Whether it’s writing her new fashion blog, traveling with friends, or visiting a local winery, Tori Shay, of www.shaystyleblog.me has rounded up tips and tricks that my senior girls can rely on to take everyday experiences from WHATEV to PERF, especially senior portrait day. Tori was a Senior in 2014 and is now devoting her time to her classes at the University of Kentucky. A few days ago, I came across her Instagram feed (I love to keep up with my former seniors) and was immediately hooked on her new style blog. With a quick text, I set up an interview with her and am BEYOND EXCITED TO SHARE!
Read on. . . My questions are in bold black and Tori’s answers and beyond gorgeous senior portraits are to follow.
- How to jump start your morning:
I always drink black coffee and I usually stick to eggs or greek yogurt.. I am a pretty basic and plain jane when it comes to my mornings. But, the day of taking pictures for my blog I try to eat really healthy just so I do not feel bloated taking pictures and I will feel more comfortable in the clothes I am modeling.
- How to pick out senior portrait outfits:
I am not going to lie, when picking out my senior outfits I was stressed to the max.. And was going all hay wire trying to pick the “perfect outfits”. But, when it came down to it, I realized that less was more… Some of my most simple outfits made for the prettiest photos. Let the outfit represent your personality and style, but don’t let it distract from your natural beauty and the natural beauty of your surroundings. I remember for my senior pictures that I wanted them to be different from everyone’s and the best. (Who doesn’t?) But, you can’t think like that. Everyone will come up with different ideas that you wish you would’ve thought of and that is okay. Just be happy with your experience with your senior pictures because you only get this experience once in your lifetime… I honestly wish I could go back. I had so much fun picking out my outfits, playing dress up and working with Suzanne.
So… when choosing what theme or style I wanted to go with I tried to think of my interests and what represented me. Instantly, what came to mind was fashion. Easy enough right? Luckily, with fashion you are able to have as many different styles as you would like and can collaborate all of them together. One of the many reasons I love this field!! So, I knew I loved fashion.. Now what? Well, for starters I went to my staples.. I asked myself what do I wear the most? Well that was easy enough, black. Ha-ha So, I put together a simple, yet trendy black outfit for one of my choices. The all black look allowed for my background and scenery to be basically anywhere and honestly who doesn’t look good in black? We all know our best colors, just as we all know which side is our “good” side!
Going off of that, you HAVE to choose outfits that flatter your body in pictures. I know that sounds picky, but it’s true. Your mom can be your best friend is this scenario and save the tears of disappointment. My mom was brutally honest with me and I dearly commence her for that. I have more of a curvy figure, so flowy and straight dresses do not really flatter my image as well as they might on others. So, I tried to stick to tighter fitted clothing. Also, I am super weird about my arms so I tried to avoid going sleeveless. Even a size 2 girl can feel self-conscious about their bare arms in a photo… So, if you can, avoid that.
Patterns?? I would honestly try to avoid them at all costs unless you absolutely have to wear them.. But, they can be distracting in pictures, make you look larger than you really are and also can cause the photo to be dated. That is why I recommend solids and simple outfits to make the portrait more about you and your accomplishments thus far.
- How to save your “face” on social media?
Well, as most people would, we want to uphold “good reputations” on social media. I would stray away from posting anything that you wouldn’t show to your grandmother or father. Also, it is never too soon to begin preparing yourself for your future job. Employers really do look at your social media accounts when interviewing for new positions. Another scenario that I had to take into account as I was entering my senior year was what I wanted sororities to perceive of my social media accounts. Coming from a current sorority member, girls do take notice of what you are posting on the Internet.
- How did your love of fashion turn into creating your own blog?
To be honest, I have been in love with the latest fashions and creating my own trends ever since I can remember, but it wasn’t until this past semester that I really considered doing it. I’m not going to lie; I was quite intimidated by the whole thing in beginning and still am a little. But, I wanted to just take the initiative and turn my interests into a hobby, which will hopefully (fingers crossed) turn into a career. I enjoy being able to inspire girls with different looks that maybe they didn’t think would look good together and just being able to relate to girls on a fashionable level.
- Who is your target audience?
I would say young teens 15 to about early/mid twenties.
- Favorite place to shop online and in person?
For the majority of the time I live in Lexington, so when I shop in person I like to go to Macy’s, Bevello and Morton James. But, of course when I shop online (which is where I do most of my shopping) I like to stay loyal to Nordstrom. Their customer service and loyalty is unbeatable and of course their clothes and shoes are pretty awesome too.
- What you want to accomplish with your blog?
I hope that I am able to inspire girls to not be afraid to try different looks, give them pointers on different fashion tips and mainly just express my love for fashion to others. Not to mention, I LOVE when people give me new ideas and what they would like to see go up on my fashion blog. So recommendations or requests are always wanted!! Also, I would love for it to turn into a job where I can partner with different places and promote their clothing & accessories.
