Outfit From Photography Contest: Finalists Announced

A few weeks ago I announced a contest in this post I wrote about creating an outfit from photography and how you could use beautiful photos as inspiration to create fashionable looks. In this post I also posed a challenge to readers when I posted the photo below photograph and asked readers to come up with an outfit of their own and submit it me for a chance to win an hour virtual style session with me. Today, I am posting the finalists. It's your turn to vote for the winner.

I received tons of entries. Tons. Like, a mind-blowing amount of entries that I just finished sifting through. Let me tell you, coming up with my top five favorites was like Sophie's Choice. After all the work the contestants put towards creating their outfits it broke my heart to drop any of them from the running. But I had to choose just five. Arrghh!!! So, if you did a submit an outfit and it wasn't chosen, please know that it wasn't easy not selecting you.

You may be wondering how I chose these finalists. I looked a few things. The first was, even if it was a nice outfit that captured the colors in the outfit, how wearable was it? The second thing I looked at was if the outfit not only captured the colors in the picture but fully embodied the feeling of it. The last thing I looked at was if it really stopped me longer than the others. Basically, it had to stand out from the rest, which was hard. Like I said, so many of the entries were beyond impressive and most of the photos fit the criteria above. Everyone who submitted an entry should be proud and my hope is that you will keep on with an exercise like this to create outfits in your wardrobe. As one contestant told me, "Once I started I just couldn't stop. It was so much fun!"

Anyway, without further adieu, here are the top five finalists, in no particular order. It is now your turn to vote on which outfit, based on the photo, you think should win. In the comments below, write down the name of your choice. I will tally the votes and announce the winner on February 14th.

Outfit From Photography Contest: The Finalists

Entry #1- Karen

What I liked about Karen's submission was the way she added the bright accents off of the deep purple and greens in the photo. I not only like the pieces she choose (That coat is gorgeous) but I liked how beautifully they all harmonized.
Entry #2- Amy
I liked Amy's submission for the same reason I liked Karen's; the rich deep colors anchoring the bright accessories. There is really something mysterious and dark about the original photo that makes you wonder what what is behind that bright house. I just liked the way Amy worked with all these dark shades and used it as a base for the brights, just like the photo.
Entry #3- Pat
Pat took a totally different approach when creating her outfit. As I announced in the contest, it didn't matter how the entrants created their looks, they were free to do it any way they wanted. While most used Polyvore, Pat styled her look using pieces from her closet. She definitely proved the outfit is wearable. Unlike the other two photos, Pat's outfit isn't as deep or rich, but it still managed to pull together the colors beautifully. I have to wonder if she would have created this look without the photo inspiration?
Entry #4- Rebecca
Rebecca did a very smart thing by using this print in her outfit, it picks up all the colors found in the photo. I liked how she took it a step further and finished the look with a pair of plum boots, earrings and belt, a green clutch and that ivory topper.
Entry #5- Sarah
This last finalist comes from Sarah. I thought it was a very thoughtful and realistic way to approach the colors in the outfit. The look itself is incredibly basic, but what Sarah managed to do was take a typical work outfit and give it some pizzazz by working with the color palette.

All of you who submitted a photo did excellent, EXCELLENT, work! If I learned anything from creating this contest is that I will have to do more in the future!