I wore Disney inspired outfits for a month (almost) and here is what happened!
First off, let me introduce you to the phenomenon known as Disneybounding. Disneybounding has been around for a while now. It is wearing outfits that are inspired by Disney with your everyday clothing. Some people even “bound” as non-Disney characters. Disneybounding became a great solution to Disney banning costumes for anyone over the age of 14. It was meant to be a subtler approach to cosplay, but can still be as theatrical as your heart desires!
I first started Disneybounding in 2013, way before I started my blog, joined to the Disney IG community or worked for Disney.
On the heels of a Pinterest obsession and trip to Tokyo Disneyland, I stumbled upon this phenomenon. I was working at Urban Outfitters at the time, which virtually had no dress code, so this was the perfect place for me to showcase my Disneybounds in all their glory.
As you can see in the Instagram posts pictured below, I would wear my bounds to work, take pictures of them in the UO dressing room, and post them on Instagram, not too much unlike what I do today. Now of course, I have a photographer…err I mean boyfriend to take my photos whenever I need them.
His photography skills came in handy because last month kicked off the start of a new Disneybound challenge for Instagram! As soon as I saw the March prompts I knew I had to get in on the action. So what exactly did I get out of the March Disneybound challenge?
I got really creative with my daily outfits. This time around was more challenging because I work in a corporate office setting. For the most part, I chose to showcase Disneybounds that I actually could wear to work, not just in the parks. I also opted to only bound with items that already existed in my closet.
I became really confident being me! The interesting thing about turning a personal IG account into a business and/or niche account is that I make content specifically for my targeted audience. However, there are about 400 people, several of whom I see frequently in real life that are just following my account because they know me. So when I get asked “ah so what is this Disneybound challenge thing” by someone who has no idea, it adds an extra layer to the experience. Instead of feeling awkward about it, I’m learning to talk about my Disney life with confidence! And I love to know that there are people outside the community that have a genuine interest in what I’m doing.
For several days, my timeline has been unapologetically me! I’ve always been someone who didn’t want my timeline to only have pictures of myself. I felt like if i did, people would think I was self-absorbed. Moving forward, I still want my TL to have a mix of objects and me, but there was something refreshing about posting content that wasn’t necessarily cohesive or at the parks. I wasn’t posting with a call to action or purpose. I just posted to have fun, just because. Sometimes, I think us content makers get to obsessed with what we post and forget why we post in the first place. This helped me remember.
I really enjoyed participating in this challenge with the community and I can’t wait for the next one. It was amazing to see everyone be so creative and to get love and support from so many friends. Sign me up for the next one!
Thanks for reading!
Kirsten 🍰