Up your fashion game by finding a muse

Laura’s Playlist
4 min readOct 11, 2020

A fashion muse — a source of inspiration for a creative artist.

I like to think that deep down within me, I too am a creative artist, yet somehow the pressures of every day life get in the way from allowing me to unleash my full potential. There’s so many things to juggle between family, work and relationships, that outfit creation can be put on the backburner.

Having said that I love how I feel when I’ve carefully crafted a perfect outfit H2T (head to toe). I love how an outfit can transform my mood or represent how I want to feel any given day. To me, what you wear is so much more than clothes, it’s an expression. An outfit can evoke emotions of not only yourself, but others as well. It can make people smile, or force people to listen; it can convey a message or drive people to rethink; it is more powerful than you may recognize.

So how can you “look good” (yes this is subjective to each person), without breaking the bank or spending countless hours, of which you don’t have, shopping and piecing items together. My advice, pull inspiration from others, and here’s how in 7 easy steps:

Step 1 — Download the Pinterest App right now. I’ll wait while you set up a profile (note that you can make the profile public or private).

Step 2 — Type in the name of the celebrities, influencers, or fashion designers who you admire or think always look good. I’m a huge fan of Fashion Designer/Socialite, Olivia Palermo. Her unique take on classics and her ability to style feminine looks with harder pieces has me hooked. Her aesthetic spoke to me and has single-handedly influenced my wardrobe for the better part of a decade. Take the time here to really find the people who you want to inspire your looks.

Olivia Palermo’s Street Styles on Pinterest

Step 3 — Scroll through the photos and when you see something you like, tap the image, hit save. Now because you’re new, you won’t have any “Boards” created so now is your chance to name your board whatever you like. I call my most used board “Fashionista Muses” and save all my favourite celebrity styles there. Keep in mind that celebrities have a team of stylists and wardrobe consultants. They’ve done the work, so you don’t have to.

Step 4 — When you have the time, open up the images and peruse through your closet for pieces that you already have that are matches or closely related. Keep in mind these images are supposed to inspire your outfits, they don’t need to be exact replicas. Try to find matching colours or instead try matching shapes. From there you can start to piece together some of your favourite looks.

Step 5 — If you’re really in love with one particular outfit but honestly have nothing in the closet even remotely similar, now it’s time to shop. I usually start by finding out the exact brand of clothing my Fashionista Muse was wearing. Keep in mind not all celebrity outfits are luxury designers; in fact, you’ll be surprised how often you find out a piece is from Zara!

Step 6 — If you can’t afford the exact piece of your muse, or it’s sold out, now we have to get creative. Time to sharpen up on your Google skills. Sometimes I will go to my favourite store’s websites and look around for something similar; often times if something has come up in my Pinterest feed, it’s a style currently being sold in stores so I luck out more times that I’d like to count. Other times, I have to play around with stores I’ve never heard of. Yes, ordering online can be scary and yes I have made a number of mistakes. In these circumstances, my advice to you is don’t spend a lot of money on it so even if it does come and doesn’t fit or look good and you have no clue how to send it back, then you haven’t broken the bank.

My versions on the left, Olivia Palermo’s versions on the right.

Step 7 — Rarely when I’m shopping at the mall do I go in with the intention of finding exactly what I’m looking for. More often, I like to shop with blank slate and see if something speaks to me. Usually an item of clothing will jump off the rack and remind me of the most perfect outfit I saw on Pinterest, and nothing makes me more excited than knowing I am about to nail another copycat look.

Pretty easy right? Now go try it for yourself.

Follow me on Instagram @laurastewartto

Friend me on Facebook @laurastewartto

Connect with me on Pinterest @laurasstewartto

--

--

Laura’s Playlist

Here I will share interesting observations, life changing moments, funny musings, tales of accomplishment, stories of hardship, and fashion tips.