Awhile back, I asked you give me some creative feedback on what you like about this site and where you want to see CHS go in the future.  For the most part, the comments were very helpful at gauging likes and dislikes, so thank you to everyone who contributed.  

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to try and incorporate more of your ideas into posts, but I wanted to answer a few of the comments directly.  So, here we go.

Plus One.  A handful of you requested more tips on plus sized dressing.  While I recognize that this is an underrepresented topic area on this blog (and everywhere in fashion for that matter), I just don’t know much about dressing larger figures. 

However, my Style Coalition compatriot, The Curvy Fashionista, has a great blog that you should check out.  You’ll love her style and her attitude.  I promise.  

There is also FatChic, and Marie Claire’s Fat Girl in a Skinny World.  You can also check out Refinery 29’s list of the top plus size blogs and shops.

Tag Your It.  I love Squarespace, but it hasn’t quite caught up to WordPress in terms of the features and plug ins.  For example, I’d love to be able to reply to comments directly but they don’t have that feature.  

Also, some of you expressed frustration with inability to find things in the site archives.  On the bottom of the left hand sidebar there is a search box, which is how I find most things on the site.  And if you know what it was tagged under, you can click on the tag beneath any similar post.  

It’s not a perfect system, but it’s what we have for now.

The Huddled Masses.  While I love the interns, I do, this blog is not just for interns.  So not every outfit, item or idea is intern appropriate.  Where I can, I try to be understanding of the intern price points and needs, but I don’t want to get to a place where everything is about the interns.  

That being said, as I work on redesigning the blog, I think what I’ll do is create an Intern Handbook page.  This way new interns will be able to easily access information that will be most helpful to them.  

Intern-al Pressure.  Speaking of interns, let’s talk about my interns, CJ and Alison.  

I would have loved nothing more than to have lengthy, regular posts from the interns that y’all helped me choose.  Unfortunately, while they did great work when they were here, CJ has a real job and Alison has school.  So their real life priorities soon eclipsed their Interweb priorities, and that’s how it should be.

Not everyone can completely surrender their sleep schedule and social life, as I have. *wink*

I don’t think I will be looking for another intern.  However, I do think I’d like to pick up a Street Style contributor.  This is an area where I think the blog could really benefit from, and I’d love to find a local college student or intern who could commit to one Street Style post per week.  

Reader Interactivity.  A number of you suggested incorporating more reader generated content.  The issue with asking readers to send in photos of outfits that they want help with or Street Style photos is that I’ve already tried this several times, and I never receive more than one or two entries.

Not long ago, I wanted to start a feature called CHS Style Star and I asked for suggestion of fashionable Cap Hill/D.C. ladies.  Even after daily plugs, I only received three entries and two of them declined to participate.  So while I keep the idea in mind, I haven’t had much luck with it in the past.

ReDesign Star.  I’m still looking for someone to do my redesign.  Because I’ve been a little disappointed in the past (I actually had a complete mock-up done not too long ago and HATED it), I really want a professional with a significant track record.  I’d also love someone with graphic design experience.  And most of all I’d love someone local.

I’m looking to pay between $250 and $500 for everything (cause I’m still on a government salary), and I’m looking to launch mid-December.  So if you know someone (or are someone) who can help, please e-mail me at capitolhillstyle (at) gmail (dot) com.  

Thanks to everyone for their comments.  We’ll probably do this from time to time, because it was very valuable for me to hear from y’all directly.

xoxo

Belle