Tuesday 17 February 2009

Outfit Details - The Verdict

I have been troubled quite a while as to whether I should be referencing my outfits and after long chats with friends, silent discussions with myself and comment exchanging with you, I have finally reached a decision.

It is only what I personally think so by no means don't you take it as an objective guideline to how it should be.

It all started the minute I took fash-blogging seriously and started reading kilobytes over kilobytes of info. I noticed straight away that street fashion blogs like the
sartorialist or streetgeist don't do any referencing which could be for any of the following reasons:
a)legal implications,
b)no time to do so when out in the street,
c)they don't want to.

So basically, you see an outfit you like and try to recreate it using your own wardrobe or buying the brands you prefer, without going for the exact same stuff, adjusting it to your own budget.

Then again, most individual independed bloggers like me, do reference every single item which is great because like most of you said, if you really like something, you know what it is and there's no need to bother asking.

But is this pushing everyone towards a unified dress code, subconsiously imposed uniform? Is it practically showing off?

So I started feeling kinda like this each time I made a list of my outfit details:
I admit I may have gone a bit mental at that stage:)

So I told you. Thanks everyone for all the lovely responses.

The fact that you see no harm in mentioning the brands we wear, makes me see no harm either. However, it gives me a good chance to stress out that us bloggers have a certain power we don't even realise sometimes. We can make or break a trend (or even a brand), shape opinions, give the thumbs up or down to certain situations. We owe it to ourselves and our readers to be true and use this power wisely.

I have said it before and will repeat it: it is not about brands, but how you wear them. Whether it is miu miu at my feet or zara, it should not be making any difference when deciding if you like it or not. At the end of the day, nowadays everything gets copied and spreads so fast, you can have it at any price. The name on the tag should always be a personal decision.

Hope all this makes sense...

So outfit details it is!belt: Mango dress: Sandrina Fasoli for Mango
bracelet: H&M
pumps: Topshop

Last before least, my 7th award, passing it on to a very sweet blogger, Taylor .
This won't come as a surprise to her, at least two other people have tagged her blog, Orange Lightning. I think she deserves it. (plz find award tag info, here)


14 comments:

Marietta said...

I love EVERYTHING from this outfit!And the 2nd photo with the brands (even loreal) makes me laugh! :) Very clever!
I have to say you confused me..After two paragraphs I thought you wont be posting the outfit details..Its fine with me either way though!Hope you re well.
x

Lopi said...

I couldn't agree with you more! I don't judge someone's decision to pay 300 euros for a pair of Marc Jacobs flats,and I certainly don't expect to be judged because I would never give such an amount for a pair of shoes.
Hey, you forgot to mention that when someone wears something hand-made or refashions a skirt as a cape for example, it's always good to know, as it gives us creative ideas! Outfit references don't always have to be about brands and where to buy. They can also be creative and inspirational!

Niviarsiaq said...

I agree with everything you've said. I'm glad you finally reached a verdict. And that belt is superb!

Clemmie and Melroy said...

I so agree with you hun! Style has nothing to do with labels, still... labels are always a good piece of information for ...ideas n shopping tales!
Clem x

Alecca Rox said...

@lopi - very good point about diy-s! did not forget about it though, my whole distress came from brand name-dropping, especially the mass production ones which in most cases do not even own the intellectual rights of the designs they are producing in thousands.

on the other hand, the designers who do own those rights price their lines as if they are pieces of gold. For God's sake, in the century of fast fashion do i wonna pay hundreds of euros for something that next season will be out of fashion?

to make that long story short, i wish every second blog was about diy, vintage and personal creativity:)

xxA

DaisyChain said...

you make perfect sense, and made me laugh!
I adore this outfit.

lucia said...

so, its almost your first proper outfit presented here as far as i can remember.

i really love the belt, i was searching for a similar one but didnt find something to like enough.

the dress also looks great on you, seems like being vintage!

i didnt comment over your question about mentioning brands cause i didnt find the time, but i respect the fact that you were thinking about it, whatever your decision might be. finally im glad you gave us the details otherwise i would have asked you at least about the belt!

-i ve got a question for you, its just simple curiosity:

in which occasion did you wear this outfit? was only for taking the pics or did you go to your job for example? the way im asking is that i love this formal way of dressing but i feel a bit ashamed of being dressed like that in the morning...

...(sorry this has been too long)

Alecca Rox said...

@lucia - actually it is my 8th outfit, you can see them all on the "menu", right hand side, tagged "outfits":)

I wore this to go out for drinks, at work i'd most probably wear it over skinny jeans and boots.

by "ashamed" i guess you mean embarrassed? well i guess ur personal dresscode is kinda like your taste in music: if you are a rocker, you wouldn't stuff ur ipod in hip-hop just to fit in, you'd proudly upload rock tunes to it and not give a fig.

Same goes for ur wardrobe. And what you wear has a lot to do with what you feel comfortable wearing, combo with ur lifestyle and attitude. I'd say you wear what ur happy with, whether it's day or night.

Elizabeth said...

I think I am in love with your outfit! :]

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

Love that belt. I find referencing a pain--I don't usually want to copy another person's exact items and I get frustrated when people copy mine. At the same time, I am NOT answering everyone individually who wants to know!

Mode Junkie said...

love the outfit. and the picture with the brands made me laugh. for me it's basically most of the time, head to foot h&m. pathetic, huh?

- said...

the blackdress is very cool

Camryn said...

The picture with the brand names was hilarious. Very witty. I agree with your point that people should try to "remake" an outfit with items from their own wardrobe or the brands they could afford. After all, it's not all about the brands but how you wear something. :)

Unknown said...

Nice post, I tend to only reference certain items, but then again I don't really outfit post. I like the idea of trying to remake an outfit. Your belt is to die for though!