Why I Stopped Posting Outfit Combinations

Hello there.

I am pretty sure most of you started following this page because of these outfit posts. Every night before I sleep I make it a point to create 3-4 outfits and wake up with like tonnes of notifications which felt really great at first. I was receiving so many positive comments and everyone seemed to love it. ( Well except a few 'critics' that told me that my outfits were too plain and basic).

I started this account in 2012 with only a handful of followers. Some of them were even my relatives following me only because I accidentally connected my personal Facebook account with it. Fml. I had to use tonnes of hashtags to get noticed and fortunately my followings and likes grew quickly. #love #TFLers #tweegram #photooftheday #me #instamood #cute #iphonesia #fashion 

#summer #tbt #igers #picoftheday #food #instadaily #instagramhub #beautiful #girl #iphoneonly 

#instagood #bestoftheday #jj #sky #picstitch #follow #webstagram #sun #nofilter #happy  #shoutoutoffice 

Yes, it was this many hashtags and I am not ashamed to admit it. But please do not remind me of those skimpy outfits I used to make, I swear I have put those days behind me. Although it is fun to see how my taste in fashion has transitioned, it irks me to see those skin tight jeans and platform heels combinations. 😂

Back then, I could see each and every increase of follower. From 123 to 124 and 999 to 1000, each and every follower means so much to me even though it was also flooded with accounts like "buylikeshere" and "instafollowers" thanks to the hashtags. 😐 Contrary to your belief, I was kind of ashamed of this account. I hid it from my friends and family especially when I started gaining followers because to be honest, a part of me felt like my circle of friends would judge me for being a wannabe "fashion guru". It is ridiculous I know, what more can you expect from an over-thinking 17 year old?

Today, 4 years later, I reached over 100k of followers which really put me in all kinds of emotions. I was really happy but I realized I am no longer passionate about making new outfits. I would switch on my editor and just scroll through pieces and pieces of clothes but nothing looks good enough to be featured. And because I have posted over a thousand outfit combinations while strictly disallowing myself to repost old photos, I slowly ran out of ideas.

White button down with shorts and gladiator?

Leather jacket with bad ass graphic prints and boots?

Knit sweater and midi skirt?

Crop top and denim skirt?

Coachella inspired?

How to pair white T-shirts?

Been there, done that.

Yes, it gets harder to please everyone along the way. Especially when I saw comment like " Hasn't this been done to death already?? Yawn!!", I became even more unmotivated. ( Oh btw, this same person left hateful comments on multiple posts so I particularly remember her) I do accept criticism openly, but it made me feel like I was getting boring for my followers. So I took a looong break from my usual outfit combinations and started posting real photos of my own. Of course it wasn't well-received initially. I have lost almost a thousand followers over the few days and even had comments like " Please post like last time thanks". I was on the verge of deactivating the account but thankfully(?), I had a few collaborations arranged earlier that gave me a reason to continue creating content for you girls/ guys. It is scary how someone's comment can affect you on so many levels. But I have slowly come to accept that fashion is really subjective and I am no expert in telling people how to style their ripped jeans either. 

Negative vibes aside, I am so so grateful that my followers have reached 108k despite not posting any outfit inspirations!! I believe most of my followers now follow me because of my recent content and not just for the outfit inspiration posts anymore. The likes have also been picking up especially the one featuring my new-born puppies( read more here) I feel even more accomplished when these photos are well-responded by you all because I spent hours capturing and editing them. And they are from the real me, not some halter neck top from Topshop and Zara.

Everyday there are still so many people who scroll all the way down to my older posts to tag their friends on those outfit inspirations and of course, I am more than delighted. One of my friend from Malaysia even told me that she saw someone scrolling my page on the subway, in the freaking US! Moments like these affected me more than some keyboard warrior ever will.

"Omg girl, why you making a big fuss out of this??"

At this point most of you are probably thinking this way. But I hope you know that this means more than just a social media account to me because it gives me a reason to love fashion even profoundly. It also taught me to not care about what others may think of my outfit because I know 1,143 people like it and thought it was gorgeous. Besides, it took me 4 years to reach where I am, and let me tell you there is no easy way to it.

So do not worry ( or hate), I will be bringing those outfit inspiration posts back. Just let me experiment a little with this blogging thing meanwhile alright?

Thank you, stranger on Instagram.

Sincerely,

Cecilia