I came across this comment on the Independent Fashion Bloggers website by someone called Selma:
I think that fashion blogging becomes totally insane, are you people really really convinced that everybody in the world of internet is searchin’ for FASHION TIPS, OUTFITS, CATWALKS AND MORE? OMG!! NO! I am sorry but fashion blogging has become the hypocrite side of the internet.
Fashion blogs were interesting when genuine, “pure”, but today it’s a business, who cares?
Everybody has a personal style, of course, but I don’t know why everybody necessarily have to become a business blogger or a fashion icon or..
I find very insane all that stressed life around smartphones, Instagram, Fashion blogs, no, this is not a real useful sharing, it’s a self-centered world. No interesting in real sharing, no interesting in real conversation.
I am sorry fashion blogger, web doesn’t need you all, do you realize how many thousand blogs are online? How can you think that blogging could be a chance? It’s over now, let’s take a look outside and please, put off you computer.
My first response to this comment was to smile. I found it really funny! And then I realised that it actually provides a wonderful springboard for discourse around why I have this blog and what it has meant to me to be a part of the Aussie Curves community. I don't know the future of my blog or how long I'll keep going with it, but I do know that it's changed me as a person since I started. For the good.
"Are you people really really convinced that everybody in the world of
internet is searchin’ for FASHION TIPS, OUTFITS, CATWALKS AND MORE?" - Great point, Selma, and this question bounced around in my mind a fair bit when I first started my blog. Would people actually read or care about my blog? At first I was convinced that I was only doing this for myself and that if no one ever read my blog, I'd be okay with that. But I know that's not true anymore. Community means a lot to me, and just as I love and want to be a part of other blogs that I admire, so I want others to be a part of mine. But I also understand that this is a niche topic. Fashion is a specialized corner of the internet, and plus size fashion even more so. Added to that, I have a full time job and I don't have a "professional" goal for my blog. Who knows, that could change, but for now I'm not interested in turning my blog into a business. For that reason, I don't particularly feel pressure for "everybody in the world of internet" to discover my blog. I'd much rather have you lovely folk who come here because you want to!
"Everybody has a personal style, of course, but I don’t know why
everybody necessarily [has] to become a business blogger or a fashion
icon" -Well, Selma, I know of maybe two other Adelaide fashion bloggers? In my city, there aren't many of us, actually. And I can dream a little, can't I? Haha! If an icon is defined as someone who is a representative symbol of something, then a fashion icon might be defined as someone who leads in fashion circles; who is innovative in their fashion choices; who despite dressing stylishly is still able to have a unique and celebrated "look". I'd also see a fashion icon as someone who has the confidence and gumption to make almost anything they wear look good! Do you have to achieve this on a national or worldwide scale to achieve "icon" status? How is icon status measured? Because I know that in my workplace I'm considered somewhat of a "fashion icon", so to speak, or at least "that teacher that wears cool clothes". It was a friend at work that told me to start a fashion blog in the first place. But at the end of the day, not everyone has to be a fashion icon, but we all have the freedom to start a fashion blog if that's something that is an area of interest or passion. I didn't even start my blog with the intention of being a fashion icon. Not all of us do.
"I find [it] very insane all that stressed life around smartphones, Instagram, Fashion blogs...this is not a real useful sharing, it’s a self-centered world. No interesting and real sharing, no interesting real conversation" - I was concerned for some time that starting a fashion blog would be a narcissistic thing to do. This doesn't bother me anymore because, as Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth) puts it, “A woman-loving definition of beauty supplants…narcissism with self-love.” Being a part of the plus size fashion blogging world has taught me to value myself. It's given me a voice in a "notoriously fat-loathing fashion industry". I think plus size blogging is very different to standard blogging, because in a lot of ways it is a fight; it is defiance. It's standing together to demand more of fashion, to share ideas and to "own" it. In a culture that often forgets or completely excludes the plus size shopper, this is a corner of the internet where we all have a voice. That sounds like "interesting and real sharing" to me.
"I am sorry fashion blogger, web doesn’t need you all, do you realize how many thousand blogs are online?" - Well, no man is an island. I'm glad I'm not the only blog online. What's the fun in that? Where's the community in that? We are each like snow flakes, no two of us the same, and I enjoy reading other blogs. That aside, there's actually room for all of us. There will be people who will visit my blog and never return because, shock horror, they didn't like it. Different blogs appeal to different people. What happened to having an abundance mentality? It's not like other blogs are going to drain mine. You could even say that because of the Aussie Curves community and linkytool, more blogs grow my blog. Aussie Curves has brought a lot of traffic and life to my blog.
"How can you think that blogging could be a chance?" - I suppose Selma thinks that everyone who starts a fashion blog is looking to be famous. While I've no doubt that many of us would like to be recognised on the street from time to time, if I wanted to be famous that badly, I wouldn't do it by starting a fashion blog. Especially if I wanted instant fame. Many of the notorious fashion blogs I follow have openly talked about the years, tears, sweat and perseverance that it has taken to get their blog to where it is now. It's not easy fame.
I'd just like to conclude my post by avidly thanking you for reading this, because without my readers, I probably wouldn't have had the motivation to continue with my blog. YOU are what makes this worthwhile. I read every comment you leave and I try to support your blogs as much as I can because this community is important to me. Thanks xx
"I find [it] very insane all that stressed life around smartphones, Instagram, Fashion blogs...this is not a real useful sharing, it’s a self-centered world. No interesting and real sharing, no interesting real conversation" - I was concerned for some time that starting a fashion blog would be a narcissistic thing to do. This doesn't bother me anymore because, as Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth) puts it, “A woman-loving definition of beauty supplants…narcissism with self-love.” Being a part of the plus size fashion blogging world has taught me to value myself. It's given me a voice in a "notoriously fat-loathing fashion industry". I think plus size blogging is very different to standard blogging, because in a lot of ways it is a fight; it is defiance. It's standing together to demand more of fashion, to share ideas and to "own" it. In a culture that often forgets or completely excludes the plus size shopper, this is a corner of the internet where we all have a voice. That sounds like "interesting and real sharing" to me.
"I am sorry fashion blogger, web doesn’t need you all, do you realize how many thousand blogs are online?" - Well, no man is an island. I'm glad I'm not the only blog online. What's the fun in that? Where's the community in that? We are each like snow flakes, no two of us the same, and I enjoy reading other blogs. That aside, there's actually room for all of us. There will be people who will visit my blog and never return because, shock horror, they didn't like it. Different blogs appeal to different people. What happened to having an abundance mentality? It's not like other blogs are going to drain mine. You could even say that because of the Aussie Curves community and linkytool, more blogs grow my blog. Aussie Curves has brought a lot of traffic and life to my blog.
"How can you think that blogging could be a chance?" - I suppose Selma thinks that everyone who starts a fashion blog is looking to be famous. While I've no doubt that many of us would like to be recognised on the street from time to time, if I wanted to be famous that badly, I wouldn't do it by starting a fashion blog. Especially if I wanted instant fame. Many of the notorious fashion blogs I follow have openly talked about the years, tears, sweat and perseverance that it has taken to get their blog to where it is now. It's not easy fame.
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