This week, the ultimate showdown erupted: between the Holy Grail of fashion (Vogue magazine) and a hefty chunk of their readership (fashion bloggers). If you’ve not read the article yet, we’ll give you a quick summary – Vogue accused fashion bloggers of ‘heralding the death of style’ (ouch), being ‘pathetic’, ‘looking ridiculous’ and generally coming across as ‘pretty embarrassing’ (no, Vogue, tell us what you really think). Let’s also remember that the Vogue Fashion News editor likened blogging to working in a strip club. The sun must have gone down, because we’re experiencing some serious shade…
The Twittersphere has gone into a bit of a meltdown about the article in question; bloggers the world over are up in arms that their go-to fashion bible would unleash such an aggressive, confrontational tirade of drama upon them in one fell swoop. Whilst Vogue’s points are equally as entitled to be heard as the bloggers’ – we’re a fair bunch here at MyBag HQ - to be quite so demeaning and dismissive is pretty harsh. Can someone get us some ice for all these burns, please?
The MyBag mentality focuses on celebrating others, rather than bringing them down – so we thought we’d take a minute to discuss why we love the fashion blogging industry. Whilst Vogue will always have a special place on our coffee tables – it does make a great Instagram prop, after all – we’ve got to shout out to our #fblogger sisters in their time of need…
Two Words: STYLE. INSPO.
First things first – fashion bloggers know how to dress. In turn, that helps us – the avid Insta and Blogspot stalkers – know how to dress. They’ve inspired us to try new trends we’d otherwise be a bit baffled by (culottes and giant sleeves, we’re looking at you), and for that, we are eternally grateful.
Hobbies = Healthy
For the majority of the industry, blogging is a hobby that sits alongside work and leisure time – not everyone with a blog is a ‘full time blogger’. (We SO wish.) Having hobbies has been scientifically proven to help you destress, feel better and generally improve your mental health – what’s not to love?
Support Yo’ Sisters
If ever you need an injection of positivity in your day, look no further than the blogging community – a sassy, sisterly and supportive network of like-minded writers and photographers that will always go the extra mile to help a brother out. Whilst Vogue wrote a pretty miserable overview of life as a blogger, they overlooked how great it can be to be part of such a close-knit community: who else is feeling all warm and fuzzy RN?
“Work Work Work Work Work.” – Rihanna
So blogging is a hobby - but can we take a minute and appreciate how much work it actually involves? Fashion blogging isn’t just about wearing nice clothes and hanging around ‘in hopes of being snapped’ (seriously, Vogue? Low blow) – it’s about creating engaging content, beautiful flatlays, promoting your brand and representing others. It takes a long time to become established in the blogging world, and it’s not something you can do half-heartedly in five minutes – so can we all chill, please?
Fab for Fashion
Remember the recession? That wasn’t great for anyone – fashion brands and retailers included. Whilst we’re not saying that blogging saved the fashion industry (that would be a bold claim, even for us!), the growth of the online community can surely only benefit companies. As influencers and promoters, bloggers inspire us to up our style game – which means more sales, profits, jobs and opportunities for brands across the globe (*cough* Vogue included). We can’t see a downside…
In short: fashion bloggers, we heart you. If you want to steal some #fblogger style, look no further than these Insta-worthy accessories below…
Photos by Andrew Barber.