WikiFashion

While spending endless hours surfing the net this weekend, I randomly stumbled upon an intriguing site. Wikifashion.com is a wiki that has been created to encompass any and all fashion related things. The site describes itself as, "a project created for and by the fashion community. It is where you can find and catalogue anything fashion related, such as blogs, style icons, brands and magazines." And according to the web site's 'About' section...

  Wikifashion is a way for fashion lovers to catalogue brands, designers, fashion shows and all things fashion in a highly effective and collaborative way. Wikifashion will allow fashion lovers and designers alike to update clothing from season to season and to enable access to the most up-to-date information on fashion.

All members of the fashion community- from fashion lovers to designers are encouraged to contribute and edit content.

I have seen and read a few other wikis before, but I was impressed to find one that dealt solely with fashion. And what you might find most interesting about the site is that they want you to sign up, create an account and help them to contribute and/or edit existing articles. They already have a good start, but one can only imagine how massive and useful this wiki could turn out to be! Most of the information out on the web that pertains to fashion has only to do with designers and their lines. Otherwise, you must personally wade through thousands, even millions of fashion-related sites until you find something - a blog, magazine, writer, stylist, celebrity - that specifically speaks to you. Indexing and compiling fashion information, knowledge and web sites is a brilliant idea in my opinion.

Wikifashion also makes it easy to spread the word about their site. They encourage contributers, and the general public, to help promote the site by making badges that people can post on their own web sites. And at the top of the site they encourage readers to "do their part" and help them to build and expand the site. After doing a little reading, I discovered that Wikifashion is a private venture that is completely volunteer based. And while the site may look a little sparse right now, I think that it has exponential potential. More content coupled with a better, more comprehensible website design would really improve the website. I'm sure that the more contributers and editors they recruit to help out, the better the site will become!

If you think you have anything to contribute to the site or would just like to check it out for yourself, click on one of the badges below.

        

Combat boots

Although combat boots aren't exactly a brand new trend, their popularity has grown tremendously over the year. Since September I have been on a personal search for the perfect pair for myself, and have come up short. Recently, however, I came across a photo of a pair of combat boots that belong to my photographer friend, Halle Tate. Her boots are gorgeous, and I just love the studded embellishments and pattern on the boots. The brand is Penny Loves Kenny and they are absolutely perfect for Fall, and better yet - they're affordable! Halle told me that she purchased them at DSW for a mere $69.00 - what a steal! Hopefully I will be able to snag a pair similar to these for myself.

Stumble-ogs

Surfing the net and coming across fashion blogs is a big part of staying up to date and inspired. I am always finding and stumbling upon new and interesting fashion blogs. Every so often I will create a post like this one that summarizes and links to fashion blogs that I have recently found and enjoyed. Even though there is a constant stream of blogs on the net, I have yet to find two that are the same - and I think that is what is so interesting about the fashion blog 'community.'

Here are a couple blogs that I've been intrigued by this week:

Citizen Couture is a truly breathtaking site. It is full of pictures of extremely fashionable people from all over the globe. In my opinion, Citizen Couture is similar to something like the Sartorialist, but instead of just a blogspot blog, it is an all-encompassing website. The blog was started by a freelance photographer in 2009, so the site is fairly new. The photos on Citizen Couture are of fashion professionals and/or random people at fashion events, shows and gatherings from around the world. And what I also love about this site is that almost every picture taken has a caption with the person's name and profession underneath it. So you can put a name to a face and see just what the 'fashion editor at Vogue Italia' is wearing to a Paris fashion show. If you are searching for inspiration and some of the most stunning photos of fashionistas found on the street, this is worth checking out!

It Looks Good to Me is another fashion blog that I have actually been following for quite some time. This blog doesn't just cover fashion, but also design, food, art and many other little categories. Started by a textile designer from Brooklyn, It Looks Good to Me has a great following and is a very well put together website. Since the author, Caroline, is an artist/illustrator, she is constantly creating artwork for the blog, and she even has a 'print shop' where you can purchase her work. I find her's to be a very unique style, and I like the personality that she gives to the site. Coupled with her own illustrations, photographs and writings about fashion and style trends in New York City, this blog is one of my favorites!

The young and the creative.

Cecilia CassiniI came across this article on Style.com's fashion news feed. It's from the UK's The Independent and it discusses the way in which younger people are breaking into the fashion world. Not young models, but young designers, bloggers and the like. It starts out by describing a young fashion designer named Cecilia Cassini. I have read about her and her successes in the past, but this article was different in the fact that it talked about the entire trend of younger people becoming not only involved in fashion, but becoming leaders in the fashion world and industry. It gave more examples of other young people who had been successful too. Not only designers but bloggers and bloggers turned designers and stylists.

I found the article fascinating. And while I had heard of most of the people being discussed, I hadn't thought of how much of an impact they have begun to have on the industry. The power of the internet and other social web sites and media has helped to make their success possible in a way that might never have been imagined before. By sharing their thoughts via the web and connecting with other young people, they have made themselves very successful. And they've also made a name for themselves. Not only is this interesting, but it is inspiring. I mean, who wouldn't love to have the imagination of children and teens to help guide them?

I encourage you to read the article for yourself and perhaps look up the people that it spotlights. Even though not all of the children will be in the industry for the rest of their careers, I still think of this growth and boom of young creativity as a rising trend. And I'm not surprised at all that children have been able to make such a lasting impression on a world that values the new and next best, creative thing.

Be on the look out.

Just a quick post to let you all know about some updates coming to the site.

I will be adding an 'inspiration' section to my blog. It will consist of photos/art that inspires me, as well as scanned pictures from my journal of images that I carry with me. Most are tear outs from multiple different magazines or things I find and print off the internet.

Also, if you haven't already checked it out yet, I added an 'artwork' section last week. Right now it has only a couple of my own original photographs, but I will also be adding original sketches and many more photos.

Additionally, I am hoping to get some interviews in line and uploaded of some interesting and fashionable people. Perhaps even some video as well!

So be sure to stay tuned to these new updates, and please feel free to give me comments and feedback on the posts you have read and enjoyed thus far!

Best,

ALV