Who do I dress for? I work in an office with only two other people, both of whom I am related to, and still find myself trying to pick out new and creative outfits each morning. Will my brother-in-law really care that I paired up my most recent vintage floral print dress purchase with my favorite gladiator sandals? Probably not. So how can I justify my fashion obsession?

Chictopia is a new website where members can upload and share their style with other members of the Chictopia community. It’s fashion for the people, by the people. Each member has their own ChicBlog where other Chictopians can rate and comment on the outfits you have posted. Simply upload a photo from your computer or the web, write as much as you choose about the outfit (or your life if you’re interested, just like a personal blog), and any user comments made to your post will be sent directly to your email. As you add more posts to your ChicBlog previous outfits are archived, creating a time line of your blogs accessible even to your friends who are not yet members of the Chictopia community (check out my ChicBlog here). And as an added bonus the site also allows members to post information about from where and for how much items were purchased, and gives site users the ability to set up links to member’s online stores and websites.

With such a focus on brand names and high end designers in the fashion world, what happens to the individual? There is no question here because Chictopia highlights you. In this new digital age with endless amounts of access to information and inspiration the line sepatating “style icon” from “regular girl” is slowly blurring. We are no longer forced to accept only the rich and famous, or people genetically blessed enough to be featured in fashion print magazines, as the leaders in style. Similar to the democratizing of music on Myspace, Chictopia is providing the opportunity for anyone to become a leading fashion icon.

Since its launch on March 25, 2008, Chictopia has been growing fast. Started as the brainchild of CEO Helen Zhu, Chictopia has been featured on Mashable and The Washington Post: Tech Crunch and was sited by Teen Vogue as the “next big thing.” Part of the quick success of the site seems to stem from the receptiveness of the team at Chictopia to new ideas from their users. To read more of an explanation from Helen herself, check out this post from her very own ChicBlog.

Interested? Go to Chictopia and browse the style gallery or sign up to become a member of the Chic community. Add friends from your town, across the US, and overseas. Find other members your age, shape and size, and style. With so many opportunities for growth, this website is a great tool for both fashion industry insiders looking to share their knowledge and for the fashion obsessed like me who just need a place to say, “Look at my outfit…isn’t it great!”

by: Tricia Rock

Tags: chictopia, communication, fashion, therathaus

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 8:36 am and is filed under art & design, communication, culture, the rathaus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.