Ohhhhh yeah! Fashion + social media, two of my favourite things, brought together for this post!
And no, I don’t just spend all day trawling the net for pretty pictures on Pinterest (but if someone knows a job that will pay me to do just that, my ears are open!) BUT I do spend quite a bit of time online researching, reading, looking and interacting with other fashion lovers as part of my job – a BIG part of my job.
What I want to talk to you guys about today though, is how YOU can use social media in your daily life to help you with your fashion journey – whether that’s researching new trends, finding out about sales or just seeing what other people like you are wearing.
So here are my main online resources broken down and explained for you.
Pinterest is like a mood board for you life – but on your computer instead!
How it works: You create an account, and start browsing the site for images you like (you can search the whole site, or by category like “Women’s Fashion, or Food and Drink” or just search something in particular you are looking for like “blazer” or “stripes”).
You then “pin” them to your own set of boards. You can create different categories for your boards to organise your pins. Some of my boards are here for you to see:
These are just a few of my boards on Pinterest – click on the image to see them!
Why use it: The idea is that you can use your boards as a reference source when you need them. Planning a party? Go and have a look at all the yummy nibbles you pinned. Getting married? This is your DREAM website for styling ideas! Need some outfit inspiration? Check out those dresses your pinned a couple of months ago.
How I use it: I LOVE Pinterest for fashion ideas – I’m always pinning inspiration for new outfits and looks, and it’s a really good way to see what shapes, colours and styles of clothing you like by looking back on your boards. Pinterest is also a great research tool for me! Heaps of other bloggers and fashion experts pins their images on Pinterest so I can see what trends are on their way here.
I TOTALLY stole her look
I also get my personal styling clients to create their own boards on Pinterest and share them with me so I can see the kinds of things THEY see as their style. Even if a client doesn’t think they don’t what their style is, just by pinning things they like, their style will emerge.
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OK, you have to be living under a rock to NOT know what Facebook is, even if you are one of the few still not connected. But how do you use it for fashion and style!
Well most businesses these days are pretty savvy when it comes to social media and they understand they need to have a presence online, this includes fashion and beauty brands!
The biggest difference for me between say, a brands website, and their Facebook page lets you get behinds the scenes of the brand and it’s creators and it allows us, as fans, to interact with the company on a different level.
Learn tips and tricks from the experts behind the brands, see sneak previews of what products are garments are coming soon and the most exciting thing is that Facebook allows you to have a two-way conversation with the brand, something that a plain old website can’t do. Have a question about a product? Pose it to the brand of Facebook and get a reply, have you worn the label to an event and want to show it off? Post a picture of you on their Facebook page!
Here are some of my favourite fashion and beauty brands on Facebook:
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Who doesn’t love a sneaky selfie?! (GUILTY!) but who knew that photo-sharing app Instagram could be so popular and powerful in such a short time!
What is it? Instagram is basically a whole bunch of pictures for you to look at (kinda like Pinterest) but they seem to be much more personal. You can follow your friends, celebs or more importantly for this post, brands.
Why use it? If you are uploading photos, Instagram uses filters which change the composition of the photos you are taking – these filters can give you a tan, remove spots and blemishes and make your eyes, skin, or pink top really pop! You can play with all the filters on your image before you select the final one.
How I use it: Instagram is a great way for me to take and treat images for the blog and my other social media sites – if I’m in a store and see something I think you guys will love, I can quickly take a snap on my phone, treat it, and have it up on my Instagram stream in less than 5 minutes. I don’t have to worry about coming home, loading the image onto my computer, treating it them sending it to all of you!
Here are just a few of my #everydaystyle outfits from my Instagram feed
I’ve also been playing along with Nikki Parkinson’s Styling You #everydaystyle on Instagram and Facebook – it’s about women from all walks of life sharing their everyday style (not just their dressed up, going out style). Read more about it here!
I also us Instagram to keep track of brands and other bloggers that I love! It’s always nice to see a sneak peek of next season’s photo shoot, or to see what another blogger is writing about. It’s simple and easy to use – highly recommended.
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FASHION AND STYLE BLOGS
Well obviously you’ve worked that out already because you are reading mine haha! But seriously, one of my favourite “me time” things to do is stalk other fashion blogs and totally steal be inspired by their blogs! On of my favourite blogs is from a gorgeous American called Kendi Skeen, her blog is KendiEveryday and I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve actually bought things I’ve seen in her blog!
stalker alert!
And Kendi Everyday is just one of the AMAZING blogs out there written by real women from around the world – they are different sizes, shapes, heights and colours and have different lifestyles, budgets and personal styles so there is something out there for everyone.
Here are a few more of my faves:
They are just some of the awesome fashion blogs out there worth checking out.
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So there are just a few of the ways you can use social media to increase your style cred – do you have any other ways that YOU use your online presence? I’d love to hear – tell me in the comments section below.
Love & Style Always
Cait xoxo
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