beth_ann_ieEvery day I trawl though a list of different websites reading about the lives of girls just like me in some city on the other side of the world, reeling with jealousy at their lifestyles. This isn’t because they come from a background with money, or have won the lottery, or just happen to be particularly good with their finances. Oh no; these girls are fashion bloggers.
Ten years ago it would have been laughable for someone, particularly someone barely into their twenties, to claim they made a solid income from writing about themselves and their outfits every day on the web, but now it seems to slowly becoming an acceptable occupation, and a prosperous one at that. Fashion bloggers (and we’re talking those of a high standard with a large following here) can not only make money from selling advertising space on their pages, but they are also increasingly being sent freebies direct from the offices of cult indie brands to high fashion houses. The gods of the fashion world are desperate to see these girls in their designs! Fashion bloggers are often students who can slog through a day at university to come home to a package from <insert your favorite brand here>. Doesn’t sound too shabby does it?
Don’t get me wrong though. The fashion bloggers who are really cashing in on their work are good at what they do, they don’t have thousands of followers simply because they take a good photo. Creating a relatable, likeable online profile is must, with a writing style to match. Bloggers often get more readers than some of the most respected fashion journalists in the world. And it’s obvious why! We would rather read the fashion musings of a twenty year old girl living in a tiny apartment in Paris who has impeccable style and shops at flea markets, than read about an airbrushed celebrity or an other worldly beautiful model in couture and how they like to make ‘investments’ into nine hundred pound white blouses. These online enigmas take us into their world daily and inspire us with their ensembles. And want to know the best bit? They don’t all look the same; they don’t all follow the trends and it is this –combined with their readability- that makes them so good at what they do.
Aside from all this fashion bloggers are really starting to take effect on the world of fashion. How many shows have you seen Tavi Gevinson on the front row of in the past few fashion weeks? An adolescent teen sat beside the likes of Alexa Chung and a Delevingne sister, all because of a little blog she decided to start some years ago. Rumi Neely of fashiontoast.com frequents fashion shows and houses regularly due to the success of her blog. And Audrey Rogers of befrassy.com recently collaborated with international company Furla on a handbag design. These girls certainly reap the rather splendid rewards of their online escapades.
Fashion blogging might seem pretentious and materialistic to some, but it’s blossoming into its very own culture. I’m not going to pretend I don’t buy into it; I genuinely find it interesting to read the opinions of a history student from Stockholm on so and so’s last Spring-Summer collection, or to see how a biology student from Sydney styles up an outfit on a Monday morning. But that’s me. I like clothes and shoes and bags and jewels and hats and everything else fashion, but even if you are totally oblivious to the world of fashion blogging now, don’t be surprised if in another ten years you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up and they reply “A blogger.”
Just you wait and see.