How to use Pinterest to organize and track what’s in your closet.
It’s Wednesday night. You’ve been invited to a networking party at the last minute. Do you know where and what your outfit is?
How about accessories? What handbag will fit the bill?
Jewelry?
Shoes?
Couldn’t figure it out? And you went anyway, in a mediocre outfit, lacking any accessories or jewelry because you didn’t have time to try on or locate anything suitable. Since you didn’t feel your best, you lacked the confidence to approach that big client you’ve been meaning to follow up with. Darn.
Being well dressed and feeling good about how we present ourselves, makes us each more confident.
Does your wardrobe have you feeling bamboozled? Do you feel stuck trying to figure out what jewelry and accessories you own will work for a particular occasion or event? Do you forget what you own because you don’t wear certain items often enough? Do you go out shopping only to find out a month later that you own the almost the exact same thing you just bought?
You don’t have to succumb to the woes of “What am I going to Wear?!” I have helped many clients get a grip on their wardrobe and thus a grip on their accessories and jewelry. There is a better way than trying to store all that clothing and accessory information, coordination and details in your head.
I have lots of clients (including myself) that struggle with remembering what they have and needing ideas on the fly for a last minute birthday party, or invitation to a book signing or when planning something even further out. The first thought is, great I would love to go. The second thought is what am going to wear?
Pinterest. Friends, I would like share one of my most favorite tools in helping clients get a solid overview and inventory of their own wardrobe, accessories and jewelry. I present to you Pinterest. The benefits of Pinterest are as follows:
- Saves you time
- Saves you money
- You will look better dressed
- Deciding your outfit for an event will be less stressful and more fun
If you are not on Pinterest, I highly suggest you get on it if you are internet savvy and like to save useful information that you want to organize and access in an easy, visual manner. You can sign up for a Pinterest account here.
So, now that you are up and running with a Pinterest account, here’s a quick overview of how I advise my clients to use it to organize their clothing, jewelry and accessories.
- Create a your boards
- Photograph each item
- Pin each item of clothing, shoes, accessories and jewelry to the appropriate board
- Pin inspiration photos
- Pin wish list photos
- Delete items that you are donating or retiring
Now, here’s exactly how I like to use Pinterest. Let me preface this guide by saying that my way in certainly not the only way, and you may have your own preferences which is perfectly fine. There is no right or wrong way to use it. The important thing is that your use this great, free resource to help your with your wardrobe and planning for your next purchases.
Set up a Pinterest account. You can do that here. It’s easy to set up and it’s FREE! So to get started you will want to log into your account.
Create boards for each occasion or activity in your life. If you have a specific event coming up, say an important party or wedding, or business trip, create a board for each of those events too. You can keep them private if you prefer, meaning that no one else can see them except you. Name the boards that best suit you life and style. Some popular board names include:
- work
- date night
- business conference in X city
- summer weddings
- weekends summer
- weekends fall
- weekends spring
- weekends winter
- formal summer
- formal winter
- networking event
- girls night out
- casual spring/summer
- casual fall/winter
- workout /ath-leisure
- a day in the city
Next, take a photo of each item and each piece of jewelry and every accessory you own. Now this may be a lot of work. But it will help you see quickly where you have pieces that are maybe worn out, need replacing, or completely missing from your wardrobe. It will also help you remember what you have, for scarves, handbags, belts, shoes, etc. Again it will help you see what you have and determine what you need. So, in the long run, once the boards are live and in place you can easily access them, when you need ideas of what you might want to wear, for the next cocktail party, Sunday brunch or important networking event. You can use a digital camera or your smart phone if that is easier. You of course will need to download the photos from the camera to you computer so that you can access them.
Now, start pinning each item to the most appropriate board. Don’t worry about the photos, they needn’t be edited or cropped, you just need to be able to see the item.
Add inspiration photos. I love to add inspiration photos. This is a really fun part and can make your boards fun, and help you create looks with model, movie star, celebrity and real life inspiration and ideas. So, go ahead, add the photos of your favorite fashion mavens and icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Lady Gaga, Kendall Jenner or Sarah Jessica Parker. These photos can be color combinations, nature, food, anything that has colors or details that helps you define, reflect and develop your style.
Wish list photos. As you identify needs in your wardrobe, jewelry or accessories, it is really easy to find ideas on the internet. As you find ideas, at your favorite retailers, or any where for that matter, pin those ideas on your wish list. This is a bit like the inspiration part, but it will help keep track of where you saw items that you wish to own down the road or for an upcoming season. This can really helpful if you see looks from fashion runway shows as many of those items won’t be in stores for months so this is a good place to put those photos so you can reference them down the road without having to remember what designer it was, or what hot new trend you wanted to try in the next season.
Get a quick look at your wardrobe and accessories from anywhere. Now that your boards are set up, you can see all the items that you might choose to wear to an event or activity. You can see quickly where you might need to retire something, or where you are totally missing a key item or accessory. You will have your handbag and jewelry options pinned to that board. So, if you feel like you are lacking and needing something new, you can now make an informed decision on what exactly you need.
When you decide to retire something, remove it from the board, and add new possibilities as a replacement. This will help you remember what you saw on line that you liked so you can check it out later or in person if you visit the mall.
The boards are really good for planning especially if you have an important party or event. Brides and wedding planners are huge fans of Pinterest because they can curate and corral all their ideas into one place on the internet. Stop bookmarking and start pinning.
The wardrobe boards are extremely helpful when you are out shopping for a new outfit and say you are in the fitting room and you wonder, what jewelry will work with this? Do I have the right pieces? Pull out your smart phone and go to your board that for that occasion and see what jewelry you have pinned. Does anything you own already work? Again, I see this as a huge time and money saver as you will be able to see by checking your boards what you already own, and then deciding if your jewelry will work for that outfit. And this will eliminate buying jewelry that may be a duplication of what you already own.
Keep pinning. Your boards can be evergreen and keep evolving. Delete boards that no longer serve you and create new boards as your style and lifestyle evolves.
A few more thoughts:
1. Use this idea for how it works best for you. If you only want to do a board to improve your work wardrobe, just do that one.
2. Use and implement these strategies the next time you clean your closet or organize your wardrobe. In fact these 2 projects work really well together. Make it fun and invite a friend or relative over and work through it together.
3. The main idea here is to help you organize your wardrobe, organize you jewelry, shoes, handbags better so you know what you have without have an elaborate system like the character, Cher (Alicia Silverstone) Clueless.
Share this post with all your friends who would love to learn how to organize their wardrobe with Pinterest.
