It leaves me part abashed and equal parts proud that I am a part of this OOTD generation. For the uninitiated, OOTD stands for Outfit of the Day. And if you are still around and have not fallen off your perch out of shock/amazement/hilarity et al, then I recognise a true blue millennial in you. Just kidding, you could be as archaic as me but still love a good dose of millennial vocabulary now and then. As usual, there are two sides to the story and trust me to put a good debate into words right here served up for your weekly consumption. The idea of documenting style germinated from something a lot more editorial than an OOTD. It was simple: it could not be basic. But over time we saw an incredible evolution of style and how it was documented and now we are at a point where literally, anything goes. It takes someone like me to appreciate the kind of freedom and creativity this allows fashion lovers like myself. I could want to go all guns blazing with my accessories one day (read Annie Leibovitz's legendary Dior shoot for Vogue) or I might want to stick to my minimal yet emphatic roots the other (read the wave of fashion Seinfeld ushered in). It allows me the sense of privilege to create a diary of sorts that not only documents my whims but it also marks my evolution as a fashion person. So yes, an #OOTD is an uber quick way to serve up your most mundane look with style. An OOTD is the fast food for fashion bloggers and yes, you may quote me on that. Here is the catch though. I have begun to strongly see a pattern here, i.e. the downfall of a well thought out shoot or a well written piece. A phone camera is such a powerful tool in this day and age (what with a snazzier camera out every single day), that all it takes is a phone and an instagram account to create an OOTD. You and I can have a judgement about what qualifies as a good OOTD but that again remains subjective. What on the face of it could appear as trashy styling could strike a chord with a niche audience and that is just how powerfully this OOTD can impact the fashion social clout. But that again leads me to an upside. The fact that the diversity of edits, personal style, geographical locations, type of OOTD creates such a colourful fabric of fashion that there is space for nearly everybody to do their thing and find an audience for it. There are accounts that do not claim to be fashion bloggers but work on an OOTD format and do a bloody fine job of it. In the end it boils down to the authenticity of your content and how you use OOTDs to your advantage. I hope you enjoyed this little lecture on fashion gabbing with Shreya and that would be Rs. 1 lac for one lecture. Just kidding. Or not.
Here's a recap of some of my OOTDs that were just too good to be left only on instagram.
Photography by: Saumya and Shiva of The Open Art Project
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