I have the really good fortune to work for a really cool company where I have a home office. So on the days when I am not visiting or training customers I get to be dressed down a bit. I LOVE this! I guess if I really wanted to I could be in my PJs during home days, but when i was a stay-at-home mom, I had a very dear friend give me some pointers on how to make each day the best it could be as I made the transition to being a domestic goddess. Point #1, get dressed, everyday! Best advice ever...that and sleep when the baby sleeps - which would have been amazing if Jack had napped on a regular basis as a baby and probably explains the problem I now have where I feel the need to go to bed as soon as I put Jack to bed at 8pm!
So back to the outfit photo. My first thought was to try and glam this up like the beautiful pictures I see of wedding gowns. But how do you make jeans and Chucks look like a satin and lace gown? Now that would be an amazing feat of photography! So I quickly tossed out that idea. Chris suggested an action pose - where the clothes look like they are doing something. That was intriguing. How best to pose my outfit for the day...Hmmm. I thought about taking it outside and cleverly pinning it up where it could be watering plants or sitting in a deck chair. But the jeans are heavy and I just couldn't figure out a way to make it look at all interesting. So...back inside for the photo shoot. Now, for anyone that has ever been in my house you know I don't have very many (or ANY) white walls. I am a HUGE fan of the colored paint! So I tried to find a place with the most neutral color pallet - and yes, my grey, red and black room was the most neutral! I might need a color intervention! So my outfit is "posed" in the relaxing position that I wish I could have been enjoying all day. Oh to be able to lounge about and read the new InStyle magazine that arrived in my mailbox...bliss! But no such luck. Closest I could get was to take my clothes off between calls and place them where I was wishing to be! I put the cell phone in as my only accessory which is pretty true to life!
Oh and speaking of outfits and clothes and things...OK so not my best transition but I had just mentioned the InStyle so I am going with it. I used to have the ability to accessorize and put outfits together without first seeing them on the mannequin in the store. However, over time I seemed to have lost that ability. I struggled to pull outfits together and found myself with a bunch of clothes that I really liked but never wore because I couldn't figure out how to wear them...or it may be because they were from college and I didn't fit into them anymore - but I'm not focusing on that! Anyway, then Pinterest came into my life and lead my to Polyvore! Both sites require you to register, but are free. What is so great about Polyvore is that you can actually create a virtual closet where you log in the items you have (or something similar) or look for pieces that you love. When you click on the article of clothing or accessory it will open up a little box that lets you select save to my items or view details. The details will show you outfits that the item has been used/featured in. And poof - you have a new idea on an outfit you never thought of. I love this! We will call Polyvore my NUGGET #3! An extra bonus if you are on Pinterest, you can follow Polyvore and see when new outfits are created and then save the ones you like for later reference. However, this is sort of like pinning recipes - they look so awesome in the picture and you say to yourself "I am totally going to do that" but deep down you know you won't actually cook/bake/wear any of it. I have a friend who calls her Food board on Pinterest - food that looks great but I will never make. Got to love a lady that is honest with herself!
One disclaimer about Polyvore - inevitably you will find this amazing outfit that utilizes the 1 new article of clothing you have bought or are trying to wear and you will have NOTHING else that makes up the outfit which leads to a lot of late night on line shopping to "round out" your wardrobe. And like Pinterest (if you aren't pinning you should be!) Polyvore can be a monster time suck. Unlike my blog that is short and sweet! =) Have a great day!