Hello

Anonymous

After being a happy fringe dweller on the site for a number of years, I thought I would like to be more involved.
Anyway, in the spirit of being involved, I've recently read something (was it here?), that's proving to really help when I'm choosing what to wear each day,
"Would I be happy to be photographed wearing 'this'?"
Obviously the activity dictates the appropriate clothes, but there's usually a better choice I can make when I imagine a camera appearing.
Does anyone else already use this 'rule'?

6 years ago

General

12 replies

Latest reply was from lyn67

Staysfit

Veteran

Welcome Susan! What a great way of thinking. I haven't thought about that before, but I dress for an audience every day because of the type of work I do. I also try to make sure that the worse I feel in the morning, the better I groom myself and I pay even more attention to the details of my outfit. The visual impression I make makes a huge difference in how people feel when I work with them.

6 years ago

Aquamarine

Veteran

Hi Susan! Glad you joined us.

That's an interesting way of thinking about outfit choices, and I'll try to remember it. I do imagine how I'd feel if I ran into an old boyfriend or an especially fashionable acquaintance when I dress to leave the house. As luck would have it, the few times I have left the house or dressed poorly *in* the house, someone inevitably comes by or I see someone I know during my errands.

6 years ago

harmonica

Veteran

Welcome! I like this question bc it incorporates your happiness and the social component of how you approach your environment. If that makes sense.

6 years ago

Bijou

Veteran

Hi Susan. I often think would I be happy if I ran into (insert name of very good friend, actually Angie does spring to mind)... Some things photograph better than others (dark colours don't look so great in photos), and I don't even want to think about ex-boyfriends... maybe the desire to look attractive to them, something that I have happily left in the past. However, when I think of my 2 to 3 closest friends or Angie who are beautiful women (inside and out) then I know I want to look my best and most authentic self with them. Therefore, that is how I want to dress.

It is interesting to ponder this. Thank you for participating. YLF is a very enriching forum.

6 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Hi Susan. I haven't thought that exact thought, but I know that when I'm dressed for gardening and run to the nursery, that I will run into someone I know. My husband says don't worry, they're doing the same thing.

6 years ago

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Susan, welcome, and thanks for this food for thought. JAileen, I appreciate your response--funny and liberating! I haven't thought about dressing as if I were being photographed. At first I thought, good idea! Then I thought, Ooh, I'd never be able to decide on an outfit! I'd be paralyzed with indecision.

6 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

That's very interesting. I think, because my brother is a photographer / cinematographer, I think about dressing FOR the camera. And screen presence - of which my poor Lilypup the dog has none, lol. But interestingly enough, I had the care of this most anxious dog, and he had A LOT of screen presence. What was annoying in life, was the right amount of energy for good presence.

6 years ago

The Cat

Veteran

Hello, and welcome!
Actually, I often think about how I will look if photographed, as at my workplace, people with cameras are quite common. In addition to clothes, I consider nice hair and visible lipstick/gloss to be important.

6 years ago

Joy

Veteran

Welcome, Susan. I'm glad that you have joined us. I don't ask that question, but it is a good one. I am more likely to ask myself, " Would I want to run into an old boyfriend in this outfit?
I love JAileen's response. It is more often DH who will be running to the garden center and can't see the point of changing clothes when he will probably be wrestling with big bags of mulch or potting soil.

6 years ago

Anonymous

Thank you ladies for the welcome. I fully agree on the increased chances of running into someone I know, the scruffier I look. Maybe what I'm trying to say is, how I see myself in a mirror compared to same outfit in a photo can be quite demoralising sometimes. Are photos are more 'honest' mirror? I think so.

6 years ago

MovingFashionForward

Active Member

Fantastic question to ask, Susan. I agree, sometimes it can be demoralising, but OTOH, sometimes when I have been editing my wardrobe and photographing myself in a given piece with a view to adding said piece to the donation mountain(!), I have ended up being surprised that I loved it in the photograph and keeping the item instead. Either way, it is worth actually photographing yourself when editing.

But for the purpose of deciding what to wear for a given activity, I think the question you suggested is very useful indeed. Certainly had I asked myself that question before once (a long time ago, to be fair!) going to the supermarket dressed like a someone who lives under a bridge because the homeless shelter won't take her, I might never have had the horrifying experience of bumping into the worst possible person to meet dressed so badly (a VIP), who had only ever before seen me dressed well. I still feel sick with embarrassment thinking about it now, many years later!

Sarah

6 years ago

lyn67

Veteran

Yes, that's a great point but exhausting!:-). You're in the right place, welcome!

6 years ago

Category