Create Your Own Iconic Fashion Style Using Layouts

Fashion may seem like a free-for-all creative exercise, but in all actuality, creating fabulous combinations of clothing and accessories that reflect the inner you requires a bit of planning.

One of the best ways to organize ideas and put together a visual shopping list is making a quick collage of images. You could create such layouts by cutting and pasting pictures from catalogs and magazines, but a much quicker and easier (not to mention less painful--paper cuts, anyone?) method is to create a virtual college instead. Polyvore.com is a foolproof (and free) online service that allows you to plan shopping trips, revise your wardrobe, and create wardrobe "capsules." The site is wonderful for visualizing great outfit ideas. Just drag and drop pictures of clothing, add some delicious accessory photos, and publish your masterpiece into a collage-style, interactive picture.



You can get a bookmark tool from the Polyvore website and use it at your favorite online stores to see how those sinfully expensive sculpted wedges look with that tiered denim skirt (Yay 80's revival!), or use images already in their database to create the layouts. You can send the link to finished sets to your friends to get their opinions before you purchase, print out your finished set to give you a take-along shopping guide, or, if you're like me, just to make 3D versions of wish-lists.


A summer wardrobe idea with items from Forever21.com, Urban Outfitters, Wet Seal.



I just love it. It's free, it's fun, it's fashion. What more could a girl want?

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Talkback: What are your favorite fashion/beauty tools? What can't you live without? Do you use Polyvore.com? Voice your opinion by joining the community conversation via the comment link or contact me direct at editor [at] makemeahotmama.com.


When she's not busy mismanaging Make Me a Hot Mama, Alison (AJae) twitters, writes for A is for Activist! | AlisonJerabek.Com and Art. Freakified. | Freak News Daily, and plays mommy to an adorable little boy. In that order. (At least after said adorable boy is tucked into a snuggly bed. ;)
Drop her a line: editor[at]makemeahotmama.com

You can check out Make Me a Hot Mama's profile at Polyvore.com here.