Young people who post their outfit photographs online say they only want to “inspire others” and show the world “their style”. Paige Foong takes a closer look.

She smiles coyly into the camera, wearing a 20-year-old black jumpsuit that once belonged to her mother, a pair of chunky Steve Madden brown wedges and a black studded belt that’s twisted around her waist.

Meet Becks Ko, 20, a recent Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduate who religiously posts photographs of her outfits almost every other day, either on fashion community sites or her personal blog.

Becks is just one of the growing number of youths who are joining websites like the widely popular Chictopia.com and Lookbook.nu. These websites gather looks from members in their communities and are starkly different from fashion magazines, where the models are waif-like and clothed in overpriced apparel carefully handpicked by professional stylists.

In Lookbook, one can only become a member of the community through an invitation by a current member. Upon acceptance, users can upload their daily fashion experimentations for other users to comment and rate.

Becks, who will be attending Lasalle College of Arts in August, says that she started posting her photographs late last year to share her experimentations with other fashion enthusiasts, and to also get feedback on her dressing.

Sndy Klare Leo, 20, a student from Nanyang Polytechnic, agrees and claims that she started uploading her photographs because she loves dressing up and sharing her outfits with others to “inspire one another”.

Too much to handle?

Sndy recalls receiving mixed reviews when she posted her first outfit online. The business student says there was an especially memorable commenter who remarked that she dressed like his granny, to which she simply replied, “I would love to meet your granny”.

Currently, she puts up her photographs of her outfits on her personal blog, which boasts a readership of nearly 30, 000 since she first started.

Although these websites encourage users to offer constructive advice, hate mail is inevitable. Melanie Lim and Leanne Teo, both 20-year-old undergrads and co-owners of their personal blog, have suffered backlash from their first outfit post on local online fashion community Runway City, where the vivacious duo dressed up in sexy La Senza fishnet stockings, biker tights and snake print leggings, to which one commenter harshly remarked, “Very nice. How much?”

Attention Seekers

Singapore Polytechnic student Shauna Lee, 18, thinks that these websites only cater to “materialistic and bimbotic girls”. The confident teenager also states that she doesn’t need the reassurance from others to prove that she is part of the “in crowd”.

Still, she admits to enjoy reading some of the websites, as “they are a guilty pleasure”. She recalled an unforgettable post by a girl on such a site who said that she “needed advice for her poor dressing, but not to comment on her face or figure as she was fat and ugly”.

Part-time waitress Natalie Tan, 19, shares the same opinion as Shauna, saying that she’d never post photographs of herself online, because she does not want “others to rip off [her] style”.

Subjective Not Objective

Sndy, Leanne and Melanie all agree that criticism on such accessible sites is inevitable, but they make a point to note that style is subjective.

They believe that as long as they remain levelheaded and positive, they can continue taking such risks to experiment and upload. Melanie says, “At the end of it, we’re just girls who never grew out of dress-up.”