THREE THOUGHTS about fashion blogs

screenshot of a Google image search for "fashion blog"

... there seems to be some new momentum in the ongoing (?) debate (??) about fashion blogs, at least in Austria (I'm saying this because of this, this and that). Alright then, let me add just three thoughts:

One: fashion blogs are indeed the most self-referential media I know (except for print media writing about the nearing end of all print media, of course - ha ha ha). To the point that there are some examples that are actually more about fashion blogs than they are about fashion. That is, from my point of view, an absurdity, unless these blogs actually start to refer to themselves as fashion blog blogs. 

Two: self pity seems to be a common thing among fashion bloggers, or rather the need to repeatedly point out how many bad feelings there are and how sad that is, and yet everyone (I will have to include myself, I guess) who writes about this whole bad feeling thing just contributes to it. And, let's face it, the Internet is not a particularly happy place. When I go through some bloggers' or journalists' or just "ordinary" people's timeline on their Facebook pages or Twitter feed, it sometimes feels like there is more complaining and moaning and disliking stuff (I'm still sticking to fashion here) than there are positive remarks. 

Three: the whole "we are doing this for free and this is so great and do you not feel sorry for us heroic bloggers" aka (pseudo?) self exploitation discourse is just, well, misleading. There are lots and lots of young and aspiring writers who work for free for print publications, and you'd be surprised at the magazines that are not willing to pay you ("we'd love to, but we just can't, and it'll always be good for your CV to have worked for us" ... uhm, yeah, super!). I myself worked as a "fashion editor at large" (great job title, right?) for a pretty okay mag just after its launch, and I did that for over a year, and all I got for that job was one umbrella. Of course I'd have loved to be paid, but I knew what was in there for me, and when I didn't see the point in doing that kind of job for free I stopped. Period. I don't say that this is a good thing, quite the contrary of course, but sadly it seems to be the way things work these days, at the beginning of a "career" in fashion writing at least. And it's the same with a blog: nobody makes you start it, as long as you like writing about fashion and have something to say and don't feel too tired/exhausted/overwhelmed to continue blogging, just go for it. And the very second it stops being fun, stop. It is not an obligation, towards noone, and it will most likely not turn you into a superstar in the world of runway shows and red carpets. It is, or should be, all about a person interested in (saying something fascinating and making a contribution to) fashion. Just saying ...

Edit: Two seconds after publishing this I realized that I should add one more remark - instead of the self-referential boredom, self pity and self exploitation, fashion blogging (just like everyhting else, basically) should be something that fills you with or adds to your already existing self esteem. Don't you agree that this should be the way it is? Let's try to stay on the bright side of all things stylish.