Meet Storey VIP Ellie, who uses creative search terms to find the pieces she’s looking for. We had the chance to chat with Ellie (who is the Director of Large Enterprise Sales for a healthcare company and interior designer on the side) about style inspiration and actually finding pieces you dream up in your mind.

Storey: Where do you look for style inspiration?

Ellie: I’m typically pretty practical in what I want and what I like, I’ll either dream it up myself or see it on the street and think, “Cool, that’s how I want to wear that.” I draw a lot of my inspiration through travel. I follow few influencers on Instagram - I don’t like to have my feed full of people I don’t know.

If I have an idea for something I like, I’ll check a bunch of websites: curated sites like Moda Operandi, the Outnet, or Intermix. Or, I search Google. I’m very creative with the words I use to look things up. I’m a part time interior designer, so when people tell me specific things they want, I need to be creative in the way I search for them. I do the same thing with shopping. 

“I’ve even messaged people [on Storey] saying, ‘Hey I know this isn’t for sale but seriously, if you want to sell this I’ll buy it tomorrow. I’m so obsessed.’”

I have been super inspired from pieces I’ve seen in other Storey wardrobes. One user (VannyEtAl) had this amazing floral Gucci boater hat. Hers wasn’t for sale, and I searched for that hat for months after seeing it. I ended up getting a similar Teresa Foglia hat.

Storey is such a great way to see things that people aren’t planning to sell, but might consider selling. I’ve even messaged people saying, “Hey I know this isn’t for sale but seriously, if you want to sell this I’ll buy it tomorrow. I’m so obsessed”. It’s fun to shop other people’s closets and to see who you connect with. There are a few people on the app who have my exact same style. Any time they upload new items to their wardrobe, I take a look at their closet, see what they’ve uploaded, see if anything is for sale, and get inspired.