A dress does not an outfit make - part one, inspirational style queens

A friend who I talk to about blogging and vintage styling a lot made a passing comment the other day and I've decided to make the subject of this post.

We were talking about outfits and shopping and she said that she has a lot of nice clothes, but she struggles to accessorise and put things together to make an outfit. “I don’t end up looking put together and I feel like that’s important. Especially for work.”  

Some (most of them if I’m honest) days, I struggle with this too. I have a wardrobe full to the brim of clothes and shoes and yet I struggle to walk out of the house and feel properly put together. A pretty dress does not an outfit make. Though it’s a good start.

There's not a clear answer on how to suddenly become better at styling. I think I'm okay at it, but then some days I get to work and feel like a hot mess and wonder if I got dressed and did my hair in the dark. But there are a few ways I became more comfortable with putting together a proper outfit.

To start with, inspiration helps. I love following girls on Instagram and Facebook, and have a bunch of blogs bookmarked for style inspiration. You don’t need to have the exact same things in your wardrobe to learn from other girls online, just look at how they put things together! Some of my favourites are (and these are all posted with the kind permission of each blogger/instagrammer):

Picture courtesy of Miss Osiria Rose

Curve Creation on Instagram, is Miss Osiria Rose or Missi (also find her on Facebook and at her blog). I've been following Missi for a long time and I love the way she works colour into her outfits. She looks polished and put together, work appropriate but also shows off her unique style, which to me, is really important (especially considering offices can be a sea of black work clothes!). 

Photo courtesy of Miss Osiria Rose

You might also know Missi from her business Daisy Jean Floral Designs, where she creates beautiful hair flowers!

Photo courtesy of Sammi of the Soubrette Brunette

The Soubrette Brunette is one of my absolute favourite bloggers (I was so happy when she gave me permission to share her page, I had a little squeal) and it was really hard to pick a couple of pictures to use for this post. Sammi is amazing at putting together cute outfits and she always looks completely put together.

This outfit though! I love the theming
Photo courtesy of Sammi of the Soubrette Brunette

I love the little touches she adds to every outfit. They really appeal to me as someone who loves to dress with a theme! Living on the other side of the world means that when winter begins here, I can go back through her posts and look at a whole season's outfits to get inspiration too. You can find her blog at the link above. She's also on Instagram here and Facebook here.

Photo courtesy of Junebugs and Georgia Peaches

Junebugs and Georgia Peaches are just the cutest girls alive. I love their style and their wardrobes (along with their taste in books)... basically, I think if we lived closer, we'd all definitely be friends! Their blog is a great place to go to for inspiration and I love the way they put together outfits and share their inspiration. Also, if you check out the coming soon section on Pinupgirlclothing.com, you'll see that these lucky girls have a whole collection named after them (I want soooo many things from this range).

Photo courtesy of Junebugs and Georgia Peaches

One of the many things I've  learned from these girls is how to pack for a trip. They always lay out their outfits and shoes before going away and it's helped me work out a better way of packing - plan the full outfit instead of chucking things in my suitcase willy-nilly. This is especially great for me at the moment with my pending US trip. You can find their blog at the link above, June's instagram here, Amelia's here and their Facebook here.

Photo courtesy of Miss Amy May (from here)

Moving across the pond now to Miss Amy May. Amy is definitely an inspiration to a lot of girls out there. She's friendly, an excellent writer, a style queen and just look at that beautiful smile. I found Amy via her Instagram and am now a regular reader of her excellent blog, which you can find by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Miss Amy May (from here)

Amy's not only great at putting together an outfit, she's crafty too (which means if she wants something, like a pair of sundae shoes, then she works out how to make them herself). Amy's been incredibly generous to girls in the pinup community, sharing her story and her hints and tips for body confidence and positivity and I always love seeing her updates. 

Photo courtesy of Bristol (she says this is her favourite outfit - I love it too!!)

And last but definitely not least is Bristol. I first came across this gorgeous girl's awesome outfits through the Trashy Diva community and I keep finding myself waiting for her OOTD posts eagerly. I've just discovered her blog and Instagram and have bookmarked them for inspiration. She's a girl after my own heart with the themed dressing, always managing to pull out an elements that match or work together to form a complete look.

Photo courtesy of Bristol

So those are some of my favourite style queens. Thanks to every one of these gorgeous ladies for letting me share their pictures, make sure you say thanks by liking/following commenting/visiting and loving them!

This isn't an exhaustive list, and I haven't posted anyone who didn't give me permission to, so do your own hunting around and find some girls with style you love to get some inspiration! Let me know who you find by leaving a link in a comment below so I can follow them too.

In part two of this series, next week, I'll talk about taking selfies to help you work out how to build an outfit, so stay tuned. And as always, if you have questions or suggestions for things you'd like to see me write about, please leave me a comment or email me at miss_mickey@outlook.com. I love hearing from you.