response to the man repeller: blog is a dirty word.

as we move from london fashion week to milan fashion week, many fashion bloggers are on top patrol, watching closely each runway scene to pick up on fall's trends ahead of the pack. but i think there's a lot more to the fashion blogosphere than simply regurgitating the most common shapes and colors and textures and so on for each season. i talked here about the necessity of tangibility in a street fashion blog-- the personality. however, when i read the man repeller's post "blog is a dirty word" and some of its comments, i was thrown off from my opinion.

TMR's mentions the concept of blogging as the glossy, editorial, untouchable magazine-type. which makes sense in a way that the "real" bloggers should only be the few, the ones that come out on top of the game, not a pack of jabbering gossips, but at the same time, having the gloss can provide restraints and squelch creativity. you can receive gifts from companies, get your picture taken by your photographer friend, and show off that new haircut from the latest and greatest, in a way like a magazine does, but who are you? what separates you as an individual? does it matter that you thrifted that shirt or bought it at urban, as long as you have a story behind buying or a reasoning behind styling to tell? can you talk about current issues in relation to fashion or beauty?

the "little" bloggers vying for attention outside whatever building and between whichever shows can be called a "circus" as mentioned in TMR's post-- these bloggers are entertainment. they're interesting to look at. but the ones that i pay attention to the most are the ones that can also speak. i find it perfectly acceptable to say ME... as long as something else gets said every once in a while.

i stand by my view that a street fashion blog should not be a series of photographs without words. even with the best photography, a little commentary is what makes the fashion accessible to those who can't buy a pair of louboutins... or jeffrey campbells. reading about the struggle to save up for that first designer piece that made you cry with excitement upon trying it on, or the dive into the depths of a vintage shop to get that piece from decades past, and then the talks of politics or sexuality or psychology within fashion-- that's what makes it. you breathe deep the real experience, and then you talk about it.

bloggers need to post the photos to display it all, but i still think they need just as much those words to be successful, to be inspiration.

till next time.