A Word About Us Fashion Bloggers

As a fashion blogger, I am in constant touch with the dilemma of dressing in trends whilst at the same time, not being off-handed as yet "another shallow blogger" (the words of media, not me). I feel as if though I am living in two worlds when it comes to blogging; one is my actual blog and its network, my 2000 amazing followers, some new, some old. You people are the foundation of my blog, you are the reason I have gained (some) influence in the very crowded world of fashion, the reason I have gained and keep gaining experiences and opportunities.

The other one is the opposite of this; it's the world of male (about 90%) and female(about 10%) "critics", both so-called "critics" I meet in real life, and journalists who write about us, the bloggers, in newspapers and magazines. The people I talk to who are widely sceptical about the fact that I am blogging are mostly(with the exception of a few teenage/20-year-old-something boys) middle-aged, highly-educated men and women (the women are in a lot of cases also hardcore feminists), these are some of the most common things they say to me:

"You're such a smart girl, why waste your intelligence on something so shallow as (NOTE: and there's usually a half-disgusted pause here)...fashion?" 

..

 "So, what does one do as a 'blogger'? Put nice clothes on and snap some photos of  them with your phone?"

..

"Oh how hard can blogging really be? I'm gonna start snapping photos of my clothes as well and earn some money from that!" (this is usually followed by a macho-laughing-session, if the man in question is in a group of men).

..

"How can you be a fashion blogger and a feminist? Fashion is objectifying women in every single way."

..

"What do you even know about the conflicts of the world(variations have been: "poltics","society", "economy"..)? You're only interested in fashion." 

..

Another popular thing to mention when they hear that I'm a blogger, is:

"I just find it terrible that these 'fashion bloggers' are influencing young girls so much, with their silicon boobs and their expensive purses." 

After this there's usually a slightly awkward pause, when they realize that I am in fact too a 'fashion blogger', and they feel the need to add:

"Well not YOU obviously, but all of the other ones!" 

 All of the other ones? I don't know the exact number of fashion blogs out there, but let's just say that there's A LOT. And to say that "all of the other ones" are a bad influence on young girls is probably the biggest generalization I have heard. Not even that, because I don't know ONE popular fashion blogger who is going on and on about their silicon boobs, do you? These are the 'scandal' bloggers, who have nothing to do with the world of fashion and style whatsoever. Yet, often they are the ones who get to represent the entire fashion blogger community when media is talking about it(and how bad it is). 

So let's sort all of these questions, which I get asked more or less frequently, out, one by one. Because I am fed up with having to advocate for myself and my blogging every single time, and from now on I will just tell them to read my blog. 

I will post my responses in a series of five, all throughout this week, breaking it up like that since this post is becoming really, really long already. And I want you to keep reading. 

But to start off with the first one. Here I go:

Wasting my intelligence on the shallow world of blogging and fashion

Bloggers shallow? No. You can't be 'shallow' and run a successful fashion blog. It's like running a company, a company that needs to be updated more or less every single day. A company without holidays or weekends off. You are the CEO, the head of content, you're the stylist and you are the marketer. A lot of bloggers also have, like myself, school on the side of that. I am not complaining, I do it happily (most of the time), but to say that the fashion/blogging world is 'shallow' and 'stupid' makes me upset. The fashion bloggers I know personally are also some the smartest, most ambitious people I have met. You need to be if you want to maintain a successful blog in the long run. You also need to be persistant, dedicated and able to handle a lot of responsibility. And you need the work-ethic that it takes to "snap" new photos on a regular basis, no one is telling you to do it, you have to get up and do it yourself. You wouldn't say to an artist, who goes to his/her studio and make art every single day, that he/she is wasting their intelligence by doing so, would you? Fashion bloggers are not that different. 

To be continued.

I hope that this wasn't too long and that at least some of it made sense to y'all. I just have been having the urge to write about this for such a long time. 

xoxo

Amanda

BLOGLOVIN'

TWITTER

FACEBOOK