Clarify Your Style

Not your writing style — Well, yes, your writing style, of course, I’m not saying you shouldn’t, I’m just saying…. I start again.

My guest today, the wonderfully named Bianca Chesimard, has written a gorgeous book called STYLE CLARITY. If you’ve seen how I dress If you know me well, you know my style usually runs to blue jeans and T-shirts (That’s a style! It IS! It is TOO!). I also have a closet full of clothes I don’t know whether to keep or get rid of. Bianca is helping me, through the agency of the book and through our connection on Polyvore. [ALAS! POLYVORE IS NO MORE!]

Talk to us, Bianca!

With the rise of new visual tools like Pinterest and all the fashion apps on phones, people don’t seem to talk about Polyvore as much as they used to.  But I would like to encourage everyone to give it a try! Polyvore is a fashion tool, where you can create outfits on a fashion board using pieces already stored in their system, or by “clipping” clothing items you like from the web.

In The Style Clarity Workbook, I discuss many exercises and activities that help you create a style identity. Polyvore is a great place to do some additional style activities.

You can pull in a single article of clothing that you LOVE but aren’t sure how to wear yet. By playing around with different outfit options, you can find ways to fit the item in your wardrobe. Sometimes visualization is key in fitting clothing together.

You can also find a way to create the feel of the item you like, and turn it into something workable in real life.

You can use Polyvore to store an approximation of your own wardrobe, and use it for outfit planning. You can mix and match pieces you have right from your laptop – discover new combinations to wear.

You can also use Polyvore to express your creativity. One of the subjects covered in the Style Clarity Workbook is the idea that while you have a style you love, it may not fit in your life. Suppose you have a penchant for ballgowns and elbow length gloves, but you are a preschool teacher, with very few galas to attend. Polyvore is a great place to exercise your “fantasy” wardrobe.

These are all fun ways to play with Polyvore and use it to help develop and stimulate your wardrobe!

Bianca Chesimard is the author of The Style Clarity Workbook, and the creator of the Style Clarity website and blog.  She spent several years in the data analysis field, which, combined with a love for fashion and style, led her to develop the Style Clarity method and write the workbook.  She is a wife and mother, and enjoys a stylish life in Virginia.

See you on Polyvore, where we will clearly be stylish!

And visit Patricia Stoltey’s blog for today’s blog tour post about THE CORNER CAFE.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Use Polyvore as many authors do, to create or discover a style for your characters.

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Clarify Your Style

  1. Helen Ginger

    June 25, 2012 at 8:29am

    Hmm, I’ll have to go over and see if Polyvore or the ever changing Web has pictures of clothes from the 1980s, which is the era of most of the things in my closet. I probably will be better off reading Bianca’s book first.

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  2. Jane

    June 25, 2012 at 9:38am

    Thanks for the tiny url. I just spent some quality time back in the ’80’s!
    My current idea of fashion is a t-shirt with no stains and no worn-out spots.
    But it’s just a background for a great necklace. Right?

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  3. STephen Tremp

    June 25, 2012 at 9:53am

    Its amazing what’s available online to help people. I’d like to try one with different haircuts. That way I could see how I look before getting a bad hair cut.

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  4. Maryann Miller

    June 25, 2012 at 10:36am

    My “style” is pretty close to yours, Marian. Using Polyvore is a lot like playing with paper dolls. Did you do that as a kid?

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      June 25, 2012 at 1:17pm

      That’s what my husband calls it, Maryann! I did play paper dolls as a kid! My favorites were Career Girls paper dolls, but I loved the Nutcracker Suite ones, too. Hated cutting them out, though!

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  5. Dani G.

    June 25, 2012 at 12:53pm

    I don’t fit any style – decidedly black with occasional artsy-fartsy details. The older I get, the more I’m inclined to draw as little attention to myself as possible. I would be the fashion client from hell! 😀 When I was very young, I loved the fashion world – worked in retail as a display artist and did fashion illustrations for the newspaper. But that only lasted about five years. Sigh.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      June 25, 2012 at 1:18pm

      Dani, as Jane said, when I dress up, I pick clothes like an artist picks a background wash. It’s all about the bling. lol!

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  6. Bianca Chesimard

    June 25, 2012 at 2:42pm

    Marian,
    Thank you so much for hosting today! I have so much fun looking at your Polyvore boards! I love that fashion diva that is inside of you bursting to get out 🙂

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      June 25, 2012 at 3:59pm

      My dream is to sell a bazillion books, get rid of all my clothes and buy a small but perfect wardrobe. Two sizes smaller. And have it fit.

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  7. Nicolle Olores

    June 26, 2012 at 8:12pm

    Hi Marian. Thanks for taking time to share about Bianca. I am impressed by her background when it comes to writing style and I really appreciate it.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      June 26, 2012 at 9:12pm

      Thanks, Nicolle. Bianca’s book is fun to work through. I may have a character work through it, as a way for me to get to know the character better. 🙂

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