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It turns out that the best place in my flat for taking pictures of my outfit that aren't too grainy...is the laundry room. Figures, since the place with the best natural light goes to airing my laundry (it is still a crappy picture because I am using a crappy camera). In any case, I like this sweater so much that I wanted to show you guys what it looks like on. This is also pretty much my work uniform now, though I also wear ballet flats and loafers. Such a contrast from my uniform in January.
Anyway, No Signposts in the Sea has done a pair of great posts here and here on style narratives and blogging, and I highly recommend it. I've often been reluctant to do outfit posts because I'm lazy, and also in the past whenever I did them they don't feel right - I wasn't interested in sharing my thoughts on style in such a manner.
But I've come to enjoy it whenever bloggers do outfit posts - and not always in a slickly photographed, editorial-ish manner - ever since I've come to discover blogs with similar aesthetics and goals to mine. And I realise that I enjoy the narrative people want to share with the world.
I suppose I'm doing one of my own as a quid pro quo, hah. I don't see myself doing one every day (I'm lazy) but I think doing outfit posts from time to time is my contribution to expressing what I believe my style narrative to be, and to the overall coherence of what I'm trying to say about style and design with this blog.
Read the posts and share what you guys think?
Comments
For some style bloggers blogging may be about snapping everything they wear every day, things they got from their sponsors, places that they have been etc., but I definitely enjoy reading blogs like yours and Fleurette's and the like, which actually deliberately curate a certain, distinct style you have and how you go about maintaining the wardrobe. You all have to been a really great inspiration in helping me downsizing my wardrobe and sustaining a style that I truly love!
Haha, as you can see, I am more like a text person but would love to see your outfit posts though from time to time. Your photos are always lovely!
I, for one, embrace wearing the same garments over and over again, that's why all the outfit images on my blog are just variations of the first outfit photo posted.
thanks for sharing the links - very insightful and provocative. i think there's a fine line between using a blog to instigate endless cycles of consumption in a never-ending effort to create 'the new'. for me, style blogging is meaningful when you use it as a way to self-reflect and create a sense of self through style and clothing. very much like that essay you posted a while ago from W.
BTW, my style narrative is: be prepared, be appropriate and be comfortable! That Giordano sweater is all kinds of lovely =)
I migrated to a personal blog, which coincided with graduating college and (fortunately) earning more money each year; I did start to worry about not having enough new things to show on my blog and posting outfits that had no drama. I bought a lot of things I came to regret.
Recently I have been trying to get back to the shopping habits I had back when I was a broke student - looking at my closet now, the items that I love I purchased before my blogging days, when I only had myself to worry about and no other audience to please. It is still hard to resist temptation, but I am slowly getting better. Now I am also trying to dress for myself again and not the blog. I do love fashion, not just in the practical everyday aspect of it, but also in the art and spectacle of it. Although some of my favorite blogs preach the art of building a closet full of the ultimate basics, I know I will never be an ascetic when it comes to my own wardrobe. I love the forward-thinking designers as much as I do the "Parisian chic" ideal.
I love personal style blogs and continue to be inspired by them which is why I take the trouble to maintain my own. I just need to find my own voice again and have my blog be a reflection of that, rather than letting my blog dictate what I wear.
And this has been way too long a response now, so I will stop. Lol.
I started to blog to decrease my shopping actually. It didn't work in the beginning but posting my outfits regularly helped me to understand what works for me, what I'm lacking. I was very chaotic shopper pre-blog times, so I had pretty much material to work with. So, now I've purged my closet and try to work with what I got. My aim is to recycle & remix as much as possible. Will see how it works. :)
Kate: Thanks. I like seeing recurring items too - it's fun to see people interpret things.
Susanna: Thank you!
K: Thank you, I find your blog and tumblr plenty inspiring too. I blog to try a "curate" a style of my own, and I'm glad it makes sense to other people!
heart in a cage: Thank you! I will try and do more when I feel inspired.
Anon: Thanks! I know the feeling of too much influence; I used to be very keen on the sort of clothes found on Oak NYC because of the blogs I read and it took a while to get used to the idea that it wasn't "me".
Miss Sophie: Thank you! The jeans are G-star, and this particular fit is one of their two skinny styles - I like that it sits just above the hips.
Agree abt what you said about personal style; I think you do very well in wearing your fave items over and over again in ways that seem new, but still very "you".
koko: No need to apologise for a wordy comment; I'm not exactly succinct myself. When I first did outfit posts it was meant to be a visual record too - I forced myself to post even if I wasn't fond of my outfit. I soon realised which outfits I liked best and exemplified the ideal I carried in my head the most - so the visual record definitely helped. I think from now on, I will only post if it's something that feels particularly revelatory for the day. I see your appreciation for design in your posts and I really enjoy seeing how you bring an extraordinary piece of design to life (your original Helmut Langs!).
Ginta: I was the same! Once I figured out my uniform, I actually felt less motivated to do outfit posts, haha.
i could relate to much of what no signposts wrote as far as starting to view clothing as props for the blog, instead of genuinely chronicling her personal style. what i have noticed is that readers really respond to personal pictures. they love it, and encourage it. it is, after all, what is missing from magazines - that human element. then bloggers get themselves crazy and try to mimic the slickness of magazines. ironic.
i always go back and forth on this issue for myself, to post or not to post personal pictures.
I think quality photos are a bonus but I'd rather see a grainy pict of a truly inspired outfit than a series of clear but indifferent ones.
What's disturbs me abt my photo is how orange my skin looks! Not sure what was going on there.
editor: I like the idea of being devoted to a style :) I agree about responding to the human element; even on jak and jil where the subjects are clearly not everyday people, it's still a joy to see some fantastic from Céline being rocked by someone who isn't a model. It makes something more than just a "thing".
I'd love to see more outfits posts, I think it's something I'll have to start exploring on my blog also.
http://herribbonsandherbows.blogspot.com/
S: Thanks for the encouragement. I actually used to put up outfit posts more often, but I think after a while I lost interest in the exercise. I think it's something I will endeavour to pick up again, if it seems like the relevant thing to do. And after all, my friends and I enjoy showing off our fave outfits to each other when we meet, so I suppose this isn't any different!