Creating a mood board to inspire your style
In the fashion industry a mood board is used as a source of inspiration and a visual aid for creatives, photographers and editors. Who says you can’t have your own mood board to inspire you and help you find your individual style?
Where to begin?
Perhaps you prefer to go old school and have a physical board with magazine clippings, photographs, colour swatches, fabric swatches and textures.
I use Pinterest but Canva also has a mood board option. I'm sure there are many others.
Who and what to pin
Anyone or anything that inspires you including: fashion icons, runway photos, street style, celebrities, designers, artists, actors, musicians, architecture and literature.
I also collect photos that are not of actual clothing items but speak to me in terms of colour and texture. It’s also useful to pull in images of hairstyles and accessories.
You can add single items of clothing to your mood board so as you collect more images you can start putting outfits together.
Some people like to create multiple boards and divide looks up into, for example, seasonal, workwear, casual, party,
You can also add photos of your own clothes … perhaps things that you are having trouble styling.
What's nice about Pinterest is that once you've collected an archive of photos you can edit them to put complementary images together and create a complete look.
You may see your mood board develop over the months as you become more confident and more adventurous.
A mood board can help you:
Identify common themes in your fashion interests, colours or silhouettes.
Provide inspiration for new outfits and colour combinations you may not have considered.
Find cheaper alternatives to clothes that are beyond your budget with clever styling tricks - more on this in a later blog.
Avoid impulse buys.
Act as a reference when out shopping.
Me and my mood board
My mood board is mostly an assault on the senses but yours needn’t be like that. We’re not all maximalists. But it is ONLY a board, so embrace the wild side.
In a recent video I talked about pattern on pattern and looking at my Pinterest board I see that it is awash with colour, although I also flirt with a dark grungy look and heavily textured layers.
I am completely undiscriminating when it comes to collecting images. I pin like crazy and then edit later. Maybe something attracted me initially but on closer inspection, it's not for me.
I found it invaluable last year when I was collating ideas for a Trash Chic fashion shoot ... and it really did live up to it's name then by creating the right 'mood' for the INTO THE WOODS shoot.
I would love to see some of your mood boards ... I'm always open to ideas and inspiration. Email me at shop@trashchic.co.uk
