I was totally ready for Lucky FABB, the Lucky magazine fashion and beauty bloggers conference held here on the west coast, or so I thought. I haven’t attended many conferences in my life. (As a designer I’ve spent most of my time working at a desk. We were rarely sent off to talk to the trade.) It cost a pretty penny to attend FABB and I wanted to get the most out of it so of course I prepared my bag the night before and arrived early. Well, I tried, which brings me to my first point. Continue Reading →
Archive | Blogging
What’s Wrong with Fashion Blogs?
Photo courtesy of The Styleograph
I write a fashion blog. What’s more, I read lots of blogs about fashion, personal style, street style and beauty. I like discovering the formerly unheard voices of women who wear the clothes the apparel companies manufacture and the magazines glamorize. I like the critique, the stories, and the often complete superficiality of what someone wears on any given day. I like the style advice even if I don’t agree with it. And street style photography? I love it! How else will I ever know what the cool kids are wearing in Milan, New York and Paris? Beauty blogs are their own niche but I love them too and read several. I was not an early adopter of all the internet had to offer, but now that I’m into it I am really, really, into it.
The internet has empowered me. I am no longer tied to what the fashion magazines want to show me. I can go out and find it myself without ever leaving my home, and I thank the fashion bloggers for that. But there are plenty of people who don’t agree with me. There is as much criticism out there as there is love for this medium that I have embraced. Every so often it seems like it’s hip to dish fashion blogs, and although I’ve found articles criticizing fashion blogs going back as far as 2010, recently there’s been another wave. Now, I can’t disagree with all of it but much of the criticism seems to stem from people disliking the way fashion blogs have evolved. Here is a smattering of the complaints and rebuttals I’ve found on the internet. Continue Reading →
“Like” me, maybe?
Like most bloggers I started this website out of love, and love is what propels me forward. It takes me out during the day to photograph what I’m wearing. Love keeps me up at night arranging photos and telling stories about my outfits. But it would be dishonest of me to say that the love is enough to keep me going. Yes, I love it, but I love your love too. The comments, the “likes” on Facebook, the sharing on Pinterest, and the interaction on Twitter keep my passion growing. Continue Reading →
Real Life Versus The Fashion Blog
My husband and I had an argument over these shots. I think it might have been the first time we majorly disagreed on a set of photos.
As a designer I know that to really love a project I need to have control over what I’m doing. My favorite clients are the one’s that allow me a certain amount of creative freedom. If I’m designing something for myself or a loved one you can bet I want creative control. I don’t even like it when my family makes suggestions on what to cook for dinner! Knowing this I try very hard to let my husband do what he wants with the photos for this blog. Often I’ll pick out my favorite shots and maybe I’ll make some suggestions on retouching (yes, I’m vain.) but other than that I try to let Hugo have complete creative freedom. He picks the angles, camera equipment, and setting. I pick out my clothing for the photo shoot. Later, after we’ve chosen our favorites and he’s done whatever post-processing he desires, I put them up on the blog and write about them. Continue Reading →
Caving in to Pinterest
Like all designers I’m a very visual person. I started collecting photos from magazines when I was in high school. Later, in college, I taped my favorite “swipe” to the wall above my art table. Now I pin inspirational images onto a cork board in my studio. You can see part of it in the photo above. The board changes as I find new images I like or outfits I would like to try myself.
Pinterest is an on-line inspiration board, so you’d think with my history of collecting photos that I would have tried this new social media platform as soon as I heard about it. But no, I resisted. You see when I started blogging I happily jumped on every new social media platform and exciting application that came out, and oh there were so many. Somewhere out there is a very neglected “My Space” page with my name on it. I actually used to check my “Klout” score and care. “Flavors.me” was picked up without hesitation and then dropped with disgust. My poor “Tumblr” page sits collecting cyber dust. Meanwhile people with names I cannot pronounce add me to their circles on “Google Plus”. I ignore them. My “LinkedIn” account is kept up for appearance sake but the only social media sites I used daily are Facebook and Twitter. Recently I very hesitantly added “Instagram” to my list of social media apps. I do like it, but use it every so often and just for fun.
