A Year and a Day

I was sorting through my endless e-mail the other day and noticed that I "have a new friend on polyvore!" Huh. Remember polyvore? Do people still use it, or had pinterest taken its place? That'd be sad because poly really has it all. That, and I'm pretty sure I already dislike pinterest for being too indie for me. (That's just what I assume, having been on only once for about a minute and a half.)

Anyway, polyvore is a really great tool for finding your style. There are a zillion categories of clothing - just list a bunch of synonyms for "shirt" and you've got the idea - that you can peruse in a couple of different ways. One is to search for something specific, like 'blue suede shoes.' Another is to search by clothing type, saving to your page anything that grabs you. Yet another is to view other users' collections, complete with backgrounds, text and even complementary home goods.

I mean, wow. People really do have a lot of time on their hands. I don't, so I take full advantage of the fact that they do.

Everything you see that you like, you save. You can make your own collections - I had one in the past called "Yellow and Blue done four ways" which I still draw from - or just keep your virtual inventory at your fingertips for rainy-day inspiration.

Pinterest may have everything, including pics of teacup dogs, raspberry coffee cake recipes and watercolors of up-and-coming artists. But polyvore trumps them by narrowing its scope to clothes only.

And did I mention yet that it's not all from high end lines? It's like Burberry, Lanvin, Chloe and Mossimo had a sleepover at the White House/Black Market and threw in a little H&M for good measure. So it's not like when you flip through fall Vogue and scream, "I MUST HAVE THAT!" at the pages, only to have them reply back smugly, "Oh, but my dear, you never could," at which point you realize it's true and commence to sobbing over those beautiful pages.

No, when you visit polyvore you actually have a chance to actually obtain something you like! And I mean within the next month, not over the course of ten years or precluding a visit to a foreign country.

If you don't know "who you are" stylistically, or are going through a change of style, or have pretty much got it down but just need a shot in the arm, make some time for a polyvore visit. It's fun and a welcome break from all the monotony that is the daily grind. Who knows, you might find those perfect cobalt blue, patent leather, t-strap Mary Janes you've been dreaming about...