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How To Map Out An Outfit: Flat Lay To Fabulous

How To Map Out An Outfit: Flat Lay To Fabulous

This shouldn't be news to anyone, but Instagram is a must have social media channel for any blogger. As one really establishes themselves on the platform, one of the biggest tips to follow is having a consistent theme for your feed. If you want people to follow and stick with you through your content sharing journey, you need to give them an idea of what they can expect from you. I started taking my IG seriously about 3 or so years ago, and figuring out my theme was something that I put a lot of thought behind. I knew that fashion was an obvious choice for me, but determining what I would feature in my content was the biggest challenge. I didn't have (and honestly still don't) someone who could consistently take pictures of me, so I had to get creative. 

Flat lay images have been a very popular type of content for years. From food, to crafts, to clothes - flat lay is a general concept that can accommodate a variety of themes. Also referred to as style grids in the fashion niche, this was a practical approach that I knew I could take with my content, so I made them a regular part of my feed. If you scroll through some of my early IG photos, you'll see a bundle of flat lays sprinkled about - as well as a few featured in some of my initial fashion blog posts. As my content vision and direction has evolved, I've moved away from these types of images, but that does not mean that flat lays are not still a highly relevant concept. In fact, some of my strongest pieces of content were flat lays. 

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The Outfit Map

Here is one of my most popular flat lay images - I got so much positive feedback when I posted this back in the fall. It must have given people some pretty strong autumn vibes, or perhaps people felt the creativity and thought that I put into the outfit. Whatever the case, it was encouraging, and I even had someone comment on the photo saying, "When are you going to model this for us"? So nice to hear, so much in fact that I decided I would go ahead and feature it in a blog post. But before I get into how the outfit looks on me, I wanted to breakdown how I put it together:

  1. The starting point for this look was the beanie, which I got years ago from Zumiez or some place like that (the brand is Coal Headwear). Usually it's a shirt or pair of pants that initiate the assembly of an outfit, but I absolutely love this beanie and have not given it enough time to shine. So boom, beanie took the lead. 
  2. With such a bright/whitish beanie, I could have either steered the look bright or let the beanie pop with a darker look. I went bright, and white pants (from H&M) were the perfect choice for coordinating top to bottom. 
  3. Given that it was fall, sweaters were first pick to incorporate. Nothing screams autumn more than a stylish neutral top to keep your look in tune with the season. This sweater (from Forever 21 Men) has been another neglected item in my wardrobe, but this misfit turned out to be the perfect fit.  
  4. Shoes? That's easy - I always have at least 3 pairs of black boots in my collection at a time, and you can never go wrong with a black boot. Fun fact: I tagged this shoe brand (Bull Boxer Shoes) in the Instagram post and they asked if they could feature it on their page. You have no idea how far a solid look can take you. 
The sweater looks more red compared to how it looks in the flat lay, but that's largelydue to the environment, Instagram filter, etc.

The sweater looks more red compared to how it looks in the flat lay, but that's largely

due to the environment, Instagram filter, etc.

An Outfit Comes To Life

Voilà! I can't believe I slept on brining this outfit to life for so long. It's honestly not something that I would have thought to put together regularly, but thanks to a fun flat lay, I was able to experiment with some different pieces and create a unique look that made me feel absolutely fantastic. One of the decisions that I made in putting the outfit on was to tuck some of the sweater into my pants. When I got this sweater, I intentionally got an XL (I usually wear Small) because I get into the oversized, long form look from time to time. I didn't want to wear it completely untucked, because that does tend to take the attention away from the other elements of the outfit. By tucking in just a bit of the sweater, you get the cred for still having a longer form look, but you display your true fashion sense by showing that you know how to take complete ownership of how you wear the clothes. #Stylist.

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Outfit Optimizations

There are just a few changes/additions that I made in bringing this flat lay to life - if I were to use some of my digital marketing talk, you could say I made some real-time optimizations to the look:

  1. If you read my "Powerful in Pink" blog, you'll know how in love I am with these Steve Madden boots that I got recently. I wear them almost everyday - and I always catch people checking them out as I walk by. Obviously, I needed to wear them with this outfit for an extra bit of flair. 
  2. My Calvin Klein backpack, which I've had for years but has a timeless and universal appeal, was a great addition as well. With the boots being the only touch of black in the outfit, the bag helped make a connection from top to bottom, a parallel contrast to the white in the beanie and pants. 
  3. I didn't really have any necklaces that I thought worked with this outfit when I did the flat lay, so I just featured some wrist wear. But of course, Topman came through with some more accessories that I couldn't resist. These necklaces are long, and I felt they mirrored the length of the sweater very nicely. 
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Key Takeway

Flat lays are a great way to map out a look before you go through all of the trouble of trying it on. You can swap items in and out to arrive at the most coordinated outfit, and experiment with clothing items that you don't usually wear or you are not sure how to incorporate. You can also share the look with a friend or post it on social media to get some feedback/perspective. Of course, the final look may need some optimizations as you're putting it on, but at least an outfit grid can get you started and get some creative juices flowing.  

  • So, my challenge for you is to try putting together one flat lay with 1 or 2 pieces that you haven't worn in the past 3-6 months. I think you'll be surprised with what your inner fashionista is able to create. 
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