I’m a big fan of Missbehave. It has a wild irreverence and disregard for the establishment of fashion/consumption/gender roles/appropriate behavior that I’ve only ever seen once before in a print magazine (and that, of course, was in Sassy).
So I was a bit shocked to see this. Basically, Sarah, Morrison is in complete disbelief of the entertaiment or informational value of the kind of blogs where people post solely pictures of themselves wearing different outfits.
I’ve never endeavored to have the kind of blog where I post only pictures of what I’m wearing—I have no idea whether you guys would like it, but it’d be boring as hell for me. After all, I started blogging because I wanted to write, right? However, as a blogger who sometimes posts pictures of what she’s wearing, I kind of wanted to weigh in on the value of daily outfit pictures.
I’m not a die-hard follower of the daily outfit picture, just because there are some days when I just plain don’t want to take a picture because I’m not wearing anything really amazing, for whatever reason—sometimes I’m running late and don’t have time to arrange a good outfit, or sometimes I’m freelancing in a straight-laced, conservative office where I’d be completely out of place wearing anything but a skirt and blouse, so I don’t think I look very interesting—or sometimes I don’t feel well and slouch about in my jeans and tee all day.
However, when I have the time and energy to put together an interesting outfit, I like to take pictures of what I’m wearing. (Or, more accurately, have Grant or Robert take pictures of me.) I’ve found it really useful because I can see a lot of different views of myself, which is much more accurate than looking into a mirror. This is especially true when Robert shoots pictures of me, because his action shots mean that I get to see how something looks on me as I’m walking, dancing, reading, living—rather than just posing in front of a mirror. If my jeans look funny on my butt or if I look particularly amazing in full skirts with tiny nipped waists, I get to see it immediately and from all angles.
I also like it because the pictures allow me to archive what I’m wearing without having to hang onto the actual clothing itself. I’m not a fashion archivist, nor do I work for a museum…and the fact that I live in New York means that my closet it approximately the size of a box of dental floss, so closet decluttering is a pretty high priority for me—the fact that I don’t have space means I can’t afford to keep clothing I’m not wearing. Daily outfit pics, though, mean that when my skinny jeans are finally outmoded or I finally get tired of wearing head scarves, I can hang onto my memories of them with accuracy and fondness—without hanging onto them and letting them clutter up my closet.
I’m looking forward to the day when I have years of outfit pictures to look at and see how my style has evolved. Full disclosure? My style was &#uuml;ber-classic when I was, like, thirteen through sixteen. My favorite outfit to wear to school was a grey pleated wool skirt, a white blouse, a sweater blouse, and oxfords. (My peers made fun of me because it looked like I was wearing a school uniform.) After that, I discovered black clothing and bought almost nothing else, until I started buying vintage and secondhand at eighteen. I have almost no pictures of my fashion evolution, but I’m sure somewhere in there I had some brilliant outfits. I’d love to see pictures…and I’m sure that when I’m forty, I’ll look at pictures of outfits I took this year and take some inspiration from them.
I’m also looking forward to participating regularly in Wardrobe Remix so that I can get feedback on my style and see how others have styled similar pieces. Tricia, the editor of Bits and Bobbins, is the maintainer of this community, which thrives on submissions from its members. Tricia picks people from the WR every week that have astonishing style and features them on her blog. (It’s a secret goal of mine to be a Remixer of the Week. Shhh.) I already subscribe to Wardrobe Remix in my RSS reader, and I’m constantly dragging photos from the community to drop into my style inspiration guide. (Hey. Remember when I taught you how to make your own? Have you done it yet?)
Do you guys take daily outfit photos? If so, do you find it helpful? What do you think of blogging your wardrobe and daily outfits?
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I started taking outfit pictures about six months ago and it has been awesome. It has really forced me to evaluate my ‘personal style’ (a term which I use loosely, especially with what I was wearing six months ago) and be a bit more deliberate with how I put together outfits. It also has let me see that yes, that dress is QUITE unflattering on me, or no, despite what the hubby says, those shoes are AWESOME. So yes, I really enjoy my outfit pics, and I LOVE seeing the progression over the last few months.