Last Updated on September 29, 2014
Last month marked four years since I started my first fashion blog. Back then, bloggers were gaining tremendous popularity because of their fun, accessible style and uncensored opinion, a cherished antidote to aspirational fashion magazines readers no longer related to. But what glitters is not always gold. Have bloggers democratised fashion for the long run or are they too guilty of dipping into the industry's less kosher sides?
Photo by Darling Stewie
Fashion blogging beginnings: Individuality and naivety
In the past, the fashion industry was proverbially hard to break into unless you were well-connected or rich. Along with early fashion blogs emerged the idea of the 'democratisation of fashion', which was supposed to shake fashion hierarchy to the core.
In regards to bloggers, 'democratisation of fashion' meant that if you had a cool, relatively high-traffic blog and great style that didn't necessarily have to be all Chanel and Balenciaga, you could become part of the fashion industry without connections or education.
Fashion lovers were encouraged by the success of the first bloggers who quit their jobs to focus on blogging full-time and thousands of blogs started sprouting up worldwide.
While many of those blogs were undeniably launched with the intention to catapult lithe, blonde, semi-stylish girls into online stardom, in the early days, fashion blogging was primarily about doing your own thing. It was honest. It was not nearly as calculated as today. [tweet_box]At the beginning, fashion blogging was about doing your own thing. It was not calculated.[/tweet_box]
Each blogger I was following five years ago had a distinct voice. They wore completely different things – you didn't see the same handbag popping up on every other blog. They shared miscellaneous events from their life. Some of them posted political opinions.
For many fashion enthusiasts misunderstood by their community because of how they dressed, fashion blogging was an outlet where they could finally express themselves without being judged. You only had to click the 'Publish' button to go from uptight coworkers staring at your frilly lavender blouse to readers applauding your uniqueness.
After months of hesitation I started my own fashion blog.
I was surprised how much my small town experience mirrored bloggers in fashion capitals. We went to events as plus ones because no one in the industry knew we existed. 100 daily unique visitors was considered decent traffic. Extravagant gifting wasn't a thing. I was exalted when a Swedish company sent me two temporary tattoos that took a month to arrive.
Fashion blogging in 2013: Attack of the clones
Fast forward to 2013, the fashion blogging landscape has undergone major shifts. There are notable exceptions, but in general, fashion blogging is no longer about individuality. It's about mediocrity. [tweet_box]Fashion blogging is no longer about individuality. It's about mediocrity.[/tweet_box]
Fashion blogging today salutes reducing self-expression to a handful of common denominators: the ubiquitous Kenzo tiger jumper, Isabel Marant wedge trainers, ombré hair, Céline handbags, sheer maxi skirts. Individual fashion voices of the past have merged into one monotonous voice. Fashion bloggers look like each other's clones.
Fashion blogging today is about fitting in with the cool crowd. How ironic to think it originally emerged with the outcasts – people who loved fashion but couldn't or didn't want to be part of the cool crowd (the industry).
Apart from the attack of the clones, you'd have to be blind not to notice fashion blogging has become unabashedly commercial. The main issue here is is an astonishing lack of transparency. I support sponsored content because bloggers need to pay the bills like everyone else, but keeping readers in the dark about it is unethical.
Several top-tier fashion bloggers, as well as hundreds of smaller ones, are not in the habit of disclosing commercial affiliations and freebies. They deceive readers who believe bloggers endorse products they have purchased themselves, not received as a gift and got paid to promote them.
We've seen it all before in fashion though – magazines failing to disclose advertorials and not giving editorial space to brands that don't advertise in them.
Another recent blogging gem is posting outfits consisting solely of pieces the blogger has received from brands. Is this really your style? Would you wear it if you didn't get it for free? All of it?
Photo by Miss Sly
Do you read intelligent fashion blogs?
Many people jump at every opportunity to accuse bloggers of being shallow, unethical and uneducated. But why do bloggers guilty of this so often have a massive following?
When bloggers take criticism into account and share in-depth articles or outfits not based on trends, we gather from the lack of feedback we receive that the vast majority of readers prefers the very things that give fashion blogging a bad rep – instant gratification, conspicuous consumption and absence of critical thought.
There are many websites and forums dedicated to discrediting fashion bloggers (I say 'discrediting' instead of 'criticising' because comments on those websites often cross the line). People who frequent them read the blogs they 'hate' to get fodder for snappy discourse, boosting their traffic with multiple daily visits and rampant linking.
Would it not be more fruitful to spend all this time supporting the bloggers you believe are ethical, have original style, are great writers? Or is this just another reflection of what people really like?
Are fashion blogs the same as fashion magazines?
The most popular fashion blogs share a single pivotal ingredient: aspiration. This is the same aspiration the fashion industry is relentlessly condemned for: portraying beautiful, unrealistic, unattainable lifestyles in editorial and advertising.
It's images of ultra-thin models with flawless photoshopped skin wearing £10,000 outfits that make you buy perfumes and accessories – the cheaper products that drive approximately 80% of sales.
Are top fashion blogs different from fashion magazines? Figures are slender, clothes expensive, locations cosmopolitan, food photogenic. For most readers, this lifestyle is beyond reach. A million girls would kill for this job. [tweet_box]Are top fashion blogs, full of expensive things and locations, any different from fashion magazines? [/tweet_box]
I don't believe aspiration is detrimental by default, but if it exists in fashion blogging (and so prominently), it means fashion blogging is no different from the industry in general. As promising and refreshing as the idea sounded at the beginning, by conforming to industry standards, bloggers have not democratised fashion in the long run.
In other words, you still have to be well-connected or rich to break into the industry.
I wonder if I fit in..
Sight...
---
They also deceive readers who believe bloggers endorse products they received as a gift because they are so good and popular; apparently some well known nyc blogger(s) buys stuff and later brag it was given to her for free. Interesting.
Anyhow, I never get any freebie mainly because I'm not interested in random stuff. And Rick is not interested in my blog. Sight...(again)
I remember the article about bloggers buying stuff and pretending brands gave it to them for free, but because it was based on hearsay, I didn't discuss it here (I can't say I don't believe it, though).
Yours is one of the blogs I've been following the longest and is one of the two or three outfit blogs I still enjoy looking at. Your style is unique and strong, which is great for your readers, but indeed won't get you showered with freebies. I think the average person in charge of blogger gifting gets scared looking at your blog, lol. It's funny how fashion is perceived as uncomplicated and shallow, but so few people understand it above level one.
Still, I believe Rick should acknowledge you somehow - you've been (the only one) doing wonders for his online presence for years ...
The link to this post appeared in my news feed on Facebook, shared by the lovely bloggers I enjoy following (Duckalicious and Running in my heels). First off, I'd like to say congratulations on the article, it's a beautiful piece written by a person who clearly knows what she's talking about. I also enjoyed the rational tone of it, you presented the truth with respect and without talking shit about anyone else. I myself think a lot about this problem in the blogosphere we've been having for a few years now, and often write about it on my blog in small doses. Commercialization is inevitable in every aspect of life, and to those that don't have or are afraid to have a strong, unique voice - it's the best bet. "Why be different and maybe fail when you can be like everyone else and the masses will love you for it?" I'm appalled at this way of thinking and having studied textile and clothing design (being involved in the artistic process), cannot deal with the lack of creativity these days. We have yet to see what the future holds for bloggers, but I truly hope things will change for the better. Once again, thank you for this amazing article! x
Thank you - I'm happy to see more people feel similar on this subject and - more importantly - are able to see through (cheap) tricks. The observation regarding the lack of creativity in fashion you make is very valid as well and something I've been considering writing about, but it will probably take more time to research. Thank you for reading this piece again.
Great article!!!
I am myself rather passionate for fashion and reading fashion blogs but only to the extent that I like taking inspiration for my own wardrobe. I have never had any further interested in the world of fashion and cool crowds.
There used to be some fashion blogs presenting clothes for girls like me - working mums. I have noticed that they changed dramatically once they gained notoriety and I could no longer see myself there as I used to do it before.
Let's face the truth - I cannot show up in a client meeting wearing a Kenzo tiger sweater or Isabel Maran't hippie stuff. In addition to this, it is often inappropriate to walk around wearing status symbols such a designer bag worth more than EUR 1000.
I also think that presenting oneself with all those expensive things sends a wrong image to young women nowadays in terms of splashing huge amounts money for rather superficial things. Spending huge money on fashion items appears in nowadays blog something absolutely natural so many young women tend to lose the link with reality. Possessing a Céline bag is not a basic human right!!! (I have one myself but I work hard for my money and I generally do not splash it) Life is about achieving significant things, both in terms of personal and professional growth, not about clothes, bags and shoes!
Hi Galieta! Thanks for your comment. I do believe life is also about clothes, bags, and shoes, but like you said, these things shouldn't override the rest. I was surprised to read that working mums' blogs have changed too, adopting fashion "must-haves" - but then this must be the sameness most of the fashion blogosphere is apparently aspiring to, unfortunately.
Eva, must say I thoroughly enjoy your all of your articles on fashion and/or blogosphere and all surrounding this cosmos. Kudos girl! Pozdrav iz Ljubljane.
Hvala, Klara! Pozdrav nazaj iz (tokrat celo toplega in sončnega) Londona :)
Ha! Love your lead in image!
An excellent article. I used to read some of the popular fashion blogs, but when they started becoming commercialized I stopped. Not for the sake of them becoming commercialized, but more because the blog lost it's individuality or what made them special in the first place with all the product placement. Sometimes I find some blogs lost their taste level, it just became an indiscriminate showcase for whatever "IT" item there was. But I'm not knocking anyone that has been able to make their blog profitable or their blog opening up opportunities for them, more power to them!
and where the heck was I when they were handing out the "free" Chanel bags? lol!
I agree - it's great that fashion blogging can become a viable career for some people, but it mostly seems to be at the expense of individuality. It almost seems like the situation can't be any different when money enters the equation ... but it must be possible, right?
Evaaaa, you forgot the boyfriend jeans and THE SKORT, of course...hahahaha..great article..gave me courage to continue doing my very own thing, without feeling empty for not owning a Celine Trapeze bag...
CDR
Don't worry about the bag - as beautiful as it is, it'll soon be out of fashion anyway. That everyone remotely connected to the fashion industry owns it only speeds up this process.
I noticed this trend recently, of fashion blogs just becoming a homogenous mass of head nodders and trend followers, tryhards and teenegers with more money than sense. I don't like it, I much preferred it way back. I just saw a post in which the outfit is more "fashion-victim" than "fashionista" and yet not one single comment (I read them all) said anything other than that it's the most fabulous thing etc. How is it possible that over 100 people interested in critiquing fashion, all have exactly the same opinion about something?
Most of those comments were probably of the "follow me" variety, right? :D
They're more sophisticated now, they just put 7-10 links to their various pages, under the comment ;)
Perhaps what needs to be changed are the prolific style bloggers who post images after images and minimal text. While some may be inspiring to look at, others like you've said, are mere replications without a voice.
I feel that as bloggers, more should start writing to express their outfits, their inspirations and the like, rather than simply donning the next 'must have' or introducing their 'new buys'. I'd like to think that the blogosphere is filled with more than just image hungry slaves. Nonetheless, I've heard the response too many times that 'people are just lazy to read', which is heavily discouraging to writers.
Hopefully, people will begin to see that fashion isn't frivolous consumption but about intelligent design and creativity.
Lovely article!
- Tarandip
I don't bother reading or looking at the majority of fashion blogs out there, however there are a select handful I enjoy that aren't completely vapid or uninteresting. For me, starting my blog was a way to try and meet other people who share an interest in fashion from an angle that wasn't purely connected to consumerism (but I don't think I could deny that this aspect is an integral element).
I am not interested in advertising or freebies, as fashion and blogging are not my day job. Not that any pieces I'd be interested in would be offered to me for free. I probably wouldn't say no, but it seems likely I'll be saving my own money to buy that next Rick Owens leather piece.
I liken the fashion blogging industry to the music industry, where people complain of bands "selling out". Whilst sometimes disappointing to original fans, it can be a logical business step. Just depends on who your target audience is, and whether you mind that it changes. I can't really blame the bloggers for taking advantage of their position if these kinds of opportunities are presented to them. But as readers it means we have to try that little bit harder to find an interesting and unbiased blog.
Your post has mirrored a lot of my own feelings and I've been contemplating writing a similar post for a while. A point you made that resonates with me is when bloggers only ever post about outfits/objects that were gifted to them. I have no problem with bloggers being given things (I've worked with a couple of brands that have gifted me items) but when every post features c/o or a * it gets really annoying - how can you tell what a person's style (the reason why you read the blog) is if every outfit is a promotion!?
Thanks for pointing out what is actually wrong with the fashion blogging nowadays. For the past couple of years, I know that something is not right with the fashion blogging and your post actually answered my burning question.
If someone out there who is thinking of starting a fashion blog, he/she might be intimidated with what you say but I guess that's an opportunity for us (a big one I must say) to stand out in a crowded fashion blogging world. Sure, that sounds weird but I smell opportunity for all of us even for newbies like me.
I could not agree with you more on this. I do get sponsored for clothes but I put monthly sponsors clearly on the sidebar of my blog so that my readers know that these are sponsored items. I have never worn anything expensive neither do i find the need to buy a 10000 dollar bag. I would rather use it for a good old holiday. I make a ton of my outfits too and I guess it keeps me going as an authentic fashion blogger instead of being with the pack of cool kids. However, I really think that the internet is responsible for the saturation of fashion. People condone a stick thin figure, showing off expensive clothes and setting the need to be in trend to stay afloat.
You just nailed it with this article. Eventhough I have a blog related to fashion, I don't think myself as a 'fashionblogger', I still have a lot to learn from experts. I guess the blog I started was finding my own 'style' and maybe cloning other fashionbloggers is a way to find it, it's also a way to try new things.
I couldn't agree more. I mean , there's nothing wrong with being a clone, and for the most part I can imagine that the person with the Celine bag gets more people interested in them then the person with the thrifted bag, but really it's all been seen and done. I read an interesting article a few months ago about how fashion bloggers put themselves into major debt when they first start blogging now, because they want to have all the "it" pieces as soon as they come out. I was just deciding to start my own fashion blog, I live in Italy, where monthly wages are a fraction of what I used to earn in Canada, plus I just had a baby so clothes shopping for me wasn't exactly the priority. I love dressing, I love being creative and spending as little as possible to be able to express myself. I thought I had so much to share, then when I started looking at all the most popular fashion blogs I had this weird wave of doubt. Like "no one will ever look at my blog because I will NEVER have a Celine bag!"....I probably won't even have a knock-off Celine bag! But I did it anyway, and I vowed not to put myself in debt. I buy only what I would buy even if I had no blog, If you see me post the same item 15 times I think that's GREAT, at least I'm actually using it! And I tell you WHERE I am going (Italy is filled with reasons for moms to dress nicely) I don't just show you what I'm wearing. Sometimes I think, where is that fashion blogger going in those glamourous $1,000 pants....the drugstore? Anywho I digress, great article.
I just love your articles and content on fashion and this one is amazing... Thanks for sharing your creative thoughts with us...
This is one of the best articles I've read on fashion blogging in a while, I completely agree with you. I'm toying with the idea of starting a blog myself but have been put off by all these super blogs full of designer clothes that I could never afford. Don't get me wrong I love designer brands like celine and balenciaga, but I miss the days when fashion bloggers actually had some individuality.
Eva, merci for this article. I've always been an outcast and fashion has always been my outlet of expression. This inspired me to start a blog. I had the vision to post content that would promote individuality and creativity though fashion. I lost myself in wanting my blog to be popular-- I wanted to fit in with the others. In doing so, I lost my identity, and I'm not sure how to refine my blog to fit my desired tagline. This article has caused a session of massive reflection... I'd love to chat more with you about this topic and receive criticism on my blog if you have time.
Thank you,
Terry T
Hi Terry, thank you for this lovely comment. I'd be happy to discuss further with you - please email me at eva @ dressful (dot) com with any questions you may have.
I was going through a few of the popular fashion blogs today and realized they all are wearing the same things. So I instantly googled "do all fashion blogger wear the same thing" and your article popped up. I love it, I couldn't agree more with all you've said in this article.
Hi Eva, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
I just started my blog one month ago. I don't have luxury handbags, shoes or clothes. I love shopping from stores' sale sections. I'm just one of the millions of normal girl. However, I believe the power in styling. So the goal of my blog is to share styling tips.
Love your blog! The content is very insightful, I'll definitely follow!
http://www.zijunstyle.com
Wow, I recently started a fashion and beauty blog and this post really made me think about my motivation behind starting it. I really like how you uncovered the truth because a lot of people do do this and think people don't how influenced they are by such post that are teaching us to be different by being the same. The irony! BTW I really love your blog and are you post a really unique and actually learn something from them and that's not common anymore. Thanks for your hard work!
I feel the same way, not everyone even most of there fans can afford what they wear.
Came across this post when I was searching for something completely different but I am glad I did. It was nice to read that there are others who feel the same way about fashion blogs ruling the roost currently. Fashion was about expressing yourself but it now feels like expression needs to be inside fixed boundaries. It takes away the creativity and pleasure that you get from new ideas. Thanks for putting this thought out there so succinctly and with so much clarity.
Hi Eva,
I'n new to your site but I'm glad I stumbled upon this post. I have never really found fashion blogs inspiring because they only really wear regurgitated outfits from magazines. There is no sense of individuality or purpose in their posts. I am glad to have found your blog, which actually offers some insight/ opinion rather than just narcissistic selfies.
Great post! So many blogs are really vanity projects. Any critical comments are removed or never posted. Slightly off topic, but I find the interior design blogs are even worse in some ways - every comment is how "awesome" the place looks, even if it is an all-white cell that would cause sensory deprivation in any normal person. But back to fashion, the bloggers make having the expensive leather jacket, for instance, a necessity out of all proportion. I sold mine on eBay and was disconcerted when a potential buyer was a poor student putting all her gift money together and begging me to sell it to her at that lower price. I advised her to keep the money for essentials, to study and work hard instead. Spending huge amounts of your money on fashion items is a feminist issue!
I've been blogging about fashion and beauty for about 7 years now, and have definitely noticed the changes you sum up so articulately here.
These days, fashion/beauty/lifestyle blogs have shifted in tone to more magazine-like content, talking about the latest launches and recommending The Next Item You Must Buy. I'm not bashing it as my own blog is guilty of doing the same. I'm lucky to have received the collaboration and sponsorship opportunities I get, and I cherish the relationships I've developed with specific PRs and brands. I wouldn't be able to produce the content I do now if I had to fund everything (buy review products, etc.) out of pocket.
That being said, above all else, I cherish a sense of integrity and trust in how I relate to readers. I strive for honesty in product reviews and thoughtful critiques of why a beauty product did or didn't work for me, regardless of whether they were gifted or purchased. I style c/o items alongside things I've purchased, ensuring that an outfit post never has too many gifted items but reflects the breadth of my wardrobe. These are small measures, to be sure, but they give me a sense of control in an increasingly commodified blogosphere.
First of all thank you for this great post, you touched a very critical topic and you discussed it in a very honest way, I'm a new fashion blogger, and I was very hesitant to start a blog because even though I love fashion but I hate to be looked at as an attention seeker or just to show off which is completely different than my target of blogging, I look at other popular fashion bloggers and I like their style and find it really interesting. But for me buying expensive clothes is something not that affordable but that doesn't mean you can't create a nice styled outfit without it, you just have to be smart in combining the items of your look, you can easily make a stylish outfit out of no designer brands and people will like it coz it achievable. I love to mix and match, if I like a skirt and it's that expensive I do buy it and then match it to other items which are not designer brands, you really don't need to wear 50,000 $ all in one outfit and call it that's your everyday look, coz it's not the norm for everyone else, just be more individual and try to inspire people how to dress smartly and not to be just a fashion bloggers' victims .
Zelo zanimivo, super napisan članek!
Dear Eva:
Thak you for this article, I enjoyed reading it very much and can entirely relate to it. I just recently started a fashion blog of my own and even though I love fashion I do not have any experience in the field (exept a two day course at London College of Fashion while I was living in London last year). I am actually a lawyer with a normal job and an average budget for clothes. Still I felt that I had a particular style and tips I could share through a blog.
I think you hit the mark for a very controversial subject. The blogs I started following in the beggining were the ones that I could both admire and relate to. I too began noticing that these same bloggers now seem to all have the same key pieces (which no normal person can afford) and this makes them less relatable to me.
Since I started my blog I read these popular blogs less and less because I don´t want to be contaminated with the idea that I need to have these items or the same style as them to be fashionable. The few blogs I still follow are the ones I can still relate to . I think this is the key. You seem to be very knowledgeble on the subject and I just wanted to leave a comment and reiterate that I think this article was very on point. I can't wait to explore your blog even more.
Kind regards
Dear Eva,
I really enjoyed reading your posts. This is not the first one I read on your blog although I discovered you just today! As a blogger that is just starting I wanted to share my feeling about this subject. I feel very passionate about what you've said because as a blogger it affects me as well. I always had my unique kind of style and lately, when I see all these successful bloggers around, I must admit that it's tempting for me to lower my standards and go with the flow. Reasons why I do not do it: I love clothes too much to do this, I do not want to be one of the others and I do not have money for those kind of "copy cat" pieces (and if I had I would choose differently) . This post helped me a lot!!! It basically reminded me of how I should be myself no matter how hard it can be, specially at the beginning. Thank you for sharing this post!
Bebe
This is very insightful! Glad That I was able to stumble upon it.
Thanks for the insightful post Eva! I think you're spot on with your points of the copy cats. As a 'fashion blogger' I recently had the same realization when I started to see many of the bloggers I follow ALL had the exact same items. It's disappointing. I thought having a fashion blog was to share your unique sense of style, your love for fashion and the art behind it. Not to buy whatever is 'trending' to keep up with everyone else. I started a blog as an outlet from my day-to-day and made a rule to myself that I would always be authentic, no matter what. If I ever work with a brand it's because I believe in their product and mission and always state when it's been gift. I can't say if everyone else is the same or not.
Glad I found your blog! Excited to read more of your pieces.
This article highlights everything that frustrates me about having a blog. And no most of those girls wearing head to toe brand X wouldn't actually be wearing all of that if it wasn't for free. I have been on both sides of the fence (been sent free things, and been left out) and I actually prefer not to get the freebees. Most of the time what you get sent (unless you are super popular and getting high end designer things) aren't something you would choose. I would rather just dress myself.
Completely agree. I was working on a similar post and you completely got it spot on!
But we have the power, STOP going to these websites and start killing the Chiara Ferragnis of the world, a kind that should be extinct from this planet!
I enjoyed reading your article, because these have been exactly my words that I have been talking with my sister about for a long time now. I am very disappointed in the blogging scene. I also thought people reading blogs would be more focused on the articles and maybe also how to style clothes without buying buy Acne, Chanel, Prada & all those number one names all over Blogs and Instagram. To show how you can combine clothing with less money in your purse. But all the Girls look up to Bloggers like that, they only see the brand and the skinny beautiful model and are over the moon.
Thanks for this Post! Finally someone spoke out what I have been thinking all this time.
x Storm
This is definitely the most meaningful article I've read on the subject! Since a little girl I've always loved fashion (still do) but throughout the years I get angrier and angrier at the same pattern of the fashion industry. Brainwashing normal women, making them think they're not good enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough. Transforming them into low self esteem, unoroginal people, wowing at every next big thing fashion moguls put on the market. Fashion industry has made women too afraid to be themselves, to let their inner light shine through. We are all beautiful and we need to stop letting anyone and anything tell us the opposite :)
Hello there,
I am bit late on this one as it was written a year ago but that is a brillant article, really. As most of the comments below I must fully agree with you, this is very well written and sadly true: bloggers are all the same and the fashion industry keeps spoiling them and I cant bear the fact that most of them do not inform their readers about it, shameful. I am especially so disappointed and bored because of all those scandinavian bloggers posting all the same clothes and events pictures as well.
I was delighted to come across your blog and you have a new reader here for sure! keep up the good work and best of luck with your blog
xxx
effie
I wrote an article about this 2 years ago. I've had my blog since 2007. I still blog but not as frequently as I use to. Soon as everybody and their mother got in the game and started creating their own fashion blog, things went left. Fashion blogs started going downhill around 2010.
Well, seems like everybody is on instagram now so eyeballs have shifted from personal blogs to instagram. It is what it is.
Really good article. Are you able to share some of these fashion blogs that you have personally found to be ethical, have original style, and are great writers, as you said? I love your blog, and I'd love to follow more. I am fairly new to this, so recommendations would be great. I am sick to death of the junk. Thanks!
Hi Nina! Thanks for the idea - I'll make a list and get back to you.
Wow, I really like this post. I just started doing beauty/fashion blogging but with a twist. I talk about my life as a senior in college and having lupus. I just started but I'd love to go further with it, I just get so intimidated by the ones who made it already and always have the most impeccable street style and photogenic instagram shots of their lunch, shoes, travels, etc. and of course they are always thin, which also makes me feel bad because I take steroids for my lupus and gained 30 pounds from it. But thank you for calling out the state of which fashion blogs are in. Definitely gonna read more of your posts.
I have to agree that in general the fashion blogging has just turned into one more medium to push product. Especially since liketoknow.it came up on instagram. It may sound crazy, but a few of us are still out there who try to have a real or fresh perspective on the over commercialization of fashion blogging. I still wear items that 99.9% I have purchased myself with the average item price between $50 and $100. So just thought I'd let you know some of us are still out there. Even if we aren't as crazy popular, we appeal to our niche market well.
Galieta has a point. A designer bag for a thousand bucks is a slap in the face for people whose poor home village was destroyed by a tsunami or for a war refugee who has nothing. Where the hell is society going when girls are longing for this overpriced shit while other people fucking starve. Makes me so sad and angry. I don't want to live in a world where a handbag and designed finger nails are the only value. Besides, this is the downfall of the woman's emancipation when girls only want to pose and be pretty and skinny again. I thought human beings evolve on this planet and not fallback into the dark age. :( I want to go home.
Sadly I joined blogging too late but that means I'm still testing the waters feeling elated each time a brand wishes to connect. I completely agree a lot of blogs here in India too look like professional magazines instead of personal voices. I guess it's the same all over the globe!
I got the idea for a fashion blog in 2006 but summoned the courage only in 2010. My blog is one of the very few ones in Manila that actually contain written content, not just photos with the same old captions, but I'm nowhere near the top of the list of the most widely "read" fashion blogs here. That spot belongs to the very same industry you described so perfectly, an industry I once belonged in but slowly eased out of. For the couple of years I was right there in the middle, I found myself becoming a person I wouldn't like or respect. I'm happier where I stand now—doing fashion blogging for love rather than fierce competition and business.
It's very true here too. Malaysia actually spends quite a lot on digital media (used to work in a US-based advertising and media agency) and I was involved in a lot of campaigns which had me searching for potential bloggers that the client might like.
I've always personally preferred blogs with an intelligent individual behind it but it seems that a lot of clients go the other way - it's teenagers/college students (nothing against them but I suspect it's their age/figure that gets them selected) who can't string two sentences properly, writing broken English but all thin, and most importantly willing to show a lot of flesh that gets the campaigns.
Good writeup, even though I'm half a world away, things are the same here.