OFTD and the first of the Dress Challenge!

So today was the first of my Dress Challenge! This challenge for myself means i have to wear a dress once every week to work, and i have already chosen 8 dresses to be worn over the next 8 weeks. The reason i have created this challenge for myself is because i am trying to grow my collection of dresses, which is my current wardrobe expansion aim, however i realised i already have plenty of pretty dresses that i have only worn once and never again. Thus that's why i feel like i am always lacking dresses! So to feel less guilty and also to actually put into use rather then just hoarding my growing collection of dresses, i am forcing myself to style a different dress a week for work for the next 8 weeks.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like i never wear my dresses, in fact on most weekends my staple are dresses, however i dont think my dresses should only be saved for the weekend, especially since the majority are not "party" dresses and could easily be styled into work appropriate dresses with a bit of effort and planning. As it has been grounded into us during the GFC by fashionistas all over that our clothes should be able to do "double duty". So true! It saves money, makes maximum usage out of your clothes, gets you creative with your clothes, and surprisingly is a very fun challenge!

So the first dress i chose to wear for the challenge was a cheap dress i got from Katies back in January this year. I got the dress shortened and wore it for my boyfriend's birthday party back in early February. Since then it has not been touched! Which is a waste for such a nice dress! For my boyfriend's birthday party i wore just the dress with a light tan belt, tan heels, and a pretty silk flower pinned to one side of my hair. For work i layered it up because it's winter and also more importantly to make it more work appropriate!

Although i must add the challenge did not go off very well today as the awful combo of my dress plus stockings created awful static! It was so embarassing as it kept clinging to me in the most unflattering and inappropriate way! I tried hairspray and dampening my stockings, however the relief from static was only very temporary. I think it's because the dress is unlined (it is a cheapy!), and when i last wore it in summer it was without stockings so i didnt have the static problem. Oh well lesson learnt, and i will avoid unlined dresses with stockings for the rest of my dress challenge!

The following pictures are how it turned out.

The dress (in natural light)



The dress (with lights on)



The dress plus cardi (in natural light)



The dress plus cardi (with lights on)



Close up of the cute details of the cardi



Complete outfit!



Dress: Katies (shortened for my shorty height!)
Black singlet: Valley girl (worn under dress to make it work appropriate!)
Cardi: New Look (bought in Singapore but i believe it's a british chain store)
Scarf: Green pashmina bought from Singapore chinatown markets
Bag: Mimco
Shoes: Bow flats from Singapore

I have really started to like blogging, before it seemed like way too much effort but i gave it a go since so many people have blogs and i love love love looking at them and they seemed to enjoy it so much. I thought about it today and here's a break down of why i love blogging so much at the moment:

1) It allows me to catalogue my wardrobe
Since i am on a neccessary shopping ban at the moment, it is easy to get depressed over a "lack of clothing", which really is rather a lack of "new" clothing rather then any form of clothing. Being able to posts my outfits each day makes me realise i have heapsss of clothes, and clothes that i have collected over years and i actually love but have forgotten about once worn. However blogging helps me remember my clothes and how much i like them. Also this helps decrease my depression over my shopping ban and surpress my need to shop as im too busy playing around with my current clothes!

2) Blogging is like a soothing diary
When i mean "diary" i don't mean as in a personal diary where i spill my intermost secrets and thoughts, after all you have to keep in mind once you put words or pictures onto the internet it's there forever. But blogging does let me write up things that interest me and is a little space where it's all about me me me =). Also i love that pictures can be added to give a visual of what im talking about.

At first the fact that no one really seemed interested in my blog as apparent by lack of followers demotivated me to blog regularly. But reading the comments on Vogue forum about the nasty comments that some voguettes with more popular blogs get makes me realise im lucky that i dont have people pressing on their opinions about what my blog should and should not contain. Since i don't have to worry about people's opinions i can keep the blog extactly to my personal preferences. For example i know that i have wayyy too many photos of my outfits, i mean who cares if the same outfit is in natural light or with lights on or has a damn scard added, but I care and i like seeing the various pictures of my outfit. So i really like how the lack of exposure allows me to make the blog feel more personal for me, which really makes me enjoy blogging without worry.

3) Adapting the theme of the blog to what im interested in
As it has become apparent, and touches the above points, i have started to make the blogs about my outfits. I really enjoy catalouging my outfits through my blog as i love clothes and i love that i have been able to start to build a wardrobe that clearly represents my style. Being able to keep an almost archive like blog of outfits and being able to add to this really appeals to me. I even look forward to coming home and blogging as it's about MY outfits and something IM interested in.

So that's all for now, hopefully my passion for blogging doesn't end too shortly, im sure it will fade over time but i would really love to see it grow so i can look back on it almost as a piece of work for my enjoyment.