"A Watch Doesn't Really Go With This Outfit, Daddy"

Today's New York Times contains an article by Steve Lohr, A Data Explosion Remakes Retailing, which discusses how retailer Wet Seal introduced an online feature to their site last year called Outfitter which:

• Allows users to put together their own outfits online, post them for others to browse/comment and exchange recommendations
• Has generated more than 300K user-designed outfits and millions of page views

The December 24 edition of the New York Times: The Year in Style printed an article by Eric Wilson, Bloggers Crash Fashion’s Front Row, that began with the line, "NOT everyone thought it was adorable in September when a 13-year-old wunderkind blogger named Tavi was given a front-row seat at the fashion shows of Marc Jacobs, Rodarte and others."

Reading the two articles made me think that somewhere in this high-tech confluence of avatars meets user-generated content (e.g., blogging, tweeting) meets the backlash against suburban mall ubiquity, wouldn't it be great not only to allow ordinary teenagers, or anyone for that matter, to establish themselves on the Internet as style mavens (ranging from couture to consignment) but also to monetize it through a common technology platform? In other words, little Jackie O., or today's version of Cher Horowitz, could write a fabulous blog about her elegant, teen life in the debutante fast lane and pull together sensational outfits from myriad retailers -- well beyond Wet Seal -- so that other little Jackie O'lookalikes across the country could benefit from her fashion sense. More importantly, by driving traffic to the retailers, little Jackie O. should also make a buck or two in the process via a virtual revenue share agreement that could possibly grow with her relative popularity and, accordingly, the volume of sales generated.

Maybe this is already possible and I'm just not in the know; however, I still see more blogs with non-revenue generating links to external sites coupled with the traditional banner ad advertising model. The time may be ripe to bring it up a notch and make the clothes come to life.