Style Workshop Week 2: Collect Inspiration
It’s often said that the hardest part is getting started. But if the history of New Year’s Resolutions abandoned by February 1st is any indication, continuing is much harder.
We are moving into the phase of work where we will define our style with both visuals and language. It’s no small endeavor! It can feel overwhelming, but let’s be honest: you wouldn’t be here if it were straightforward.
The best way to approach anything that feels overwhelming is to break it up into manageable steps that we’ll tackle together over the next three weeks: collecting inspiration, editing and then translating those visuals into Your Three Words. Now the fun really begins; in just three weeks you will have a visual aspiration of your style and a succinct description to verbalize it.
Before we shop and even before we clean out our closets, we need to establish a north star to guide what to clean out and what to shop for. That is why we first need to define your style, free from any preconceptions of what we already have or lack in our wardrobes.
While these next few weeks will be an opportunity for you to explore your likes and dislikes, it doesn’t have to be the time to “reinvent yourself”. You don’t need an entirely new you. After all, we are defining your aspirational style not your aspirational self. Instead trust your instincts and be patient, because your authentic self will naturally come out through this process.
The Lesson
Creatives of all types - designers, stylists, photographers, and even editors like the Devil in Prada herself, Anna Wintour - have always relied on visual inspiration boards.
The inspiration board serves a singular purpose: to focus your taste. Without an inspiration board, ideas and images tend to float around our brains untethered - and not all the ideas are good or cohesive! The inspiration board takes ideas out of your head and puts them down on paper. This makes it easier to evaluate each concept individually and as a group to make sure they are all really singing to you as a chorus. It is important to remember that it is more so the process of creating this board that helps you refine and define your taste, rather than simply having the visual end product.
As you collect your inspiration, you will need a place to keep said materials. There are many platforms out there, and ultimately it is about what suits your working style best.
However, we recommend Pinterest for the following reasons:
It is a bank of inspiration in itself: You can search for images on the platform and the algorithm will even suggest new ideas based on your previous Pins.
It can be easily edited and updated: Next week we will be editing, and you will likely update it over the years as your style continues to evolve, so it’s good to have a platform that easily allows you to change your visual board. Did anybody else cut images out of magazines and glue them into a notebook as a kid? While satisfyingly tactile, this makes changes very difficult. Stick with it if it still works for you, but we’ll be leaving it in the 90s!
The Chrome Extension: Install the Pinterest Save Button Chrome Extension, and you can easily Pin anything from any website. This makes it easy to pull everything together in one place.
It is easily sharable with your future Indyx stylist! If you ever choose to engage in styling services with us, you’ll be able to link your Pinterest board so they can also easily visualize what you’re going for.
That being said, you are totally free to choose any platform you’d like.
How to determine what you truly like vs. what you’ve been influenced to like
Once you’ve chosen the how, now we get into the what. The task is maddeningly simple: start collecting images of things that you like!
We would advise you to simply trust your gut, or as Marie Kondo puts it, find what “sparks joy”. But, we do acknowledge that sometimes our intuition can be misleading through no fault of our own.
It is nearly impossible in today’s day and age to avoid the influence of media and marketing - particularly influencer marketing. It’s important to realize that influencer marketing is all about making a particular product or ‘look’ so ubiquitous as to create the illusion of popularity. It is *supposed* to make you feel like everyone is dressing like a off-duty Scandinavian model in oversized button ups and trousers - and more importantly, that you should be, too.
And so, how do you separate what truly sparks joy from what you have been subconsciously influenced to *think* that you’re into? Try asking yourself a few questions:
Is this particular style or look seemingly everywhere right now?
This isn’t a total red flag - it is certainly possible that your taste happens to be aligned with the current trend. But we’d consider it a *yellow* flag to prompt you to look deeper.
On the flip side, if the image that you’re resonating with is actually “out of trend” to what is being widely pushed at the moment, then that is a positive sign that you are truly listening to your own intuition.
What exactly do I like about this image?
In other words, do I like the image, or do I just like her?
Focus on what is drawing you to the image, and try to articulate it. Is it the actual clothing and how they are combined together, or is it the impression of the model or their surroundings? It’s very common to be drawn to something that is less about the clothes and more about how they are presented - the model’s body or hair, the way they’re posing and the attitude it is giving, or the aspirational lifestyle that the overall image is throwing off. For the most part, we want to collect images where you are drawn to the clothes themselves, not the who and where.
Can I imagine myself wearing this outfit?
It sounds simple, but in order for it to be your style, you have to be able to picture yourself in the clothes! If the mere thought of wearing the outfit makes you feel anything but at-home, then that is a sure sign that the style isn’t for you but perhaps for an imaginary or over aspirational version of yourself.
And remember: it is completely okay to admire a style or certain look on someone else, while at the same time acknowledging that it isn’t for you. We often admire art in a museum, but never think to try and take it home and put it on our own walls. Why shouldn’t it be the same for our personal style?
When in doubt, this week we encourage you to simply save the inspiration and keep moving. This process may perhaps feel frustrating at times but it will practice your ability to judge your intuition. In no time, you’ll probably find yourself deciding on images as fast you swipe right or left on Bumble - over time and through practice, tuning into your style intuition will start to become second nature.
What types of images to collect
Because we’re trying to hone into a style of dressing, you’ll want most of your images to be sartorial. But it is completely allowed - and maybe even encouraged! - to also add other types of images that resonate with you: art, movies, interiors, or other elements are all on the table. Sometimes outfit images can carry too much ‘baggage’ and call on too many of your preconceived notions about fashion and style. If you’re feeling hesitant or overly questioning your choices, then switching gears to collect a few non-fashion images can be a good way to get unstuck.
When selecting fashion images, we’d also recommend that you keep an eye out to make sure that you’re saving images that generally reflect the level of formality you live in your day-to-day life. It’s okay to also include some more extravagant or aspirational images - but you don’t want to end up with a board of all couture ball gowns if you’re running carpool every day.
You may feel you are adding too many items, but that is only natural at the beginning; in order to hone in, you first have to start wide. As you continue to add over the next few days you will find that you naturally become more selective without any extra conscious effort on your part. Yes, you will end up with more images than you need, but that is quite literally a problem for another week.
The Homework
The word homework sets off alarms even in the teacher's pets among us…looking at you Hermione Granger. But the only childlike memory this activity will bring back is of scrapbooking and crafts, albeit virtually.
The homework for this week is to build your style inspiration board!
Before you jump in feet first, we have a few last tactical suggestions.
A few rich sources of visual inspiration content include:
Pinterest: the platform will give you recommendations as you continue to search, it is important however to not rely solely on Pinterest as the algorithm may pigeonhole your taste.
Instagram: it’s not great for searching, but if you already follow creators who inspire you then this could be a good source
Tumblr: some say it's dead, and some say 2013 is making a comeback. Either way, there is no denying Tumblr has a wide array of images for inspiration. If you had a Tumblr in the past, we suggest taking a look at it, images you still love now may be very indicative of your authentic taste.
Arena: if you know you know, this is where all the cool creative types are hanging out these days. This is a particularly good source for vintage images - which are nice if you’re trying to escape a barrage of more 2023 trend-influenced images.
Books and magazines: you can find inspiration in coffee table books and fashion magazines, as well as ideas of what to search next.
You!: Sometimes your best inspiration for future you, is past you - and this is a style evolution, not revolution. Sift through your own photo reel to pull in any looks you love from the past.
We also get it: staring down an empty search box is hard. Here are a few suggestions of places to start:
Style Archetypes: Archetypes are generalized fashion styles that can often lean to the side of stereotypes, but nonetheless provide an easy springboard for ideas.
Music, Art & Design: Over the course of history, trends have been categorized into larger “genres” of design. While we often refer to them as decades in the history of fashion, they are more accurately a part of a larger movement. For example “70s fashion” was a result of the free love movement that started the decade prior. Fashion designers have always been inspired by art such as Christion Dior by Claude Monet and Yves Saint Laurent by Mondrian. Or in the case of music, Vivienne Westwood by punk music or Gucci by Harry Styles.
Fictional characters: TV and film characters are usually characterized by strong fashion choices. The costume designer can use clothes to help the actor signal who their character is to the audience. Their recognizability from simple movie and TV stills makes them easy inspiration that you can always keep in mind. Consider TV shows and movies with several female leads as the fashion choices between the characters are more apparent, for example: Big Little Lies, Sex and the City, or Friends. Or check our this comprehensive list of the most fashionable fictional characters.
Influencers and celebrities: We leave this category for last, and urge you to only search your favorite influencers at the end as to avoid simply copying someone else’s style. Doing so will only leave you feeling tired or “over” the style in a couple of months because it’s not an authentic reflection of you. If you’re unsure where to start here are lists of the most stylish celebrities and influencers.
Starter search terms:
When searching on a platform like Pinterest, combine one of these descriptors with something like “outfits” “style” “aesthetic” “inspo” or “fashion”.
Each of these search ideas will provide the best results when you continue to add descriptions to refine what you’re looking for. As the search yields results, look at what kind of images it suggests and pivot your search from there. For example, “edgy fashion” may yield clothes geared towards teenagers. To adapt it you may search “Edgy business clothing” or “Edgy style 30s' '.
This will get you started, and between the recommended pins & recommended related searches that Pinterest serves you, you should find yourself quickly down a rabbit hole. We recommend consciously pulling yourself out and starting from the beginning every once in a while to make sure you’re not pigeonholing yourself too much.
This list is a starting point for your search but over the next few weeks you will start to find inspiration around you, perhaps while watching a new movie or seeing a stylish woman on the subway. Continue to collect inspiration as you see it out in the world.
The Indyx Team’s Homework
In case it is helpful to visualize by seeing an example, below is this week’s homework as completed by the Indyx Team.
Courtney: https://www.pinterest.com/myindyx/courtneys-style-inspiration/
Therese: https://www.pinterest.com/myindyx/thereses-style-inspiration/
Erika: https://www.pinterest.com/myindyx/erikas-style-inspiration/
Devon: https://www.pinterest.com/myindyx/devons-style-inspiration/
Yidi: https://www.pinterest.com/myindyx/yidis-style-inspiration/
Kinsey: https://www.pinterest.com/myindyx/kinseys-style-inspiration/
Once you have completed your homework, make sure to link your Pinterest board within the Style Workshop section of the Indyx app. This way, if you ever work with a personal stylist through Indyx, they’ll have it at their fingertips!
Until next week…
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