Today I came across an interesting article titled “Top 5 things I hate about fashion bloggers”. It was written on the kind of blog I can respect for having a stated purpose to educate the public as to “the other sides of the glamorous world of fashion”. I think anytime you can bring information to the masses to help people better understand the inner workings of the industries which they are supporting each day with choices as simple as eating a certain food or wearing a certain item of clothing–it’s a good thing. But I’m not sure I can get behind the idea of hating and condemning people for still eating the food and wearing the clothes.
The face of the average fashion blogger
The above is just a sampling of the people who call themselves fashion bloggers. They are just people who have found something they enjoy doing. Some of them are making a living doing it. Some of them get nothing out of it but hypes and likes. Some don’t get money or gifts or hypes or likes but they still get some kind of personal enjoyment or satisfaction. I am not a fashion blogger by the common definition and although My Fashion Wants is a fashion focused blog and would technically fit the Wikipedia definition of a fashion blog, it’s not what the average person thinks of when they think “fashion blog”.
The Wikipedia Definition
Fashion blogs are blogs that cover the fashion industry, clothing, and personal style. A fashion blog can cover many things such as specific items of clothing and accessories, trends in various apparel markets (haute couture, prêt-à -porter, etc.), celebrity fashion choices and street fashion trends.
When the average person thinks fashion blog they think about a blog filled with pictures of a specific person showing off the things they wear each day. The person is usually female but can also be male. There are many types of fashion blogs and therefore many types of fashion bloggers. The kind of fashion bloggers the author appears to hate are the ones who come to mind nowadays when you hear the term “fashion blogger”; but these bloggers are not typically blogging to share their personal convictions with the world. So you’re not likely to find them talking about the dark side of the fashion industry.
The author of the article in question listed her top 5 reasons for hating fashion bloggers. Among her reasons:
- Fashion bloggers don’t care about ethical issues related to fashion such as the violation of human and animal rights
- Fashion bloggers have corrupt standards–they will accept money to promote things but they will fail to disclose this information to their readers.
- Fashion bloggers have no qualification to speak on the topic of fashion or on any topic for that matter. They have no paper (college degree) to validate their right to an opinion or prove they possess any skill other than their skill for putting outfits together.
Fashion bloggers don’t care about ethical issues
I’ve never talked to any fashion bloggers personally about how they feel about the referenced ethical issues. As a general rule I don’t presume to know what anyone thinks about anything just on the basis of having never heard them talk about it. I do understand the kind of thinking that might lead the author to make the remark. Some people will argue that by being a “fashion blogger” you’re making a statement about your interest in, knowledge of and qualification to take part in the fashion industry. This is of course not true for most fashion bloggers. They are just trying to have a little fun and taking advantage of the changed times where they can now be models regardless if some modeling agency thinks they are model material or not. They post pictures of themselves. People hype and like their pictures. They get a little boost to their ego and self esteem. Maybe they get some free clothes and make some money if they should be so lucky. This by itself is hardly threatening to anyone in any way. The problem arises when the fashion blogger gets an insider pass into the exclusive world of fashion. It’s not something that most fashion bloggers experience; but a small handful of fashion bloggers have gone so far to command front row seats at major fashion events. Some have even managed to land coveted jobs in the industry. This has resulted in fashion bloggers being taken more seriously than some people think they deserve to be taken. And because the successful fashion blogger has been sort of legitimized as an industry insider she becomes subject to the same scrutiny as anyone else in the industry who fails to give any indication of caring about the issues that concern the ethical people in the industry. Still, I don’t think it’s a good practice to assume someone doesn’t care about ethical issues because they have a fashion blog but never write about human rights and animal rights violations in the fashion world. We’re not entitled to know the personal views of any fashion blogger. It’s her choice whether or not she wishes to openly discuss her personal views about any issue.
Fashion bloggers have corrupt standards–they will accept money to promote things…
I’m not among the fortunate fashion bloggers getting expensive gifts and major money to promote things. But you’d better believe I would not hesitate to accept such offers were they ever made. I can’t recall ever hearing anyone accuse famous actresses and performers, models and athletes like Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Gisele Bundchen, Miranda Kerr, Rihanna, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, Eva Longoria, Maria Sharapova of having corrupt standards for accepting millions of dollars to endorse (same thing as promoting) things. And I’ve never heard any of these people state in their commercials that they were paid to endorse the products they endorse. I also have not seen any disclaimers included in the advertisements in which they appear. People do condemn the likes of Paris Hilton, and Kim Kardashian because they resent these girls for the way they have acquired their wealth. They consider them to be lacking any notable skills and therefore undeserving of their fame and fortune. And it’s in this same way the author is condemning fashion bloggers. But it seems to me that unless these girls are accepting payment to give a good review about a product regardless of the quality and how they really feel about it, there is no basis for accusing them of having corrupt standards for accepting money or gifts to endorse products.
Fashion bloggers have no qualification to speak on the topic of fashion – they don’t have a college degree
I don’t know anything about the educational background of any fashion blogger. I’m not sure on what a conclusion would be based that they don’t have college degrees. Obviously some do and some don’t. The relevance either way is lost on me. Actually, I have heard people close to me say similar things to this in complaining when someone gets ahead in life who did not go to college. “I’m the one who went to college. I’m the one with a Master’s Degree. How is this uneducated idiot who knows nothing about anything making all this money while I’m struggling?” I get why someone in that position might feel frustrated. A college degree is supposed to entitle you to something while a lack of a college degree is supposed to entitle you to nothing. So of course it’s going to be upsetting when you’re not getting that to which your college degree supposedly entitles you. Meanwhile some blogger whose only skill in your opinion is putting outfits together is making enough money to buy herself new designer handbags and shoes every week. But that’s just life. There really aren’t any rules when it comes to these things. Fashion is not exactly science. There might be widely accepted ideas and practices; and certainly there are aspects of fashion that you need qualification to talk about. But the casual fashion blogger isn’t usually venturing to talk about aspects of fashion about which she knows nothing. She leaves the academic stuff to the fashion blogger with the qualifications to endeavor to educate people. For her part, she sticks to what she knows. It isn’t her fault that a knack for putting outfits together and looking good in them can get you front row seats at major fashion events around the world and bring advertisers knocking at your door eager to pay you to wear their stuff so they can get wider exposure for their products and increase their sales. It’s just the way of the new world.
Here’s the thing…
Most bloggers these days are in some way trying to make a living or trying to gain some kind of self-serving benefit from blogging even if they are blogging about humanitarian issues or animal rights issues. The world is not what it used to be and it’s never going to go back to what it was and that’s a good thing because many people are getting opportunities they otherwise would not have gotten because doors were closed to them on the basis of one thing or another. Maybe they weren’t the right gender. Maybe they weren’t the right race. Maybe they didn’t have the right looks. Maybe they didn’t go to the right schools. Those of us who aren’t cutting it for whatever reason would do better to spend our time trying to figure out how and why we’re falling short of our goals and expectations instead of hating on the people who are getting their hands on the things that keep escaping our grasp. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve asked some of the questions. Why don’t I get to have Louboutin shoes and Chanel bags? Why don’t I have tons of twitter followers and facebook fans? Why do I seem to work harder but still my blog is not becoming so popular that top brands are coming to me offering to pay me big money to promote their products? Why are the gods not smiling on me and rewarding me for my noble goal to help my parents–to help my family? I don’t know why; but I do know that it isn’t the fault of those fashion bloggers who are making it. So I’m not going to go around hating on them when they have done nothing to offend me and they are doing nothing so vile to deserve my hate or earn my condemnation.
Images of fashion bloggers via lookbook.nu; Image of panda via pixabay.com; Image of featured model: zoomteam / 123RF Stock Photo