How to Create a Fashion Mood Board

Mood boards offer a visual representation of ideas, concepts, and styles before they come to life. It’s an artsy collection of images and elements that form a snapshot of the big idea.

Used in various industries such as interior design, event planning, branding, and fashion- inspiration boards are a collage of the intended project. So whether it’s your next fashion project or creating a chic wardrobe, we are here to help you curate and create a fashion mood board that will leave you feeling inspired & trendy.

What is a Fashion Mood Board?

When planning for a specific look or feel, a mood board is a fantastic tool to showcase your style and vision.

In one glance, you can see where the look is going.

Style mood boards traditionally include pictures, textures, magazine clippings, color and fabric swatches, and more all pinned to a physical board so you can visualize your idea. Nowadays, fashion mood boards are often digital as it’s easy to put together a stellar collection in just a few easy taps and clicks.

Related: How to Make a Fashion Mood Board Online

Who Creates Fashion Mood Boards?

Anyone and everyone, really! They’re not just just for designers and gurus.

Have an upcoming event? Going on vacation?  Season changing?  Feel like overhauling your closet?  Bored?

You can create a mood board for any reason – in a matter of minutes.

Related: Your Guide To Summer 2022’s Fashion Trends

Tips for Creating a Fashion Mood Board

Gather ideas to create a personal compilation of elements, outfits, pieces, and inspiration before or while you shop.

1. Multiple mood boards.

You wouldn’t store Easter and Christmas decorations in the same box – why would you put all of your fashion inspo together?

Get as specific and organized with as many inspiration boards as you like.

Consider creating a board for:

1. Occasion/purpose
2. Budget
3. Color
4. Season
5. Designer/brand

2. Get focused and stay organized.

If you’re a Monica, it might be helpful to keep the following in mind before you start:

1. What is the feel, theme, goal, or purpose?
   • A fashion mood board with a group of friends for a bachelorette party
   • A private mood board for your next promotion
   • A style reinvention
2. Brands/Designers
3. Fabrics
4. Colors
5. Sustainability
6. Budget: You could have an entire mood board dedicated to extravagant items, “steals,” or get even more specific with something like “Shoes under $40”
7. Timeline: If you’re on a time crunch, investigate shipping times.
8. Contributor: Is this collection collaborative?

Having a clear focus will ensure that your fashion mood board stays aligned with your vision. If you find your boards are getting a little chaotic, consider reorganizing and creating new categories for your collections.

Related: How to Declutter Your Digital Life–A Simple Guide

3. Add first, analyze later

Collect first and edit later. Once you start cutting and tweaking, you’ll quickly find what truly fits into your collection.

Does deleting give you FOMO? Create a board for the ‘misfit’ pieces that you aren’t quite ready to let go, but don’t fit on a current board.

What should be included in a Fashion Concept Board?

There are no hard and fast rules for creating a fashion mood board, however, there are some common elements you’ll need to visualize your idea better:

1. Outfit inspo: Gather inspiration from celebrities, websites, models, Instagram, and friends’ posts
2. Separate pieces
   • See a skirt you love but have no idea how you’d style? Save it to your mood board- as you keep growing your board, you will likely create the perfect outfit.
   • Working on a capsule wardrobe? This is a fantastic way to envision interchangeable items and maximize your potential number of outfits.
3. Color palettes: Color palettes help you not stray from your original color idea for your collection. Start with this and then start adding the other important elements around it.
4. Fabric swatches: Do you love linen? Obsessed with leather? Showcase your favorite textures and textiles.

Add Some Unexpected Inspiration To Your Fashion Board

• Artwork: If you’re scrolling Insta and see an abstract piece that feels exactly how you want your spring wardrobe to look, add it to your collection.
• Songs: Creating a wedding mood board? Add a list of songs that inspire the feels you want on your big day.
• Words: If it’s for an upcoming vacation, you can add words like freedom, breathe, relax, or anything artsy that fits your fashion mood board theme.
• Quotes: Collect your favorite quotes from your favorite designers, especially whose style and collection you love and are a part of your mood board.
• Books: Working on a sustainable wardrobe? Adding images of books about earth-friendly lifestyles would support your vision.
• Individuals: An inspiration, style icon, whoever it is that you look up to.

Extra tip: Consider saving an item with a text overlay if you have specific ideas or comments.

How to Make a Fashion Mood Board Online

Pinterest is the OG when it comes to digital fashion mood boards. But there’s a new, more advanced tool making it easier, faster, and more practical to bring your style visions to life.

The game-changer?

Carrot – the FREEEE chrome extension!

Create collections by adding items to your cart from all over the web.

Open carts not your jam? Bypass the shopping cart and use the “Add to Carrot” button when you hover over the item you want to save.

Whatever your choice, Carrot will put them all in one place. Shop all at once and organize later, or sort as you add. Collections are customizable, modifiable, shareable, and even collaborative. What’s more? You can track prices, compare, and even get notified when prices drop. It doesn’t get better than this!

Creating fashion mood boards and shopping has never been this fun, get Carrot today!