New look and Giveaway reminder

Hi lovely readers! Happy Friday!

French Macaron mini bag by fleur-d-elise featuring mini handbags

Remember to enter the contest! The winner will recieve a $25 e-gift card to MochiBeaucoup.com. Then you can buy adorable new Spring accessories, like this French Macaron mini bag!!

If you belong to any of the blogger platforms, like Chictopia or Lookbook, you've probably already seen this outfit. It's easier and faster to post things on those sites, so they almost always get my new looks before my blog does. Probably not the best schedule to have, but it's a hard pattern to break!

In these photos:

American Apparel wrap dress

Sheer blouse from Forever 21

Vintage Coach purse

Thrifted blazer

Banana Republic sling-back shoes

H&M flower pin

The blogger's tool kit

My blog posts have gotten all out of order. I'm pretty behind, too. I post pictures on Chictopia and Lookbook the next day, if not the same day I take them. It takes a little longer for the picture to end up on my blog, though. I should probably prioritize a little better, but a blog post takes a little more thought! This post was actually started long ago, but got interrupted. Many of you have probably even seen these pictures already on Lookbook, etc.

Back to prioritizing... I'm not convinced the blog is the most important place for someone to share their musings and outfits. Sure it is more personalized and presents a broader perspective of you as a stylist (chef, crafter, etc.), but it's also harder for company and fashion reps to find, unless you have a huge, well-established fan base.

Which brings me to another topic, how do you establish that fan base? Do you just wait around and hope a persons random Google search leads them here? Or even more reliable, wait for them to Stumble your blog; that could take a 100 years! That's why sites like Chictopia, Lookbook, and even Hypeed (my least favorite, read why) are such important tools! I've been contacted for features and events through Lookbook more often than any of the other websites or services I use, even my own blog! I think one reason is that these sites, or communities, are almost like having a built-in fan base. The readers are right at your finger tips. They only have to search for "stripes" or "American Apparel" as opposed to entire sentences that magically have something to do with your blog. It still takes some work, but you are definitely more visible within these communities. Think of the internet as the ocean, and fashion communities as a smaller inlet or harbor connected to the ocean. It's much easier for the big fish (clothing companies, magazines, etc.) to catch the little fish in a smaller body of water, instead of trying to track them down in the ocean. Ok, so that's not a perfect metaphor. Unless we're talking about Anna Wintour, these bigger fish I speak of aren't actually gonna eat you, but you are part of the fashion food chain now!

The next thing to do is attract the fans you've gained in fashion communities to your blog, which is where you are going to show people that you have the brains, style, and charisma to make it in a sea of other fashion blogs. This is something I'm still working on; my writing skills are not as strong as I'd like them to be, I run out of topics, and I need to find a photographer I'm comfortable with, but I am 100% dedicated to this blog and drive can make all the difference. If you work hard at something you are passionate about, you will at least enjoy the ride, even if it doesn't get you exactly where you wanna be.Check out my latest feature on STYLEPANTRY.COM!!!

In this outfit:

Thrifted United Colors of Benetton sweater

Forever21 skirt

Chloe Prince Calf flats

Vintage purse

Unexpected

Tonight, out of the blue, American Apparel contacts me on Lookbook.nu. Turns out I'm featured in their What's New section of the website. Click here to see the look featured on American Apparel.com I'm the 12th picture down.


I'm so excited!!! Just wanted to share the happy news with you all. Have a great weekend!

Reviews

I've been slowly compiling reviews of all the different daily outfit communities that I use. Today seems like a good day to share them with you. It's another cool, gray day. We have had a total of 78 minutes worth of 80 degree weather. I must say, the mildest winter I've ever seen!

On to the reviews!

Chictopia
This site is what got me started. They're a wonderful community. I've met so many great people there! It can be hard to get your photos into the Style Gallery, which is for photos that the staff at Chictopia choose based on some complicated qualifications, but everyone's photos are always visible in the New Photos section. At Chictopia, the rule is kinda of "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." You can vote for photos, but you don't rate them, nor can you take away votes. It all makes for a happy, positive, inspiring experience.

Hypeed
I use this website occasionally, but it is definitely not my go-to. First off, photos load really slowly. They require photos be at least 2000x1500, which is HUMONGOUS. Most other websites only require 600x400. This can be a problem when you've set all of your photos to 600x400. They also have very specific feature themes and your photos must go through approval before they are included in a thematic category. You can just upload photos to your profile, but if you actually want people to look at them, you need to get them into a feature category. Another thing I don't like is that they have a rating system. You are in competition to get featured, so you rate other people's photos and they can rate yours. It's on a scale of 1 to 5. One means "No" and 5 means "Perfect". What I've noticed is that girls vote others' photos down in the hopes of making their own ratings look higher. This kind of system tends to bring out the mean in people, and it's the reason Chictopia got rid of it years ago.

Lookbook.nu
This place is for those of you who are too cool for school. Everyone seems like they are part of the It Crowd and nicely enough, they make you feel like you are part of it, too. Sometimes it seems everyone dresses the same (peer pressure is plentiful), but for the most part, it's a great site. It's easy to see others' photos and in turn other people see your photos. This site is definitely user friendly. It's easy to hype photos and easy to post looks. There are 3 categories of photo galleries: Hot, New, and Top. From what I gather, Hot is similar to being featured and Top is for photos with the highest votes. New is self-explanatory. I highly recommend joining this site, if you haven't already for two main reasons: to get your style noticed and to get inspired!

Weardrobe
This site is a little weird. It's still up and running and there's someone who chooses photos for the Featured section, but other than that, this site seems pretty dead. There are no contests and they haven't chosen a Spotlight Member in almost a year. There are still a lot of users, but it's definitely not as active a community as the other sites I mentioned above. Still, it's another site to post your outfits on, so you may want to think about joining.

In this outfit:

American Apparel dress & petticoat

H&M flower pin

Payless peep-toes

Belt is borrowed from an H&M dress