Personal Pinterest/My Fall Closet

If you don't have a Pinterest account yet, you should get one.

That being said, one thing that has tripped me up about Pinterest, in spite of all of its benefits - is that half the time when I pin an outfit I think is cute, I don't have anything even remotely similar in my closet. This leaves me in a bit of a dilemma because I'm left with a board full of lovely outfits that I can only envy and look at from a distance.

No bueno.

So, what do I do? First of all, it's great to pin random things that are just pretty to look at - but for the sake of making my life easier, I've started trying to stick to pinning things I already have the makings of in my closet.

That's where this idea started...

I have started creating a virtual closet for myself. It's a pin board of sorts, but it consists of absolutely nothing but what is in my closet.

This board takes the form of an album on my computer called "Outfits" and it's full of pictures like this... 

The idea was born out of the many awkward moments spent in semi-clad pile on the floor bemoaning my denuded state with my poor husband standing by waiting for me to get it together so we aren't late for the fifty millionth time to wherever we're going. 

Sunday mornings are the worst in that regard because the clothing issues are always coupled with a distinct awareness that it's the Lord's Day and I'm basically a heathen for worrying so much about my apparel. 

That whole thing is a work in progress.

Back on track...what I do is pull all of my clothes out of hiding, all the sweaters go in one stack, shirts in another stack, jeans, leggings and scarves have stacks of their own as well.

 I try to be organized but it's just not something I was given in my genetic makeup so my bedroom ends up looking like it got nailed with a howitzer. 

    At this point, I just start piecing together outfits using every possible combination of clothing to figure out what works and what doesn't. Every single outfit I put together gets its picture taken, not cute Pinterest photos... in most of them I'm only wearing one shoe and eventually (see: after I've changed 24 times) I'm not quite so precise in getting out wrinkles or tucking in shirts, regardless - I take a picture.

This is how my virtual closet or personal pin board is built, this is how I attempt to spare my husband the emotional breakdowns associated with not being able to find a decent outfit, this is a feeble attempt at sanity.

Behold:

Above is a lovely example of only having one shoe on, see how smoothly I just happen to place that foot outside of the camera's view? Another interesting fact...I'm not looking too closely, but I'm pretty sure my fly is down. 

Good talk, y'all.

^ You're allowed to try on different shoes in the same photo ^ 

It also helps to turn your toes in, makes it modelesque and trendy. 

You could also argue that it just looks ergonomically unsound.

Bare foot photo bomb. 

So when it's time to get ready to go somewhere, I mosey on over to my outfit album and scroll through my closet to figure out what to wear. Not nearly as messy as my other method and it works as a preventative measure against apparel related breakdowns. 

I make it sound like I get really emotional about clothes... I don't, really. I just get mildly uncomfortable when I start feeling like the Girl of the Limberlost, which I think is understandable.  

This outfit album isn't an earth-shattering idea, but it's something I never considered doing until recently and it has already been very helpful in getting me dressed and out the door faster and looking more put together. It's time consuming..at least it is for me, it would probably go faster if I were more organized, but even so it's well worth the time and energy. 

This method also helps me in figuring out what I don't need in my closet. When I've tried on 20 different outfits and haven't touched a pair of jeans I can pretty much bank on not wearing them. Out they go...pretty simple. 

Hope this is as helpful to you as it has been to me!

- Rachael