Thoughts on Fashion Bloggers

[bridow]

fyi Tavi is 13 for the next 7 months or so. I'm not sure why people rag on her. Anyone of us here would die to be in the same position. I met her three seasons ago outside of Thakoon in NYC and she knew her stuff and knew EVERYONES face that was walking in...Editors, models, designers. I don't mean she was friends with them, but she knew their work, articles about the previous seasons' collections, what designs were in what editorial. What shoes they were wearing. I was blown away. Even though at the time, I thought she was knew all this because she was a child of privilege. It turns out, she's from an average family from a Chicago suburbs(or somewhere abouts).

I always hear people say "the industry is just using her". Fashion uses EVERYONE, but the fact that they care what a 13 year old thinks and does is pretty amazing to me.

 

[MulletProof]

To say anyone here would die to be in her position is an overstatement, not everyone here is a blogger and consequently, not everyone wants to be on a bloggers' top of the game.. probably hard to understand if you're a blogger, but.. there are still some non-bloggers left.

I visited Tavi's blog for the first time a few months ago, I don't know what the material is on a regular basis (and I certainly don't want to find out as her site took a while to load!), I just got to read a long entry on Terry Richardson's work and besides the fact that I happened to agree, it just felt genuinely sincere, very thought-provoking, and perfectly articulated without bordering into underage pretentiousness.. I know many people like taking credit off her, going as far as claiming someone's writing it all for her, but I think the nerdy passion that girl has for fashion isn't very different than the passion other kids of the same age share for computer games or sport (except they're not as ambitious) and they're obnoxiously well-spoken about their interest!, god knows how long it will last, maybe Tavi will get sick of it as she grows up and ends up moving on to civil engineering!, but what she does right now feels sincere, but it speaks about the new observers of fashion.. how fashion has gone beyond being a business of watch-and-buy and has become a field that anyone can browse through and publish an opinion out of it. I find that positive to some degree, except that, aside from the attempt to 'rave' about bloggers, I'm not sure the fashion industry has quite prepared itself to deal with these new informal viewers that have no compromises thus can scrutinize all the things that are 50 years behind in the industry (racism, sexual harrassment, etc.. ) and have rarely being addressed in the public eye, let alone questioned with such insistence and frequency.

I can't say I'm not intrigued on the direction fashion will take when all the big dinosaurs are out and the new ones are forced to respond to their new wide audience.. perhaps they'll realise people are no longer impressed by 'how I lost 50 kilos eating apples'/'how to get your husband back'/'here's an untalented new designer we want to push down your throat' kind of articles aimed at wealthy housewives, embrace all of their readers, and as they're competing with the amount of information online (free and accessible for everyone), they will hopefully start pushing the one thing most bloggers are failing to do - digging out relevant information and be more insightful. Here's hoping.

 

[iluvjeisa]

^I also read her blog first when she talked about Richardson. I didn't agree with what she had to say at all, really, and it was nothing new. However, her style is very creative and beautiful, the photographs turn out great and she is a very smart girl....still I find it a bit funny that Tavi and BB are the token bloggers. Not that they are talentless, because they are not, but they are just so very different from most editors etc.

Sort of the short, talkative, models...

 

[kowie]

There are just too many fashion bloggers. You really have to search well in vast amount of blogs before finding the ones you really like. But I think that is a difficulty everyone is facing with the Internet.

 

[Zazie]

I'm DEFINITELY *not* a blogger and do not intend EVER to become one, even one with thousands of shrieking teenaged girls and boys *dying* to be me. So what if she spends all of her free time poring over fashion trivia and memorize every detail? I don't doubt that anyone who invests that kind of time on fashion will not be able to attain that kind of knowledge. I have only seen her blog once or twice, and do not have an opinion on her or her blog. It does not impress me in any way. If you are referring to my critique, the "rag on", I presume, my opinion of her as a "stylist" is based on her so-called "mood boards", and they are atrocious (I gave my reasons). I have nothing personal against her, but her cut-n-paste effort is extremely amateur. There are bloggers with better lay-out pages on their blogs than her "mood boards". Maybe she'll become an outstanding stylist one day, but for now, she is somewhat ridiculous.

 

[Maxxierie]

I actually hope that Tavi doesn't get bored and move on to whatever. I like her ingenuine take on fashion. Yes, it can be abit naive and we may disagree with her at times but isn't that the fun of it all?

You've gotta give the bloggers some credit for memorizing all the fashion facts. Eventhough, I would think that sometimes it's just superficial fashion knowledge but hey, maybe they have their own reason. Tavi's style is very subjective. You may think twice about it or just deem it unfashionable.

The sudden burst of bloggers everywhere is like all those fashiontrends. You know... the dishevelled look with ripped tees and acid-washed jeans that were all the seasons but now, they've been put back into the farthest reaches of closets. Even, Balmain has moved on. I'm just hoping to see how far all the bloggers will go and whether they will make fashion history.

 

[wekilledcouture]

ones i do not understand are the ones by "designers" who produce some of the most horrible looking and badly sewn garments i think ive ever seen.
regardless... you have to respect people for having such high confidence in themselves...

 

[sublibrarian]

^ Balmain is a borefest already xP

If I had to pinpoint one reason why I think blogs are relevant is because of how highly complex and how many layers the whole phenomenon has. Diversity plays a big part. Even the clutter itself is interesting and speaks volumes about how things spread.

There is enough space and audience for everything. I don't think we should disregard blogs that don't process their content as easy because in the process of selection and screening itself there is an identity being poured into the blog. In the same manner, blogs that only go by obvious trends might not appeal to some of us, but I am sure some people with a less bookish approach to fashion do appreciate it.

People inhabit their blogs like they inhabit their lives and there is always the allure of being the bystander, peeking through the window searching for worlds vaster than our own. Glad there's plenty.

 

[Susanna-Cole]

About the overinflation of blogs ... The thing is, even if there were less blogs, that doesn't mean that they would be of better quality. More may be better, because if you're looking for a blog or blogs on a specific subject, yes, your search may require a little more patience but chances are you'll find at least one of quality. It's like looking for gems in the rough, but I rather like that.

 

[wekilledcouture]

^^ fantastic way of looking at it

im just wondering why there are so many negative feelings towards other bloggers when the majority of repeat posters in here actually have blogs... it just doesn't seem very supportive

 

[wekilledcouture]

maybe im just a big hippie and want everyone to just get along

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

i agree with you on most points, especially the ones i quoted. however, i do feel that bloggers are here to stay. the internet isn't going anywhere, so bloggers certainly have nothing to worried about. perhaps big companies will find a way to blog creatively and that's how the bloggers we know of now may get pushed out. but i don't think they're a fad.

but you are right, they don't really contribute. i have a blog, but i'm certainly not using it as a one way ticket to fashion week. so what about the bloggers who do get those opportunities? what are they adding to fashion? just their opinions... but is that good enough? and i haven't seen a blogger yet whose personal outfits are so outstanding that i feel they make a dent on fashion. i do admit that i feel that tommy ton of jak and jil (and others in his category) are valuable with their fashion week imagery. However when you add that up, it's like 3 people. So what about the others? What about Tavi, and Bryan Boy, or even Rumi? Should they enjoy the success they have been given? What are they going to do in order to convince us they've earned it?

i agree about those and a few others, most of us love looking at their pictures from fashion week.

but the others, i think they ve been given too much power. i also think it depends on the designer, if they like the blog they invite you to shows and send you freebies. based on what?? i have no clue, pure luck i guess??

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

^exactly. Not everyone who has a fashion blog even wants to use it for what you say, or wants to use it as a stepping stone to a career in fashion.

As for fashion bloggers who do have a wider impact, I think Susie Bubble is head and shoulders above the rest- she started off as an outsider but her blog won her enough recognition for her to be hired by Dazed. And her outfits most definitely do make a dent in fashion, largely because she follows her own instincts and doesn't really drool all over whatever's 'hot' at the moment (whether it's Balmain or Celine) but does her own thing. And I have noticed that things she tries out when most people still think they're too 'weird' and 'out there', sometimes tend to show up as styling ideas a while after she tried them out (early example: woolly jumpers with PVC leggings, in 2006).

Absolutely. Everyone's got to start out somewhere, the idea of the validity of opinions going by a hierarchy of who's "important" enough to say it really bites. Surely the logic of an argument should be seen irrespective of who makes it?

PS: FASHIONLOVA, I often find the blogs of people with 'real', non-fashion jobs more interesting than blogs by students or fashion insiders- Kingdom of Style (Queen Michelle is a graphic designer, though she blogged about losing her job a while ago) and Dreamecho (who is an electrical engineer, and who sadly doesn't update that often) are two great examples of just that. Though I do admit, I like 'insider' blogs like Libertylondongirl and Disneyrollergirl too, they're well-written and informative rather than just being faff.

i do follow kingdom of style and she s one of the bloggers i like. she s creative and obviously dedicated to fashion.

don t get me wrong i read sea of shoes blog and lifeintravel and rumi s all the time, but like i said, i don t find they contribute to fashion evolving, other than their blogs being like a print ad for a designer

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

Harsh but true -- I agree with most of your points here. There are blogs out there with people who are actually in the industry. Those are always the most interesting blogs, and it's something I try to change with my own blogs.

But blogging isnt going anywhere.

i know blogging isn t going anywhere but those bloggers will be replaced by new ones, without a doubt

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

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.

i still don t know what to think about the email only thing.
and yes i agree with you, she now has to keep her readers interested, and i have to say she s been very boring lately
another thing, i don t think a 16 yr old should be wearing thousands of dollars worth of clothes no matter how rich her parents are.
she obviously doesn t work for it. and it s just nowhere near what real 16 yr olds wear.

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

Any smart blogger should be open to negative feedback. Trial and error was the key to human civilization. Failure to "handle" negative comments is quite silly because you can just as easily say "if you can't handle the truth then save yourself the pain and stop blogging".

if you put yourself outthere you d have to know that not only roses will be coming back
disabling the comments is like force feeding your point of view on people.

 

[tigerrouge]

That said, given the faceless nonsense that often passes for 'feedback' on the internet, I can see why a blogger might choose a format where they can reduce the presence of abuse on their site. If someone wishes to keep the content of their site sounding professional and polite so that visitors can have a positive experience, I would see that as a practical decision, rather than the act of a dictator.

 

[McClaire]

How is not putting up with negative comments force feeding? If someone doesn't like it then don't visit. If it's your blog, your domain then I feel like you should decide whether or not you want to put up with that stuff, I mean it's your blog why let others make it something you dread or don't enjoy. Like you have some sort of obligation to make it slightly miserable for yourself? I do allow comments but have a report button there. Some people just don't want to waste that kind of mental energy on negative posters. If you get people saying "that's ugly" or something along those lines then it's useless I'm more prone to listen to people who say "this is ugly and here is why..."
I don't know, I just think blogging should be something fun.

 

[Susanna-Cole]

^^ fantastic way of looking at it

im just wondering why there are so many negative feelings towards other bloggers when the majority of repeat posters in here actually have blogs... it just doesn't seem very supportive

I suppose it's because there's enough bloggers that it's something like a new species and with this much company, it's unlikely that everybody will like and support everybody else.However, I'm not sure if you meant negativity towards the bloggers themselves or against the act of blogging to begin with or generalizations towards all bloggers (i.e., bloggers are all narcissists)? Because if it's either of the latter, two than yes, I could see how that would be awfully hypocritical. It's like saying, "I don't like you because you're human", when you're human to. Can't really hate on someone for blogging in itself, if you blog too.

maybe im just a big hippie and want everyone to just get along

Aw, don't worry, I'm the same way! I hate to see people fight, I feel sick about it, and sometimes act as peacemaker to a fault.

but the others, i think they ve been given too much power. i also think it depends on the designer, if they like the blog they invite you to shows and send you freebies. based on what?? i have no clue, pure luck i guess??

I'd like to know, as well, as I've been invited to events and fashion weeks and been offered freebies, asked to host giveaways, etc ... and it seems slightly ridiculous considering I don't even blog about fashion. And if any of these people actually read my blog (like they claim to in their emails), they'd probably have picked up my anti-materialistic spirit and realize I have no interest in being about "products" or "things", and no, I don't want your money!

However, I imagine these designers/companies/etc have strategies when extending invitations or offering products to bloggers. They're not being nice, in most cases, they want something from you in return, and think you'll be a publicity benefit to them. I think it has little to do with luck (except at maybe being found in the first place), but then again, I don't really believe in luck to begin with.

 

[wekilledcouture]

I suppose it's because there's enough bloggers that it's something like a new species and with this much company, it's unlikely that everybody will like and support everybody else.However, I'm not sure if you meant negativity towards the bloggers themselves or against the act of blogging to begin with or generalizations towards all bloggers (i.e., bloggers are all narcissists)? Because if it's either of the latter, two than yes, I could see how that would be awfully hypocritical. It's like saying, "I don't like you because you're human", when you're human to. Can't really hate on someone for blogging in itself, if you blog too.

Yes the latter, alot of negativity towards the act of blogging - when most are actually bloggers. Its highly hypocritical.
And i wonder if there are not other reasons why people resent personal style bloggers...