home after the whirlwind of planning a wedding and honeymoon I stayed away from Pinterest because I wasn't sure what to use it for. Slowly I branched out of the wedding section and found other categories to obsess over without the fervor of an impending event.
I've been using Pinterest to combat my outfit fatigue. I was mesmerized by the creativity and daring I saw in street style photos from all of these different countries and their respective Fashion Weeks. Since I'm not a professional globe trotter I absorb the styles and photos of others to inspire me. I'm easily wowed by outfits I would never wear or want to recreate but I like to take bits and pieces to incorporate into my styling or a new twist on an item I own.
I have always been fashion conscious and style savvy. Clothes are one of the best and easiest ways to express yourself to the world. Unless you live in a nudist colony you have to wear clothes every day. Even if they aren't fabulous. Like everyone I fall into slumps when dressing for the day or putting together outfits. I am trying to be a thoughtful shopper and buy the majority of my pieces made sustainably or ethically, preferably both, that I will wear and enjoy for many years. So I get outfit fatigue. The tried and true outfits get boring.
I started following more style and fashion boards. Eventually I would go from simply admiring to realizing I could replicate these outfits with pieces I already own. Then magnificent outfit experimentation would begin. I am by default a minimalist when it comes to what I like or gravitate towards. I also like a crazy accessory or two to make an outfit pop or be memorable. Red pops of color are my favorite for this.
Having Pinterest in my arsenal as fashion and style inspiration is a great not so secret tool anyone can use. Check out some of my boards and find your own inspiration!
