Last week for the IFB project, I asked you to create and share a dreamy red carpet outfit that you would wear at an award show if somehow you could make that magical walk down the red carpet.

Your ultimate red carpet looks were absolutely gorgeous and the IFB team literally drooled over your posts! Gorgeous pink gowns, loose romantic hair, sparkling baubles. It looks like everyone has a glamorous side tucked away. Tapping into your imagination, this project brought out the looks that your favorite stars would die to be in. In fact, I already pictured a few of the Hollywood elite in your stylish picks.

From gowns to makeup, everyone created their own individual look and hopefully had a little fun doing it. You all get best dressed in my book! Here are a few of my favorite submissions:

1. GirlMeetsFashion.com shares a softer romantic outfit

2. Caramel Lattes has red on the brain

3. Sugar Coated Style does neon right

4. Lush Allure goes glam with black

5. Fashion Scanner round up the red carpet-worthy gowns from runway collections

6. Cinched At The Waist gives us a Valentines Day treat on the red carpet

7. 40 + Style helps you figure out what to red to the Oscars

8. My Style Office brings out the color

9. Sprinkles on Stilettos channels her Cinderella side

10. Showgirls Love This shows us a lovely pink-lady look

Don’t you love looking at these gorgeous posts? Almost makes you wish that you were headed to your own fashionable soiree, right? Thanks everyone for participating!

January and February are all about award show-mania.

Events, red carpets, flashing lights. Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG! It’s practically a marathon! While I find most award shows to be slightly boring (3 hours? are you serious?!), I can’t help but obsess over the red carpet. It might sound cheesy but the red carpet is like a fashion girl’s dream. Doesn’t it sound fun to get glammed up with a team of professionals, wear a stylin’ gown (custom-made, of course) and walk through a sea of photographers all screaming your name?

Since the chances of me actually being on a red carpet are slim to nil, I will instead dream up my red carpet look on the blogosphere and am challenging you to do the same!

IFB Project #32: Create Your Red Carpet Look

For this project, I want to see your dream red carpet look. I know every gal dreams about what she would wear if she ever walked the red carpet and now is the time to show off your glamorous inspirations. Hair, jewels, makeup, dress. You name it, I want to see it. You can either create a photo collage like I did above or gather various pictures of your dream red carpet outfit and post on your blog.

Submit your links below and share them on twitter using the #IFBproject hashtag. I can’t wait to see what your dream red carpet outfit is. Who knows, maybe you will see your favorite star walking down that famed carpet wearing something you have dreamed about!

image from Alessandro Viero / GoRunway.com and JustJared.com

Let’s face it, getting dressed during these winter months is not fun. Thankfully, we’ve avoided any major snowapocalypses so far but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been downright frigid. Somehow, the idea of throwing on a glamorous dress seems so hard. My winter uniform goes like this: parka, beanie, boots, jeans, and sweater. BORING. To counteract my lazy winter style (total fashion girl problems, right?), I’m challenging all you IFB readers to showcase your winter style! And who knows, maybe you all will inspire me to get my act together…

IFB Project #31: Showcase Your Winter Style

Whether its a pair of comfy leather boots, a furry vest, or a skimpy bikini (so not fair), I want you to show me what winter style is all about in your part of the world. The best part about a project like this is that you get to see how diverse winter style can be. From London to Thailand, winter can be bitterly cold or downright balmy!

To get started, snap a picture of you with your winter best on and share it on our Facebook page or Twitter stream. Don’t forget to tag it with #IFBwinter and submit your links below in the comments section too.  I just can’t wait to see what winter style means to you!

I’ll be the first to admit that when I started my blog, I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that I needed an outlet for my compulsive fashion obsession and my love of writing. And so it began: a post here, a post there, with no real reason or rhyme. I don’t think anyone reading my early posts would have any idea what my blog was actually about, or have a sense of the person writing it.

Slowly, and sometimes painfully, I learned how to reign in my wandering words. Through both positive and critical reader feedback (and advice from my mother, of all people) I started to refine my content. I honed in on my message, and I found my voice. (It happens to be a fashionable sense of humor.) Once I did, things began to pick up steam. I gained more followers on Twitter, higher traffic, and more comments. It didn’t happen overnight, and I’m certainly not crazy internet famous, but I’m proud of the results.

This brings me to today’s topic: finding your voice & defining your niche. Like I said, this isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight. You’re already unique among blogs because there’s only one you; it’s just a matter of clarifying your voice for your audience. Keep in mind, you don’t have to rush it. The point of this post is merely to inspire you to get the gears turning in your head. I’m encouraging you to figure out what you love, what you’re best at, and how to make your blog shine brighter than its peers!

Here are 6 things to consider when trying to define your blog’s niche:

• Start by identifying what’s important to you: First and foremost, your blog is about you! No one is forcing your hand, you are in charge. You are the CEO, the CFO and the Editor-in-Chief of your blog. Decide for yourself what you want it to be, and do it with conviction. Sit down and make a list of the characteristics of your ideal blog.
• You don’t have to be the one and only to be good: There are going to be other blogs in your niche, and that’s okay. The market is saturated with lots and lots of them, many about the same things. All you can control is the quality and presence of your own blog in the space – so own it! So what if there are 100,000 fashion blogs out there – figure out what is going to make yours special and unique.
• Identify your strengths:  What are you good at? Are you a strong writer? An excellent photographer? Can you collage like nobody’s business? Are you the funniest person you know? Do your friends always turn to you for styling advice? Maybe you can spot a trend months before anyone is wearing it. If you’re not sure – ask! Your friends, family, followers and peers can be a wealth of insight you may have never considered. Ask them if they have a favorite post from your archive. Ask them why they like it. Building a dialog will open up a realm of possibility you might never have considered!
• Study the blogs you admire: Take a closer look at the sites you visit regularly. What is it that keeps you coming back? What do you get from this blog that you don’t get anywhere else? Odds are, that blogger has a specific voice and selection of content that you’ve come to trust and depend on. While you’re at it, try to survey the blog landscape as a whole. Do you notice any holes? What’s missing? What aren’t people talking about?
• Like any good journalist, you need an angle: I think there are a couple of ways you can come at this task: You can commit to restricting the kinds of posts you share (runway trends, personal style, DIY, shopping, etc) or you can decide to post about any number of things, with same tone or angle. Whether that angle is “How I would wear it” or tackling everything with humor or only talking about things that are black – just try to be consistent with it. Before you know it, you may become the go-to source for your special pocket of insight or information.
• Create a mission statement for your blog: Take inspiration from your favorite brands, who often have a mission statement on their web site. Define, in writing, your goal as a publication. This will give you something you can always look back to and remind yourself what your blog is about, and what you stand for!

Ultimately,  writing your blog is about pleasing yourself. Each day, every post, you should be happy to write it, happy to share it, and proud of what you’re creating.

Some of Our Favorite Niche Blogs:

• Man Repeller – Humor & High Fashion
• Business of Fashion – The Business… of Fashion
• Advanced Style – Street Style Featuring Older Women
• Sammy Davis Vintage – Vintage
• Cupcakes & Cashmere – Personal Style & Recipes
• Sartorially Inclined – Menswear
• Atlantic-Pacific – Personal Style Photos
• P.S. – I Made This… – D.I.Y

[Photo by Nando Alvarez]

The whole world is mourning the loss of Steve Jobs today. He was a visionary of the digital age, in fact, he pretty much defined it, and then redefined it, and then redefined it again.

I typed this post and sent it out to you from a MacBook. My coworkers are working from theirs too, while texting, tweeting, and instagram-ing from their iphones. I hardly go a day, let alone a few hours, without interacting with one or all of my Apple products. They have become the most prized and indispensable tools in our lives. Remember life before the ipod? I hardly do.

As fashion bloggers, we’re a community that has grown from the roots that Steve Jobs planted. Without his innovation and vision, we’d hardly be the modern mix of tech-and-style-savvy individuals we are today. In honor of his passing yesterday at the age of 56, IFB recognizes lessons and ideas we can all take from the wondrous career of Steve Jobs.

10 Things Fashion Bloggers Learned From Steve Jobs

1. The physical objects that Apple produced – most especially the personal computer, the iphone and the ipad – enabled and revolutionized self-publishing.  These tools make it simple and enjoyable to create and share our visions with a community.

2. Mr. Jobs created something out of nothing. He built an empire from the ground up, and against the odds he changed everything.

3. He took a very non-traditional path to success. From dropping out of college to naming his company after a fruit when everyone else was stuck on model numbers and tech-speak – he did things his own way.

4. Not everything worked for Steve Jobs the first time around. His first Machintosh personal computer models were consumer failures. He left Apple for a period of 12 years after disagreements and a falling-out with another executive. He also threw out two iphone models before settling on a final (first) version in 2007.

5. Apple changed the way we connect with people. Features and applications on the iphone forever changed how creatively and quickly we can talk, share, text, chat, tweet…

6. His vision came before his fortune. Steve Jobs didn’t begin his career with intentions to be a billionaire, he wanted to change the world with his take on technology. His increasing fortune allowed him to continue to evolve and grow his companies and investments.

7. When Mr. Jobs returned to Apple in 2000, he ended their feud with Microsoft, which allowed for the continued use of the Office software on Apple computers. He knew the importance of having mutually advantageous alliances, even among competing peers.

8. From his commencement speech at Stanford in 2005: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

9. To paraphrase The New York Times, “He put stock in the notion of taste.” He took complex, innovative technology and made it elegant, simple and incredibly functional.

10. There’s just nothing as chic as an Apple product in the sphere of technology. From the smoothest lines to the most gorgeous user interface, Mr. Jobs understood the importance of marrying beauty and function.

Thank you Steve Jobs, for your invaluable contributions to our world, and to the fashion blogging community.

[Photo by Nando Alvarez]