In the case of Sea of Shoes, judging the the type of commentary I've read around (especially in this very forum) regarding her social position, opportunities
and age, I think it's understandable that she decided to make feedback less accessible for people that, resented by the fact that she's around their age and enjoying a lifestyle that doesn't strike them as 'fair', would probably just drop destructive criticism and walk away.
Her 'email me' method is the traditional one, more traditional than the 'leave comments' one.. it actually feels more sincere in some way.. leaving comments in public and clearly just the positive/flattering ones can be very self-serving in some way, and then it also serves those leaving something vague (e.g. '
you and your tights are so cute!') for the sake of promoting their own blog.
I think the blog of that girl represents a lot of things that have derived out of the fashion blogger phenomenon:
In one hand you have a young girl that clearly has a thirst to learn and challenge herself and her viewers through the material she acquires, she understands it surprisingly well, or at least pretends to do so, but generally that's just very rare in bloggers, most bloggers, let's be honest, have no clue on what they're talking about, they will praise a collection or an editorial but are not visibly interested in what's behind it, in making you wonder, in publicly and fearlessly attempting to break down in pieces what they're presenting and putting it back together in their own way, they just want to have
that collection in
their blog. Her circumstances and 'special access' do help
her, but autodidacticism combined with receptiveness to
process it is a very very rare combination that has nothing to do with social background and that girl just has it. What's unfortunate about her blog and also quite representative about other/most bloggers is the increasing attention that leads to an increasing need for consumerism in order to keep people interested, and before you know it, your blog is more about latest acquisitions than actual expression and experiments of your own personal style, which, for someone young, is too much pressure EVEN IF you have easy access to whatever you want.. mostly because being young is the time to experiment, explore, make mistakes and find what belongs to your skin and makes you feel like yourself.. once you've even figured out who you are!. I find that a constant switch of wardrobe, a desperate incorporation of what's trendy and trying to decipher what's on the horizon to be 'ahead' of the road yourself and stay relevant, all through something as personal as style can be, is very limiting, it makes you miss the incredible freedom of intimacy and turns you into a victim of the boutique-like rules set up for your blog by yourself and by the demand it generated. I think so much phasing, fickleness and keeping attention as the main priority is what ultimately makes someone with great potential become less of an individual, settling for what appeals to others and consequently, more prompt to be forgotten. Not before inviting their readers to be just like that.
Attention is such a scary weapon and I'm not sure most people are as prepared for it as they think they are.
(I was going to say what's on the other hand but got carried away with the first one that I just forgot it, I should get back in here tomorrow
)
Susanne-Cole, don't apologise for long posts, that's what this entire section was created for, to discuss things 'in depth'.. as long as we don't end up discussing YOUR blogging strategies in depth, I think it's great to read what everyone has to say about it.