minus & plus - my year as a style blogger

- When I looked back at this year's blog entries & photos, it was mostly outfits. & liiiiike, what?? No. Just no. My intention for this blog has always been more of the scrapbooking nature. A capturing of moments, a retelling of stories, a future laugh or sigh (depending on the topic) when we re-read these posts years from now -- & outfit posts don't really play into that.

+ However! Just like I love looking at my mom's trendy oufits from the 70s & 80s, I imagine that even 5 years from now, there will be a bit of "WHY WOULD I WEAR THAT?!" already happening, & in 20 years from now, I'd hope to have a teenager who enjoys revisiting these old photos from waaaay back in 2014. To be fair, I'm sure these outfits will play a part in the future laughs or sighs.

- Finding & taking time to do outfit photos required way more commitment than I could ever hope to sustain, & it also required coordinating schedules & times with Jared or Kelsie, or whoever I could grab to stand behind the camera.

+ It did force me to get the real camera out (vs. my iphone) & upload whatever images I had sitting on the memory card. I'm also really proud to look back & know that I stuck to a year-long blogging commitment.

- Although the point was always to make do with what I had in my closet, I definitely pressured myself into more than a couple purchases that were strictly because I knew I needed an outfit post that week. Quite frankly, I don't have the budget to keep up with trends.

+ My goal was to never shy from re-wearing shoes or jeans, because that's REAL LIFE. Too many style bloggers share gorgeous outfits but rarely reuse pieces, & I just think that's impractical. These posts really made me put some effort into using the clothes I (or Jared, teeheeee) owned in new ways, on top of sometimes just really causing me to put some effort into wearing clothes that weren't a sweatshirt & leggings.

- I sort of assumed that if you consistently post outfits & throw in some mildly laugh-worthy humor, you will accrue a following. This did not happen.

+ I did get to connect with some great ladies in the style blogging community, & even if it was only for a year, it was a fun community to be a part of. As someone that had been in the bleachers of style blogging, cheering, for years, just getting to sit on the team's bench was an experience.

- I won't lie... Standing on a sidewalk, or in a parking lot, or in the middle of an alley striking poses & having my picture taken was embarrassing. Additionally, I am assuming that taking & sharing photos of me! me! me! in my own clothing came off as pretty brazenly vain to some, especially since I didn't even really have a claim on being fashionable.

+ But! I learned a lot about posing, which has already been useful when I'm working with models for photoshoots. I learned a lot about making trends work for my shape, which has already been useful when I'm working my retail job as a stylist. I also (& this is perhaps the most important lessons of all) learned a lot about my body - What looks flattering & how to stand, contrasted by a lot of photos the world will never see that taught me what to never wear again & how to absolutely never, ever, ever stand. My year as a style blogger taught me so very much about my body type & how to stand with confidence, even in the middle of a city sidewalk. 

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Iiiiiiin conclusion... No, I won't be posting outfit photos anymore. I am happy to say I tried it, & stuck with it, but at the end of it all? Fashion is not the reason Sitting in Our Tree exists. I will be sharing the occasional outfit photo + details on my Instagram, & I have every intention of bringing the DSLR out with us more often as we continue to get to know DC in 2015. Style-in-action posts, if you will.

So, if you made it through a year of my face & crossed ankles (right leg over left leg is apparently me favorite, as illustrated in the above image), congrats! & thanks for hanging in there. It was a fun little ride.