I’ve been following chictopia for some time now, and have been impressed with the site’s tremendous success in building a lively and active community around fashion and personal style. But after attending the chictopia 10 conference during Fashion Week, my appreciation for what Helen Zhu, Corrine Chan and the rest of the chictopia team has accomplished has grown considerably.

At its core, chictopia is democratizing people’s ability to express their personal style and tastes and, at the same time, lets style-seekers discover trends and looks that match their tastes, shape and body size.

My favorite features of the site include the ability to upload photos of yourself (or looks you like), to tag them with the brands you’re wearing, and to create polls to get feedback on the look from other members of the community. To foster community engagement and participation in polls and other activities, site members can earn chic rewards, which are redeemable for items from popular brands like American Apparel.

I uploaded a few handy photos and created polls around them. How’s my hula-hooping?

If you like to express your style, use chictopia as your fashion soapbox. I, for one, will be following their success!

Ps. Here are some photos from the chictopia 10 conference.