Polyvoracious (Polyvore ModCloth Challenge)

Good morning!

Always a fan of getting blogger-related messages in my inbox (got vintage questions? Mail me, bro!), I was pleasantly surprised to see the words "ModCloth" and "challenge" in the subject line of one of my unopened emails last week. "Please, please, please be a free dress" was my initial reaction, and I found myself only a tiny bit disappointed when it turned out to be a "hey, you should try this blogger challenge thing we're doing with Polyvore!". Still, lightyears more exciting that the occasional "post about our Taiwanese contacts company for money" mails that I get in relation to the this blog. I hopped over via the link, and started nosing around to see what all you could do with Polyvore.

To Wear with Flair by shewasabird featuring a mini skirt

Probably everyone and their mom already knows about this site-- at the advanced age of 28, I find I'm "discovering" things that folks have already been using for a decade with alarming frequency. Ain't I hep? Ain't I au courant? Well, in this case, the news was news on me. Polyvore allows you to create these clickable collages of curated goodies, and after a few initial hiccoughs (what happened to the belt I just put there? Why won't it be brought to forward? Yeuuugh!), I found myself trying to think of things I wanted to put together. The above collage was made with only items from the in-site search engine, which is why you have a ensemble that costs almost four thousand dollars. Good gracious! I bet you can't guess what the most expensive item is (hint: it is not the Rod Stewart concert shirt, which, though worth its weight in rubies, is oh-so-moderately priced at $250...I hope you understand that my love for Rod is real, but that sticker shock is killing me). See if you're right here. I could put this exact outfit together, with similar estate sale or Goodwill items, for about $40, bag and all. Polyvore, this is frustrating!

Date Night by shewasabird featuring Napoleon Perdis

This million dollar shopping put me off at first. Type in "mid century couch", for instance, and eighty search results appear with examples in the five digit price range. As much as I like looking at truly magnificent examples of what I would buy if I were married to an aging rock star or bank president, this is not relevant to my life. Who shops 1stdibs and the like? I mean, I wish I could, but not in this lifetime. In the two fashion collages you see above, I tried to use examples of things I would actually buy by importing them via the "clipper" pin tool, where you can choose items from any website in the world to realistically represent your tastes. For the sake of full disclosure, that is a $400 Egyptian-revival antique necklace, and that is an almost $1,400 Charlotte Olympia clutch, but the rest are things you could actually buy and wear without mortgaging your home. They were so similar to the things I would buy (ie cheap knockoffs of either), that I left 'em in anyway. I was startled by how much this actually looks like an outfit I would wear out, of a Friday, to paint the town red.

So how about this ModCloth challenge? Check it out:

Modcloth Challenge She Was a Bird by shewasabird featuring kohls dresses

We were given the black dress with gold buttons you see here to work with, and allowed up to seven accessories, which in my case includes this stool and portable record player (have turntable, will travel). I wanted to make it look as much like something I would wear as possible, so I tricked the simple dress out with gold, gold, and more gold accents, and a hat after my own heart. These flats with their ankle straps would look really neat against black opaque tights, and that kitty cat purse is something I'm actually thinking about buying (falling in love was never part of the plan, but what can you do). Now I want to make all kinds of canvases on Polyvore-- what my house would look like underwater or as a traditional Zuni Indian dwelling...how I could dress up exactly like JC in Mildred Pierce....what a living room would look like entirely decorated by portraits of babies made with real human hair...THE SKY IS THE LIMIT. I don't think this is what Polyvore was originally intended for, but by golly, it's how I'm going to use it!

Anyway, come follow me if you're already on Polyvore, or check it out if you get a chance and tell me what you think! I'll be busy looking up how to set the back ground as "adobe hut" and pinning images of Hollywood Regency furniture. And keep your fingers crossed-- the winner of the Polyvore challenge has their work posted on ModCloth's front page with a link back to the blog! I don't know how the winner is determined and I'm too lazy to check the email again, but here's hopin!

How about you? Do you use Polyvore? What kinds of collages do you make if you do or would you if you don't? Have you made any neat online discoveries lately that are as time consuming as they are fun? What do you think of the outfits I put together? Let's talk!

That's all for today, but more reporting from the vintage front tomorrow. Have a great Wednesday, and I'll see you then!