PinkSole

by Rachelle

A self-described “moody dresser”, Rachelle of PinkSole cannot wear too femme of an outfit without wanting to toughen it up. Lucky her, she resides in South Florida and gets to rock bright colors and open-toe shoes all year round. She believes that women are not always accurately represented in the media and that fashion bloggers are an antidote to that. Be inspired by Rachelle’s confident style and her refreshing outlook to match!

  1. As a blogger from South Florida, how does your location play into your clothing and color choices?

    I often joke that in Florida we have 2 seasons - hot and hotter. So of course I can get away with wearing bold colors, short skirts and sandals pretty much all year long. I am not complaining at all.

  2. How long have you been blogging and why did you decide to start?

    I started this blog with my sister in 2011, but we gave up after a few posts. On June 1st 2012, I decided to start again on my own this time and never looked back. I always loved fashion, as a teenager I spent countless hours watching Fashion TV so this blog was my creative outlet and my way of sharing my love for fashion.

  3. Describe the process of launching your blog.

    I’m a computer science major so the technical part was pretty easy for me, but I did a lot of research Google, books and by following other bloggers that I admire. When I first started I wanted to keep my expenses to a minimum so I signed up to a free platform, but once I got comfortable and knew that I wanted to keep going, I made little and big investments here and there. Now I have a self-hosted blog on Wordpress, I bought a DSLR and my latest was to upgrade to Photoshop CC.

  4. How did you choose your blog’s name and the fonts and color scheme to go along with it?

    I am a die-hard shoe lover, and one day I was talking to my sister about how cool it would be to have shoes with pink bottoms, kind of like Louboutins but with pink instead of red and that’s how I came up with PinkSole. As far as color scheme, I love a clean and sharp design so I usually stick with black and white with a touch of pink. Currently I am considering doing a blog redesign, so I am getting a new header done for me, and I am currently shopping for a new theme. Stay tuned!

  5. How would you describe your personal style?

    I would say my style is feminine, classic with an edge. I love basic pieces and I felt like I had the ones that I needed, I started added a variety of prints and colors. I am also a very moody dresser; it all depends on how I’m feeling that particular day. If my outfit is too sweet I always feel the need to toughen it up a bit.

  6. Where are some of your favorite places to shop and why?

    My top 3 stores are: J.Crew for professional and fun pieces, ASOS to find unique non-professional pieces, Gap for my basics (such as tees, shirts and jeans), Nordstrom because it has pretty much everything and they always have amazing sales going on. I am blessed to live close to one of the biggest outlet malls in South Florida, you can easily find me browsing Saks, Bloomindale’s, Cole Haan, Barney’s and more hunting for designer deals.

  7. "Blogging on the side is pretty much like a part-time job, so make sure to blog about something you are passionate about because it is not all rainbows and bunnies."— Rachelle

  8. What item(s) in your closet could you never replace?

    My BCBG prom dress.

  9. Basics with bold accessories, or standout pieces with dainty jewelry?

    Basics with bold accessories.

  10. Where do you find style inspiration?

    Pinterest, other bloggers, magazines(I’m that girl that takes pictures of a runway looks she saw to make her ready-to-wear version) and myself (I know I did not invent anything new but the outfits that my readers love the most are usually the ones that I put together without overthinking).

  11. How much time does a typical blog post take up?

    Once I’m dressed, 15 minutes to shoot, now that I’m more comfortable with Photoshop about 30 minutes to choose my favorite shots and edit. And the actual posting on the site can take 45 minutes to an hour. So we can round it up to 2 hours, if I am wearing items that are no longer in stores it is always a hassle to find very similar pieces, but I love to make my posts as accurate as possible to please my readers.

  12. How has blogging worked out for you so far? Do you feel it was a worthwhile endeavor?

    Blogging has been amazing so far and I often refer to my blog as my boyfriend (it’s sad - I know). But really - I’ve met so many wonderful bloggers that have become friends and I am always amazed to find out they are brands that want to work with me.

  13. What is the coolest thing to happen since you started blogging?

    So many great things happened since I started blogging, getting to partner with brands such as Toms, Hollister, Lacoste and more. Getting featured on Lucky Magazine’s Facebook, Gap recently pinned on of my photos and to me that was epic considering these are brands that I genuinely love.

  14. What has maintaining your blog taught you?

    To be consistent. Trust me, some days the last thing I want to do is take pictures of myself!

  15. What main message would you like to convey to your readers?

    I feel like fashion bloggers are sometimes portrayed as vain people who like to take pictures of themselves. But the women represented in the media, do not look anything like me or the majority of women really. So I think that’s where fashion bloggers are valuable, I want to help my readers to be confident and to know that you can carry yourself well and look good without fitting that mold.

  16. Any advice for working twenty-somethings who want to blog on the side?

    Blogging on the side is pretty much like a part-time job, so make sure to blog about something you are passionate about because it is not all rainbows and bunnies.