Marie Claire’s “Find Your Inner Stylist” First Place Contest Winner!
I am extremely excited to share with everyone that I am the FIRST PLACE winner of Marie Claire’s “Find Your Inner Stylist” contest. I had to put 3 looks together (a weekend, daytime, and evening look) using products from the Zappos website. There were no other specific instructions except that it could either be submitted online or mailed in.
Although I’m sure it is possible to create something really cool online, in my mind nothing beats having a physical hard copy of something. Same with a magazine, I prefer a HARD copy of a magazine rather than an electronic edition of it.
Being that there were little to no directions, this allowed for a huge amount of creative freedom in terms of the products I would choose, the layout, and the overall looks I wanted to create.
I saved the actual contest description from the magazine which gave readers an idea of what they were looking for, please see below:
The contest was advertised in the November issue and I didn’t discover it until Thanksgiving Day. For Thanksgiving, I go to Long Island every year to visit my grandparents and brought a stack of my current magazines that I wanted to catch up on while we were waiting for the turkey to roast.
I was excited to discover the contest because as we all know, I live for this stuff. I’m not just any girl that loves fashion, I live for fashion because it is in my SOUL!!! The only problem was the deadline was December 2…meaning it needed to be completed by December 1st at the latest in order for me to get it in by the deadline. I debated whether or not I was going to have enough time to really complete something amazing but decided that I just needed to cram to get the job done.
Being that it was a holiday weekend, I did not get to start on this until a couple days before the deadline. I am not going to lie, it required a lot of work! It took me a few hours just to CREATE the looks complete with accessories, shoes, and makeup. (FYI, Zappos carries more than just shoes!! They even have home goods now)! I wanted all the looks to be cohesive and have a sense of style.
Then I had to resize them, print them, cut them out, lay them out, go to Michaels to get supplies to create a cool layout, type up all the products I used (this was my choice to do this), etc.
As mentioned, it was very stressful because I had very little time left and I was totally in it to win it! I stayed up as late as possible until I hit a breaking point where I needed to crash and then resumed the following morning for the entire DAY. I didn’t finish all three looks until 5pm and rushed to the post office to overnight deliver my entry so it would get there by the deadline.
Months went by until about mid-February I got the call from Marie Claire to congratulate me on being the first place winner. I had just arrived to the gym when I received the phone call in the gym locker room. I wanted to jump for joy but contained myself being that I was in a public place. As the first place winner, I receive a $1000 giftcard to Zappos AND also have my winning looks posted online (as seen at the top of this blog).
I just received the e-mail notifying me that the giftcard will be on its way shortly and that my winning looks are officially online.
I am happy to discover this contest at the last minute and know that my hard work paid off. Winning this contest has not only confirmed that I am a style genius, but also that it’s important to always follow your heart and passions in life.
THANK YOU MARIE CLAIRE AND ZAPPOS FOR LOVING MY STYLE AND SHARING MY WINNING LOOKS TO THE WORLD. IT IS AN HONOR!!!
PS- I will be sure to share with everyone my shopping purchases at Zappos! I can’t wait to do some damage and go on a shopping spree! I will mainly be buying shoes and treat myself to a nice handbag (or two) ;)
June 17, 2010 at 12:06 AM
[...] Yesterday, I received my $1000 Zappos giftcard in the mail from Marie Claire magazine for the style contest I won. I have never shopped at Zappos before but already know they have many great things! [...]
October 30, 2010 at 10:50 AM
[...] If I could be placed as the first place grand prize winner of Marie Claire’s “Find Your …, then there is NO DOUBT in my mind that I am destined to become Sunglass Hut’s Full-time Fabulous Fashion Blogger. I can’t sleep thinking about it because it’s just a matter of time before this becomes a REALITY! [...]
May 2, 2011 at 11:00 PM
[...] – I absolutely LOVE this bag with this look, it gives it a casual chic sort of vibe, but the look is head to toe full of style. This bag I use as a gym bag sometimes but also as an everyday bag. I ordered it last year from Zappos with some of the prize money I had received from Marie Claire’s “Find Your Inner Stylist” contest. [...]
July 30, 2011 at 10:28 PM
[...] The creamy beige peep toe cuffed bootie heels are by Miss Sixty. These are one of my most favorite pairs of shoes that don’t get nearly enough usage. I used my Zappos gift card to buy these shoes from the Zappos and Marie Claire styling contest I ent… [...]