Fashion magazines could be considered a form of home décor in my apartment, considering how many I hold onto and use to my creative advantage when it comes to seeking post ideas. I’ve gotten better about my hoarding problem and now keep the current month’s worth of copies in my apartment, purging the copies from the previous month into recycling after ripping out pages I find suitable for another time.

Print is slowly but surely being replaced with digital content, but there’s a huge perk to having a tangible medium of inspiration in your hand versus the Internet. Within these pages of each month’s editorial content is a whole range of inspiration – ranging from the obvious (outfit ideas) to unique strategies I’ve been using to enhance my site content (slogans/story names.)

Here are some of my secret techniques I use fashion magazines for, when it comes to my blog’s creative advantage:

 – BLOG POST TITLE IDEAS

All those beauty/fashion stories have clever names or titles that relate to the content featured but in a way that isn’t so basic. What I mean by this is rather than calling your post, “Basic Neutrals” you can say the same thing with a series of more attractive words that seem more interesting to the reader – in this case, “Neutral Ground” as an example.

Keeping SEO (search engine optimization) in mind with my blog’s content, using a title that also directs traffic to your post is important. But that being said, putting a twist on a blog post title can help you standout from the rest. The trick is implementing your category tags in a very basic manner, and pulling the “creative title” in to your physical blog post.

– PHYSICAL PORTFOLIO OF TRENDS 

For the outfits and advertisements I find myself drawn to visually, I make sure to carefully tear them out and keep them in a binder/folder for later use. As most magazines show looks that may or may not be seasonally appropriate in real time, only off by a month or two at most, it’s still important to keep those outfits in mind for a real advantage to your upcoming posts.

Invest in a binder that’s easy to store and allows you to fit clear sleeves in the three-rings for easy viewing of pulled articles, on both sides of the sleeve. My reasons for this particular style of organization is because 1) I save room archiving this way and 2) I can fit more content in my portfolio binder at once. Having a physical self-made “lookbook” of outfit inspiration, from trends to colors and styles, allows you to always keep your content fresh and in-sync with the seasonal picks of fashion editors. Plus if you’re ever in an outfit rut, you can always kickstart your creativity with a quick glance.

 ^ see some blog post title ideas here? wink wink

 – SAME CONCEPT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY POSES

Just like creating a physical lookbook of outfits, you can use this strategy for archiving your favorite ads/model poses to implement in your own posts. Seeing that I’m not a model what-so-ever, any help I can get in the department of posing myself in a way that’s figure flattering and shows off the clothes the best way possible can only be a benefit towards the content I put out there.

That being said, don’t pose in any way that doesn’t fit your aesthetic. There are clearly some ads out there that are downright awkward in posing nature and not a natural stance for me. Use the ads as inspiration but form it into something unique to your personal style – it’s more relatable that way in the end.

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL THE FASHION MAGAZINES I USE, HIGHLIGHTING SPECIFIC SECTIONS TO PAY ATTENTION TO, BE SURE TO SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER TO RECEIVE THIS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT! 

* BOTH CURRENT AND NEW SUBSCRIBERS WILL RECEIVE THEIR LIST BY END OF DAY (4/26)  – SEEING THAT MY POST IS DELAYED TODAY & I NEED TO CREATE IT TONIGHT, MY APOLOGIES FRIENDS #LIFEHAPPENS