Polyvore – An Unprofessional Take-Over

This post is a very sad one for me… and actually I am absolutely outrageous! Many of you always commented of the collages I do to highlight my different blog articles, especially for my outfit posts I have loved doing them. They kind of make my blog look different from others. The platform I used for it was POLYVORE, an online community where you could create fashion, art and interior mood boards in a very fun way, so much easier than Photoshop. I had visited the team many years ago in the San Francisco area and was amazed by their innovative team spirit. Actually, POLYVORE made me start my blog. I joined the site around 11 years ago and was immediately hooked by it. You could share your fashion sense and even enter several contests. After having won one with Marc Jacobs where I got a handbag, I thought that those collages would be the perfect way to create my blog in a very illustrative way and I started Sandra’s Closet in November 2009. Even my mum got hooked, she became very successful with art sets and was so happy to communicate with different members around the globe.

My first post from November 23, 2009 started with a Polyvore set.

Last Thursday evening, I was in bed working on my newest outfit post. During the past days, I didn’t have a lot of time due to my daughter’s birthday and the whole family visiting that I was happy to finally being back to blogging. Creating those mood boards on POLYVORE was one of the most relaxing activities for me, you could say, I was addicted and it was actually the most fun part of Sandra’s Closet for me. I also used it to organize all my outfits. All my clothes and accessories were arranged in different folders with years and comments. Sometimes, I would pack my suitcase by putting outfits together virtually on POLYVORE.

I modeled in the Polyvore Live Runway Show presented by Covergirl during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in NYC in 2012.

But what happened that I am writing this… While I was in bed, the site started to crash. I thought it had a bug as this had happened before and messaged my mum if she was experiencing the same troubles which she confirmed. So I shut down my computer and went to sleep. The next morning, the site was gone. I started googling and actually almost fainted reading the news. POLYVORE got sold and its new owner Ssense shut down the site and its mood boards with no notice. Ssense, a luxury e-commerce company, said it had acquired the digital fashion database and search engine from Verizon subsidiary Oath Inc., and immediately began rerouting POLYVORE visitors to its homepage. All the work of 11 years gone. You will be wondering to find now some white spaces in older blog posts where the pictures were linked directly to POLYVORE and what makes me even more furious those empty pictures lead now to Ssense. They are using my traffic without my permission! This has to be against the law! Moreover, I am not the only one feeling betrayed. It is so unprofessional to just shut down the community without any warning. I am absolutely convinced that many members would have paid a monthly fee as a subscription model to stay on the site and to make it profitabel. On the POLYVORE blog, a post was released where the company said «we’re excited to share our directional collection of the most coveted labels in the worldIt also shared directions for Polyvore users to download their content and messages, with a deadline of May 10 which doesn’t work at all. It just shows a white page. I will fight to get my personal data and mood boards back which Ssense stole it from me. Members of the site, the so-called Polyfam (Polyvore family), responded with a gazillion of tweets decrying the move, as well as several online petitions asking Montreal-based Ssense to reverse its decision #BringBackPolyvore.

Together with Polyvore I hosted the More Than a Feeling with Swarovski Contest.

Shutting down POLYVORE without a warning is one of the most unprofessional moves I have experienced in my working career. There was no forewarning at all, and no consultation of it’s users, giving them time to exchange contacts and to get their data or even delete it. I think what they have forgotten was who made POLYVORE happen on a daily base – it was us, the users, and Ssense should really think about starting their new venture not with this bad energy. Karma is a bitch – good luck!

And I am working on my Photoshop skills in the meantime…

LoL, Sandra

Collages: © Sandra Bauknecht, via Polyvore

My NYC Blogger Diary and Backstage Report

Blogger Diary NYC

For all my German and Swiss based readers, the big annabelle trend issue will be out tomorrow featuring my blogger diary from NYC Fashion Week. Most of you followed me during that exciting week. So many crazy things happened: I modeled at the Polyvore Live Fashion Show presented by Covergirl, met celebrities such as Bradley Cooper or Nicky Hilton and attended the Bloglovin’ Awards among many other events.

Below are some amazing backstage shots of the Polyvore Live fashion show. Have a look and find some inspirations for your next beauty look.

The makeup was created by celebrity makeup artist Beau Nelson (follow him on Twitter @Beau_Nelson) with products by Covergirl. For me, a very different look from what I am used to wear. Light eye make-up with just a little mascara combined with bright red lips.

Hair was done by celebrity hairstylist Sarah Potempa (follow her on Twitter @sarahpotempa) who also invented the amazing Beachwaver, an innovative curling iron that rotates in both directions to give you glamorous red carpet waves with the touch of a button. I truly hope that this product will be sold in Europe soon. For my US-readers, click here to shop.

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A huge thank you to the lovely Polyvore team for letting me be part of this amazing experience. By the way, don’t you think that Polyvore‘s co-founder Pasha Sadri looks like Marc Jacobs?!

Don’t forget to enter the More Than a Feeling with Swarovski contest on Polyvore!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Polyvore and © Sandra Bauknecht

Happy Valentine’s Day 2012

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I am completely exhausted but so happy! The last days were filled with so many exciting moments and lots of fun. Here you see me yesterday night having dinner with some friends at the ABC Kitchen after the Polyvore Live fashion show which was amazing! If you would like to know who was at the dinner, check out the secretstylist by clicking here.

You can see the braid and the make-up look I wore for one of the outfits on the catwalk. Red lips and only mascara. On my nails: silver (Reade) and blue (Commerce) only on the ring finger from Ten Over Ten.

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Here is my Valentine’s Day treat: This gorgeous “punk”-style purple fur bag by Tom Ford. It has a hidden mirror in the handle and comes with a flap-over closure. Completely in love!

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!
And don’t forget if there is nobody to treat you, treat yourself!

LoL, Sandra

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IMG_4938Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and © secretstylist

Getting Ready for the Show – The Fitting

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Today, I had the fitting for the Polyvore Live Fashion Show presented by Covergirl which will take place next Monday. It was so great to seeing the Polyvore girls again, meeting the designers and some of the other bloggers who will walk the runway.

Please enjoy some of the behind the scenes photos:

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I will be wearing one gorgeous red chiffon dress by Dana-Maxx Pomerantz. Here you see her talking to me. Her creations are colourful, feminine and with a light, beautiful vintage touch. I like her style a lot.

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Shoes Stella

My own ankle boots with studded heels by Stella McCartney (They are also available without the bow. If you are interested, please click here).

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The second outfit that I will presenting on the runway is designed by Lauren Bagliore. She has a very edgy style and her clothes can be easily layered. This black “Theophila” dress can be worn in many different ways. Pretty cool!

Don’t forget to watch the livestream of the show on Monday!

LoL, Sandra

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IMG_8484Anda, the stylist for the show.

Photos: Nadia Hussain, © Sandra Bauknecht

Exciting News

Blogger reveal

Finally I can reveal the exciting news: I am flying to New York tomorrow morning to walk the runway myself during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

Polyvore and Covergirl have teamed up for an amazing fashion show to present the collections of four up and coming FIT graduates. “Prominent fashion bloggers” will walk the catwalk and I am so excited to be among them. The Polyvore Live runway show also will stream live on Polyvore.com, offering virtual access to more than 13 million people across the globe.

Invite Poly Live

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Here are the four FIT alumni designers that were selected by Polyvore and FIT’s Alumni Affairs:

1 – Lauren Bagliore received a BS in Fashion Merchandising Management in 2005, after which she worked at Vivienne Westwood, Zac Posen, Libertine, Tod’s, and Paul Hardy. Bagliore recently established her own clothing line, Lauren Bagliore Design House. Her designs are noted for their draping and unique combination of edgy yet wearable sensibilities.

2 – Vengsarkar Budhu received a BFA in Fashion Design in 2006. Specializing in eveningwear, he was selected by Reem Acra as the critic award winner for special occasion wear in FIT’s annual BFA Fashion Show. Budhu has started his own eveningwear label, GAVASKAR.

3 – Sergio Guadarrama received a BFA in Fashion Design in 2008. While still a student, he launched his label, Celestino. In 2008, he won “The Best in Class – Execution” in the FIT Supima Design Competition. In 2010, he served as a critic for the annual FIT BFA Fashion Show, along with a group of designers that included Calvin Klein and Carolina Herrera.
Sergio is known for his uncanny ability to create season-less eveningwear and has crafted gowns for the Metropolitan Opera.

4 –Dana-Maxx Pomerantz received a BFA in Fashion Design in 2005. After working for Betsey Johnson and Marc Jacobs, she established her eponymous clothing line, Dana-Maxx. She was selected as one of Women’s Wear Daily’s “Hot New Designers” and was featured on ELLE Magazine Creative Director Joe Zee’s hit television show, All on the Line.

Stay tuned for many exciting posts from New York Fashion Week!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Polyvore

New Contest: The Art of Giving with Swatch

Swatch Contest

This is an contest for all Polyvore lovers among you or those who would like to try it!
The Art of Gifting with Swatch brings a flash of opulence and classic Swatch elegance to the season for you and a friend. Create a stylish set inspired by our stunning Golden Rebel and Shimmer Ray timepieces, and you could win one each just in time for Christmas. Simply design your set as a gift for a friend, tag them using their Polyvore username, then share your inspiration with the world. If you create the winning set, you and your friend will receive the ultimate Christmas gift – a watch each from the Swatch Season’s Special Collection. Please use one tag only per set.

The contest runs from today until December 17, 2011. You can enter it below!
Good luck!

LoL, Sandra

November Press Clippings

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This month, I have had some really nice press coverage that I am truly thankful for. You have already read some of it like my style portrait in Bolero magazine for example or that Blick named me one of the most important bloggers.
Here is what you probably haven’t seen so far: 20 Minuten Friday magazine compared me to Anna dello Russo. Nothing to say against that!

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Annabelle magazine took this front row picture during the second night of the Fashion Days Zurich.

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20 Minuten called me a fashion hunter and did some wonderful advertising for my stories about the Fashion Days Zurich.

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Faces showed this picture in their November issue…

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…and Polyvore buzzed about me! Thank you sooo much!

LoL, Sandra

Style Guide Challenge with LuisaViaRoma

Today, I have some amazing news for you. For the first time on Sandra’s Closet, you can become a virtual stylist and create your favourite outfits online here at the end of this post.
The contest in collaboration with Polyvore and LuisaViaRoma has some great prizes to be won.

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In case that you do not know LuisaViaRoma yet, the flagship store in Firenze, and its official website feature the must-have fashion pieces from over 400 designer collections.

Prizes: The winner will receive a € 500 giftcard to spend at LuisaViaRoma. In addition, the grand-prize winner will get round-trip air transportation and hotel accomodation in Firenze, Italy to attend  LuisaViaRoma’s FIRENZE4EVER Second Edition Party on January 7th-9, 2011 – a unique and exclusive event for fashion’s most popular bloggers! Moreover, three top winners’ sets will be made into a LuisaViaRoma video which will be featured in the Style Guide Video section on luisaviaroma.com and on the Facebook fanpage. All sets will be credited with the winner’s name.

Challenge: All you have to do is create a look based on one of the LuisaViaRoma style guides: Cocktail Hour, Cool Street Style, Dancing ‚til Dawn, First Date and/or Work Wear!

You have time until December 8th. Please click here for all the rules.

I am looking forward to enjoying your creativity and fashion sense.

LoL, Sandra

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED!