Thoughts on Fashion Bloggers

[wetsleeves]

What I really don't understand is why Menkes and other people voicing similar criticisms seem to be so against 'peacocking' or 'wearing clothes because you like them for the sake of other people seeing you in them.' Yes, I agree, the circus outside fashion shows is a little distasteful at times because I feel like it's often posed and fake, but is it really so strange that people interested in fashion actually might want to dress up and be seen? What is her issue with The Style Rookie and StyleBubble and their creators - middle class girls who blogged about the cool outfits they styled or created themselves?

I think it's awfully disingenuous to slam bloggers for being too 'materialistic,' 'narcissistic' etc. The whole fashion industry is about clothes, that generally need to be purchased, and clothes are made for wearing, and people wear clothes in all situations with the knowledge that other people will see them if they leave the house (and often if they don't). Pretending that back in the 'good old days' people were so much less shallow because their obsession with fashion didn't translate to their own bodies doesn't even make any sense. It's not less shallow or materialistic if you fawn over clothes on someone else's body rather than your own. Wanting to be an embodiment of your own aesthetic and outlook would be considered an admirable trait for any artist. If you are a person who cares about fashion, it's not your place to tell others that they're too narcissistic or shallow for dressing fashionably in public, whether that's on the internet or not. Obviously when it seems completely unnatural and staged it's one thing, as in the case of some fashion 'insiders' now, but when you bash a 14 year old girl from the suburbs for dressing how she likes that makes you look like a jealous, mean, ungenerous person with no love for style or fashion whatsoever.



Edit: regarding the idea that without freebies, you would choose to buy something different - this is true, but many young bloggers just starting out would not have the option to buy ANYTHING without freebies. i think accepting something you feel you would buy if your financial situation allowed it is not lacking integrity or losing your style. poor people are limited in what they can buy all the time, because they are poor. i haven't gone shopping in many months and can't even pay rent, but even when i did go shopping i would buy 10 dollar shirts and 15 dollar dresses on huge sales because i couldn't afford anything else. most of my clothes are bought for me as christmas and birthday gifts by relatives. if i could wear whatever i wanted, i wouldn't be choosing the things i have in my closet now, but i make do with them anyway and i think i have an interesting and coherent sense of style. the idea that freebies 'corrupt' someone's style is very simplistic because in reality very few people have the choice to wear what they really want. they have to choose from what is available to them.

 

[lucy92]

What I really don't understand is why Menkes and other people voicing similar criticisms seem to be so against 'peacocking' or 'wearing clothes because you like them for the sake of other people seeing you in them.' Yes, I agree, the circus outside fashion shows is a little distasteful at times because I feel like it's often posed and fake, but is it really so strange that people interested in fashion actually might want to dress up and be seen? What is her issue with The Style Rookie and StyleBubble and their creators - middle class girls who blogged about the cool outfits they styled or created themselves?

I think it's awfully disingenuous to slam bloggers for being too 'materialistic,' 'narcissistic' etc. If you are a person who cares about fashion, it's not your place to tell others that they're too narcissistic or shallow for dressing fashionably in public, whether that's on the internet or not. Obviously when it seems completely unnatural and staged it's one thing, as in the case of some fashion 'insiders' now, but when you bash a 14 year old girl from the suburbs for dressing how she likes that makes you look like a jealous, mean, ungenerous person with no love for style or fashion whatsoever.

regarding the idea that without freebies, you would choose to buy something different - this is true, but many young bloggers just starting out would not have the option to buy ANYTHING without freebies. the idea that freebies 'corrupt' someone's style is very simplistic because in reality very few people have the choice to wear what they really want. they have to choose from what is available to them.

i dont know any poor or lower middle class fashion bloggers. do you? i doubt brands would want their wares seen on the poor or lower middle class.

the laws may be different in your country, but in the US advertising an item without stating that you received it as a "gift" or a "loan" as a blogger is against the law.

it is commercial speech. so why shouldnt people feel free to critique it just like an other advert on TV?

and times have changed. not everyone back in the day was a walking advertisement. paid fashion bloggers are the epitome of this.

 

[Jungla_Juana]

I think the big gripe is that the "peacock" syndrome has led to a diffusion of a vacuous interest in fashion.. be it the "it" pieces, the "it" designer, etc. No one cares anymore about the designer's body of work, if the collection shown is cohesive or what it stands for, what was trying to be expressed.
These types of blogs, except maybe for Style Bubble have dwindled into obscurity.
After fashion week the blogs are awash with the "must have items" or for the more prominent figures, pictures of said bloggers already wearing the items to consolidate their VIP status.

A perfect example is the wildly successful Blonde Salad blogger that, after being asked her opinion on McQueen, responded "oh yes! the designer that puts all the skulls on stuff"

I firmly believe that an interest in fashion can be distinguished in shallow and not shallow. It is a verifiable multi-faceted art form (photography, performance art, sculpture, structure, etc) therefore who treats and observes it as such should deserve to flourish, which is unfortunately not the case.
I think Menkes laments exactly this, that all the wrong parts of fashion have exploded and overflowed into the mainstream.

 

[kimair]

Edit: regarding the idea that without freebies, you would choose to buy something different - this is true, but many young bloggers just starting out would not have the option to buy ANYTHING without freebies. i think accepting something you feel you would buy if your financial situation allowed it is not lacking integrity or losing your style. poor people are limited in what they can buy all the time, because they are poor. i haven't gone shopping in many months and can't even pay rent, but even when i did go shopping i would buy 10 dollar shirts and 15 dollar dresses on huge sales because i couldn't afford anything else. most of my clothes are bought for me as christmas and birthday gifts by relatives. if i could wear whatever i wanted, i wouldn't be choosing the things i have in my closet now, but i make do with them anyway and i think i have an interesting and coherent sense of style. the idea that freebies 'corrupt' someone's style is very simplistic because in reality very few people have the choice to wear what they really want. they have to choose from what is available to them.

but when you are a blogger just starting out, no one is sending you free stuff...
you have a start blogging with what's in your closet, and really at that point, it's how you're putting together pieces, showing off your own style, and many times, those pieces are from places like H&M, zara, topshop, etc.
what i've seen happen is that once bloggers achieve a level of success, then they are even given free product or are making more money from their blog to be able to afford more expensive items, and then the bloggers are criticized for not being "approachable" anymore...
there is no law saying that when you're given free merchandise that you have to accept/wear it, but many bloggers do because they feel that if they don't, the freebies will stop coming...
that to me is corrupting or changing your style...

 

[Skyler]

A perfect example is the wildly successful Blonde Salad blogger that, after being asked her opinion on McQueen, responded "oh yes! the designer that puts all the skulls on stuff"

This, this so bad! I watched that interview and cringed all the way through.

 

[nita-karoliina]

great thread. I am a blogger too and also reading some fashion blogs- many of them Swedish and I see they promote a lifestyle and some brands that support these bloggers.I am bored of seeing freebies becoming their style so I dont follow any of them on instagram or twitter because they are all reposts.I try to read less popular blogs with great style tastes and I dont read many blogs.I quit reading massive ad like blogs because its no different than reading a magazine.I recently read less popular blogs who have high end style or vintage - thrift style but less popular.Its more inspiring to me.

I am also blogger but i stay true to myself plus it's just a hobby and a habbit actually..
I also hate those overly advertised, freebie,michael kors watch blogs ( in finland, every popular blog is that girl will wear basically only gina tricot, zara and hm and the blogs are all the same, everyone copying one another, i dont read finnish blogs because they dont have any originality or taste imo and they all have michael kors watches!!) i dare you to see few finnish blogs and i am sure you will agree..

 

[superria]

Great article! Although the essence of blogging is supposed to be coming from the heart - you won't be able to help it. Once the money starts rolling in, I guess its difficult for it not to change you. Thats why I really admire the already popular bloggers who stick to their gut and instinct. Also I do try to look for newer, fresher bloggers, those who aren't as much sucked into the global fashion industry - im not very much a fan of Bryan Boy or Tavi Gevinson. I prefer those who speak about regular average life, or at least are able to capture that in photos. There's this one article I recently read of new bloggers from Latin America - well I haven't checked them all out yet. But you know, its nice to read about them cause they still have all these fresh ideals Incase you want to research on them too: http://fashionbi.com/newspaper/the-blogger-power-in-latin-american-countries

 

[lucy92]

I also hate those overly advertised, freebie,michael kors watch blogs ( in finland, every popular blog is that girl will wear basically only gina tricot, zara and hm and the blogs are all the same, everyone copying one another, i dont read finnish blogs because they dont have any originality or taste imo and they all have michael kors watches!!).

shitbloggerswear.tumblr.com




this made me laugh.

 

[Fashiognosis]

^That blog is prescious! Hahahaha.

I prefer bloggers that really write their opinion and good research. Tumblr has a big fashion crowds, yet it's still hard to find bloggers that actually do writings well. Since i start my blog in tumblr there are only 4 people that i actually do discussion with. When i wrote an article about Tom Ford's history in Gucci someone told me he didnt even know Tom Ford once designing for Gucci. Or questions like "Can i buy Haute Couture in ebay?" from a girl who posts every freakin branded stuffs she bought. Sometimes it's annoying. That's why i never really take style bloggers like Bryan Boy seriousy (except for Susie since i read BoF). It's like most of them just jump into what's hype like look-at-me-im-so-fashion and when you asked them about Inditex profit or what is LVMH or who's Emmanuelle Alt is they won't even know.

 

[glamrockgal]

I personally would never wear something too trendy- but on the other hand I see so many style bloggers run their blogs this wear: showing how to wear even the most funny and bad trends ex: leopard prints or neon head to toe or that latest nail trends etc. I promised myself to never wear and buy a michael kors bag or watch.never ever. due to my personal taste if style blogger has an individual style beyond trends then I can be insterested in to check out.

 

[prosperk]

Suzy Menkes is one of several fashion and style commentators who adhere to a rigid code of ethics many of their younger editors do not seem to understand. If a financial journalist openly accepted inducements from financial establishments to ensure that they were promoted positively in the pages of whatever print or virtual publication employed them, the credibility of that publication would be seriously compromised.

Some of you doubtless read The Business of Fashion webzine. Here's quite an interesting article on fashion bloggers: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2013/09/susie-bubble-garance-dore-prabal-gurung-is-fashion-week-for-sale.html

Any fashion house PR will tell you that bloggers influence trends and therefore merit their front row seats. Fair enough. But most bloggers have no comprehension of the professional ethics any respectable journalist or editor should defend. The relatively small proportion of bloggers capable of producing consistently good, reliable reportage and prose and proving that their websites have lots of followers are still, in the main, glorified press release writers rather than journalists.

And this is what separates bloggers from serious fashion journalists like Suzy Menkes, who probably wouldn't accept a coffee in a café from an advertiser because of her rigid and laudable ethical code. Oh sure, some journalists and editors in the fashion press accept 'presents' in return for ensuring a marque's exposure in whatever magazine they work for, a practice that might lead to prison for, say, a financial journalist, but most of these bloggers are firm pillars of the new 'Got Talent' society in which fame and success must be instant, which has led to a drastic lowering of standards across the board.

This is particularly striking in the fashion and style press, leading to a gradual but accelerating realisation on the part of paying readers that the publishers of the expensive glossies they buy are taking the piss by commissioning bloggers instead of the more expensive but more professional experienced writers. It's one thing to stick a blogger in the front row because he or she can perhaps influence a few hundred of their readers to buy a handbag or two but quite another to treat them as serious time-served experts.

They are somewhere around the level of press attachés. In fact, most fashion houses could simply get their press departments to set up blogs consisting of the PR puff they send out, thereby saving a few trees and freeing up our Inboxes. They could even employ bloggers, thereby placing them where they actually belong in the grand scheme of things, and allowing the decreasing number of honest critics like Menkes and Horyn to get on with trying to maintain some level of integrity in the profession, or what's left of it.

PK

 

[franki]

Any fashion house PR will tell you that bloggers influence trends and therefore merit their front row seats. Fair enough. But most bloggers have no comprehension of the professional ethics any respectable journalist or editor should defend. The relatively small proportion of bloggers capable of producing consistently good, reliable reportage and prose and proving that their websites have lots of followers are still, in the main, glorified press release writers rather than journalists.

And this is what separates bloggers from serious fashion journalists like Suzy Menkes, who probably wouldn't accept a coffee in a café from an advertiser because of her rigid and laudable ethical code. Oh sure, some journalists and editors in the fashion press accept 'presents' in return for ensuring a marque's exposure in whatever magazine they work for, a practice that might lead to prison for, say, a financial journalist, but most of these bloggers are firm pillars of the new 'Got Talent' society in which fame and success must be instant, which has led to a drastic lowering of standards across the board.

PK

I agree with much of what you said, but in the passages above I think you have missed one point: most bloggers don't see themselves as journalists.

Sure, there are a few who can write excellent pieces, and have blogs that aren't just filled with 20 x shots of the same outfit. But most of the bloggers being jetted around the world for various 'shoots' for companies are not journalists. Most don't write anything, let alone editorial pieces.

It makes me think, should we even expect them to adhere to the same ethics as a journalist when they, in fact, aren't journalists??... I'm not sure. I don't think so? I don't think their value is as writers. They are not successful because of that talent, they are just another part of fashion houses/companies PR in my opinion. No different to a TVC or banner ad. They are just a walking, talking one.

note: I'm talking about your Blonde Salad, Tuula, Fashion Toast types.

I don't begrudge their success. Good on them. As most of them don't write, style, advise etc their careers will most likely me short lived, so it's best they make the most of it.

 

[Kite]

If Anna Wintour is the Club manager,

Cara would be the Guest DJ No-one really cares about

The entire Industry would fill the dance floor

and Bloggers would be the toilet attendants, living off the tips they are given by everyone else.

 

[prosperk]

Franki,

You raise a valid point. However, some do and have even applied for and been given, in the UK for instance, NUJ press cards. But I take your point all the same.

Kite,

Thanks for the laugh! Harsh, but so true...

PK

 

[AndroMenswear]

I agree with many of the above points here. However, as features writing is now transitioning to blogging, I think there needs to be a distinction between personal blogs and professional blogs.

In many instances, personal blogs are a glorified individual fashion show, either of the blogger taking pictures of outfits others wear, his/her style finds, or just simply taking pictures of him/herself in various outfits. This gets dull and formulaic.

On the other hand, many major magazines have their own blogs that frequently do adhere to journalistic standards. As someone who writes professionally and does freelance blogging, I see advertisements for such gigs require you to be familiar with AP and/or Chicago style guides and submit samples that are more than a collection of pictures.

But I will say this: The quick pace of professional blogs dilutes the quality of writing. Writers may be expected to turn around a 300-word piece for $5 to $10 in 30 minutes. The result is less original sourcing and more news regurgitation. This, on the other hand, isn't so much an issue with fashion as it is with the blog-ification of media in general.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

I
It makes me think, should we even expect them to adhere to the same ethics as a journalist when they, in fact, aren't journalists??... I'm not sure. I don't think so? I don't think their value is as writers. They are not successful because of that talent, they are just another part of fashion houses/companies PR in my opinion. No different to a TVC or banner ad. They are just a walking, talking one.

i totally agree, what are successful bloggers nowdays if not walking talking marketing tools? They are certainly not journalists, and to be honest i do not think they want to be, the time where fashion bloggers wanted to achieve some credibility through writing is long gone. The successful ones certainly have a gift for display of beautiful things, to advertise basically, and for editing their lives to create an aspirational lifestyle though the consumption of certain products, and that's about it.
I do not think there is something necessarily wrong with that, they are simply part of the fashion business, the content of most fashion glossies is paid for advertising, not one dares to actually review any show with any degree of truthfulness, so it's not like they are doing something that is not general practise.
If they are unashamed about it, good for them, it's a job like any other, what really gets on my nerves is the ones that think they have some depth to them and are very shocked when they get lumped together with other bloggers they consider to be superficial, when their modus operandi is exactly the same.

 

[Alma Kemp]

I don't really care about blogs but sometimes i check some of them. I often think why they post soooooooo many pics of themself ? especially when all the pics are pretty much the same.

 

[eizhowa]

^Agreed. A lot of bloggers just seem like wannabe models, actresses etc. I think calling a lot of them journalists would be taking things a bit far...

 

[honeyisle]

Yes I don't get that either. It's like fifteen pics of the same pigeon toed "I wish I were a model off duty" pose. Ugh. Quality over quantity would be appreciated.

The "a day in the life" posts also irritate me. How many coffee/cupcake/flower shop runs can one do?

 

[KookyQuirk]

This says it all:

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle...shion-week-8842143.html?origin=internalSearch