Why Fashion Blogging Is Important To Me

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

A Blog about the Blog: Blogception

“A woman wins by giving herself and other women permission – to eat; to be sexual; to age… A woman wins when she feels that what each woman does with her own body – unforced, uncoerced – is her own business.” – Naomi Wolf

Why begin Modish Maracas?

Firstly, I fell in love with the plus size blogger community and body acceptance movement and wanted in. Secondly, I felt that I could contribute to it - to influence my little piece of the world and hopefully be a point of connection for plus size readers from Adelaide, Australia.

This is my explanation post, the one to describe the ideology behind my blog and why I believe the way I do.

It began with a passion for fashion, beauty and writing (and music, hence the “maracas” part of the name), and I wanted a little piece of the Internet to be able to express that freely. I never set out with the intention of making money from my blog, or publicizing it. I just wanted to “put myself out there”. I never set out with the intention of having a niche plus size blog, either. To be honest, I had an idea for a blog post about Doc Marten shoes, and it grew from there.

As the posts have come together, it’s naturally gravitated toward a plus size focus, as though my entire life and who I am has led me to this, like it’s been sitting dormant and now is bursting to get out. Initially I struggled to come up with ideas for posts. Now, it’s pouring out of me. I didn’t realize I’d have so much to say on the matter.

I probably need to begin by saying that I have always been fat. I have never been slim. The smallest I’ve been in my adult life is a size 14-16. The biggest I’ve been is 24. Currently I’m an 18 (Australian sizing). I’m not going to go into the psychology and health history of why I'm a big girl. That’s no one’s business but mine. What I am going to go into is what life has been like for me, how it has changed over the years, and what my blog has to do with that.

There have been times when I’ve really struggled with the idea of writing a blog about me, full of photos of me.  Me, me, me. Was I being narcissistic in doing this? This question no longer plagues me because this blog, and reading other plus size blogs, has taught me how to value myself, which is a major deal after 27 years of shame and guilt. As Naomi Wolf puts it, “A woman-loving definition of beauty supplants…narcissism with self-love.” This blog is not about bragging about how good I am. This blog is about me learning to love and accept myself.

If you are reading this and thinking, “You shouldn’t accept the way you are! You need to lose weight! It’s not healthy!” then let me answer you by saying this: No one really has the right to comments about MY health. I try to eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly (but you'll only find real butter in my fridge). If someone were to follow me around and watch what I eat during the day, I would not be ashamed of what I put in my mouth. If there is any area of excess in my life - it's with alcohol, not food! I love wine. There are times when I make unhealthy decisions. I'm not ashamed of that either; it's a part of life and I don't waste time feeling ashamed of it. My goal is to be healthy, not chase after a number on the scales or the fantasy of being thin. Secondly, I have a mirror. I know I am fat and I have doctors to tell me about my health. I don’t need anyones diagnosis based on my appearance. Does being fat mean that I shouldn’t love myself or enjoy my body? If people are so worried about my health, they should remember that it’s easier for me to lose weight when I’m positive and happy than when I’m depressed and ashamed. Just because I am not a size 10, doesn’t mean I have any less of a life to live. Beth Ditto said,“I have no control over what people think of me but I have 100% control of what I think of myself”. This blog is about changing how I think of myself.

Retraining your mind is tiring. Years of my mother telling me to “suck in” when a photo was being taken, overhearing my father tell a family friend he was surprised I got the job because of my weight, having my brother announce to my year 4 class that I had joined Weight Watchers (and incessantly calling me “fatty boombah” - sigh), looking at another accessories stand while my friends shopped for clothes in regular shops, suffering verbal abuse from drunk strangers on Hindley Street…that stuff doesn’t just “go away”. It shapes who you are and what you think of yourself. But the worst voice of all has been my own. All my life, because of my weight, I have truly believed myself to be inferior to anyone slimmer than me.What a load of shit! As an adult, I consider it to be my responsibility to fix it. This blog is a part of that process.

What I really want for myself is to look in the mirror and accept what I see wholeheartedly NOW. Not later, when that roll of fat on my arm is gone, or when I reach that dream goal weight. Just for today, I’d like to look in the mirror and not see all the baggage I have carried around in my heart upon viewing my reflection.

Naomi Wolf wrote in The Beauty Myth, “The woman wins who calls herself beautiful and challenges the world to change to truly see her.” That’s what this blog is doing; I am challenging the world to truly see me!

Thanks for reading x