A Day Off

From outfits, at least -- because I got up late for work, threw on black trousers & a sweater, & didn't have the time (or inclination) to photograph anything. Sorry! It was bound to happen at some point. But this gives me a chance to reflect a little bit & to thank everyone for your great comments over the past couple months. I'm amazed that people are reading this & even more surprised that you like it :-) And I feel like I've met some nifty new people thru reading & following your blogs too.

See, I started this blog based on something I used to do way back in the early 1990s on Usenet. I was an early & active member of the Usenet newsgroup called alt.gothic.fashion. I even wrote & maintained the group's original faq. Well, we had a pretty regular thread called "What are you wearing today?" People would reply by describing, in text, their outfits. It could be anything from black jeans & a T-shirt to an elaborate clubwear ensemble. Whatever you were wearing that day.

The thread would go on for ages with dozens upon dozens of people posting. Then it would disappear for a while, and someone would restart it. Sometimes, the group would go for months without the topic, & then someone would post it as "What are you wearing today? (DON'T LET IT DIE!!!)" That always amused me. But all of this was in text, way before the Web came along.

Eventually, Usenet flamed out as the Internet expanded & people moved on. A lot of the old a.g.f gals migrated to LiveJournal & create the gothfash community. Sometimes, someone would start a "What are you wearing today?" post, & mostly people would describe outfits in text, but occasionally they'd upload a photo. And individuals might post cellphone camera pix of their daily outfits on their own LJ blogs. It was all pretty random tho'.

Then came the rise of the Julie & Julia-type 365 projects (many of which started before that movie, of course), everything from to making a skull image each day to sewing a new dress a day. Several friends on LJ were posting one photo a day for 365 days. Cute, but not relevant for me. As I joked with Sarah, all I'd post would be a photo of my computer screen at work, my iPhone screen, my computer screen at home, my cats, my husband, my coffee cup, my wine glass, lather, rinse, repeat! Seriously, that's all I see all week long.

But the one thing I do differently each day is figure out an interesting outfit. I don't have to do even that, given where I work. But I do it because it helps liven up the days. Life is what you make of it. I like to dress up & give things a sense of occasion, even if that's just going to the office to sit in front of a computer.

I think it was a link from Mina on Facebook that first lead me to an Already Pretty essay. That's when I realized, holy smokes, there's a world of people blogging their daily outfits online! They've been doing our "What are you wearing today" thread & did not let it die! They've taken it to the next level.

I did wonder if I could manage to do it, & the added time to photograph in the morning has been tricky. I generally try to write up the blog during the day on little breaks & then format & upload the photos as soon as I get home from work. I respond to comments whenever I have time. I like to peruse the blogs I'm following over my morning coffee, but work email often makes this impossible so I don't see them till lunch.

No idea how long I can keep this up, but the project has been fun! I enjoy the feedback & appreciate every comment. Thanks again.