42 comments

The Truth About Fashion Bloggers

shiny shoes

It's no secret there's a lot said about bloggers in general, and there's certainly no shortage of criticisms and/or critiques of fashion bloggers specifically. We sometimes get the worst of it, because we show our faces, our bodies, and we talk about fashion & shopping – considered by many to be shallow pursuits.

And as the media are wont to do, “fashion bloggers” are usually lumped together as one entity – moving as a single blob across the Internet, taking over Instagram and Pinterest. Sadly, many of the fashion bloggers in question DO look very similar and post the same things at the same times (because they're all working on the same designer collaboration), but there are many more of us out there who are different.

Not all fashion bloggers are walking billboards for whatever brand we're working with today, but some of us are. Or at least appear to be.

Fashion bloggers don't all live in NYC or SLC.

We don't all stage our outfit posts, hiding a pair of sneakers or UGGs in the bushes to replace the stilettos we're shooting our outfit in.

And not all of us have professional photographer friends/husbands/significant others who can take our photos, nor are most of us models, or even fancy ourselves models.

The Truth About Fashion Bloggers:

Some of us are over 40 (gasp!)
We are different colors, shapes & sizes
Some of us are plus-sized
Some of us are petite
Some of us are average
Some of us buy our own clothes
Some of us make our own clothes
Some of us have careers other than blogging
Most of us have other interests besides fashion & shopping
Most of us don't make much money off our blogs
A lot of us don't monetize our blogs
Some of us started blogging later in life, or as a second career
Some of us don't have digital cameras
Some of us love to write
Some of us prefer to post pictures
Some of us are narcissists
A lot of us are very private
Many of us share everything on our blogs, even the boring stuff we do in real life
Most of us just want to share our passion and do what we love

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42 Responses

  2. Annette

    I’ll turn 52 this month and I am a fashion blogger! Certainly not the “average” age…
    Less than two years ago I started blogging and soon realised there is a high demand by women of my age group who cannot relate to young bloggers anymore. Also brands now discover us mature bloggers as a target group.
    Diversity is so much more interesting!

    Annette | Lady of Style

    Reply
    • sah spence

      [Firstly- great post Grechen] but Annette- your blog is fantastic! I work in womenswear and the biggest gripe/plead I get is from women over 40 who want great style at accessible prices- sure they have done well and have money to spend so don’t want cheap but neither do they want to spend oodles on big brands, I have only just rolled into my 30’s and don’t feel it is quite my place yet to enter this domain as an expert on the subject- sure, I have a styling knack and can relate to a variety of personalities, lifestyles and beliefs but am wary of the fact that at the end of the day I can only relate through theory, and am not in a position yet to start my own label and focus on this (something my mothers friends & colleagues continually request), so my blog approaches things based on where I am in my life- but I will definitely be passing on your blog details to them, I think what you do is spot on and would love to connect with you.

      Sah Spence x

      Reply
      • Annette

        Thank you so much for the encouragement, Sah! And you are so right – the feedback I receive from my readers tells me that the majority is looking for a decent quality (sustainability is also an important topic in Europe) at affordable prices. I often show restylings of clothes I already have in my wardrobe and that’s what my readers can relate to.
        Thank you very much for passing on my details, I look forward to connect with them.
        Best wishes from Germany, Annette

      • Lisa M

        Annette, I am a 50 year old blogger and agree totally with you. I do read your blog regularly and agree with you on restyling from my own closet. I find that it is more relatable to our generation, and more realistic, hence making us transparent to our readers. The beauty to brands with our genre is we tend to have more disposable income so our readers are more likely to trust our promoting a brand. I Like “shopping my closet” and sharing how I remix outfits. I enjoy your blog and will continue to follow you. Besides, my parents have a home in Germany and we are German so I love your dirndls and European flair!

        xo Lisa

  3. Sabina @Oceanblue Style

    So true! I have always been interested in Social Media having worked in communication and as a publicist. So I just started my fashion blog in addition to talking about my city, and its Frankfurt actually:) To prove your point above! Just turned 48 last month and so are totally proud of being part of 40+ fashion blogger crowd thats quite active out there. Being from Europe and having lived in CA I love sharing my style with women the same age who are grown up and way passed that idea of what a women at a certain age should/could wear or not. But I feel like fashion magazine and brands are just starting to realize there is a target group for their readers out there.

    Thanks for the inspiring article, once again!

    Sabina @Oceanblue Style

    Reply
  4. julia

    Per usual, great post Grechen! I spend so much time debunking these items..(sigh)

    Reply
  5. Christine

    As a fashion blogger, I agree with the “who we are”. For me it’s doing what I love and sharing the passion.

    Reply
    • M. Akua

      I absolutely agree with you! It’s the passion for fashion we want to share!

      Reply
  6. Dominique

    Absolutely the truth! I blog for the love of writing, everything else is a bonus. In my blogs I talk about being plus sized and fashion decisions. I far from fancy I just comfortable with myself.

    Reply
  7. Molly Farrell-Savage

    So so true! Thanks for sharing this. I’m definitely not the typical fashion blogger. I don’t think I’ve ever even posted a photo of myself on my blog- I’ve never felt comfortable in front of cameras (which must sound really odd since I did an episode of a Project Runway series…) and I made a conscious decision to not do any product reviews very early on. Maybe this will set me back in some ways but I like to think it’s part of what makes me and my blog unique 🙂

    Reply
  8. olga

    Amazing post, so true, I can relate to so many of this mentioned above! People underestimate the business and hard work of blogging, and how much work is behind those beautiful photos; they think of fashion bloggers as shallow and self absorbed creatures.
    Thank you for this post, and thank you to all HeartIFB team – for inspiration and motivation!

    Reply
  9. Kylie

    It’s not just fashion blogging…bloggers get slated across all industries. It’s a very new career and the reaction is to be expected.

    It’s hard not to post personal style posts. I started off as purely fashion (not what I was wearing). I posted an outfit one day and the traffic changed. Not because I think I have the best style or look like a model…but people like to see what their peers are buying, wearing and how they style it.

    It looks totally narcissist though I must admit and I do worry about that.

    Reply
  10. Ana from Mrs. American Made

    SO true! I want to tweet this list. I have many checkmarks on it. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Nyah

    This is absolutely true. Being a fashion blogger can be something embarrassing too admit, everyone assumes you’re some shallow, cruel creature making tons of money every year.
    But if you’re a teen blogger, like myself, it’s even worse. People always assume you have no clue what you’re talking about, or have some tacky blogger site with other people’s pictures. Sometimes I’m hesitant to admit so, because people judge you and your blog before they even look at it.
    XO Style Stalker
    xostylestalker.com

    Reply
  12. Winnie Odande

    Very true! This article has best demystified who fashion bloggers are. I think sometimes we just lie to ourselves by being that which we are not and end up being frustrated. Being real to you is a big step to finding peace in fashion blogging.

    Reply
  13. stephanie

    Love this post and so much is true! I don’t own a digital camera. And it is a pain to get someone to take pics. Haha I joke that for scientific reasons I take my pics with my Galaxy phone. I have to blog around my little one’s schedule and I am a geek. 🙂

    Reply
  14. CynthiaCM

    And some of us prefer to be called lifestyle bloggers so we can easily transition to other topics if we don’t feel like we want to focus on fashion for the time being. Some of us don’t do outfit posts on our site (and keep them on, say, Instagram). Some of us hate the over-positivity of many fashion bloggers. Some of us want to focus on more intelligent topics, like arts and culture. ETC, ETC, ETC…

    Cynthia

    Reply
  15. Jacky Auerbach

    I honestly expected this post to be putting down fashion bloggers. Like new ones and such. What a relief that it wasn’t! I loved this post. When I think fashion bloggers I think of my community bloggers. But others may think of models! Most of use aren’t. 🙂

    Reply
  16. ahhhsoneo

    I think this holds true for beauty bloggers as well as fashion bloggers. I was feeling a bit down in the dumps about my little blog the other day when my co-worker piped up – you are part of a $3billion dollar beauty industry, don’t sell yourself short. That perked me right up. Most of my co-workers know nothing about this hobby of mine,but I’m no longer embarrassed by it, no matter how frivolous they think it is.

    I’m a 37year old African beauty blogger following my passion for beauty and fashion… and I like it that way.

    Reply
    • Michal Upchurch

      I agree with you ahhhsoneo about your co-workers not knowing about your blog and some days I think “Why am I doing this?” but there is that “still, small voice” that says “Keep going”. In the beginning, it’s a selfless passion. You give a lot of yourself with no return. 🙂

      Reply
  17. Dilek

    I recently found a forum where even the best bloggers (according to my opinion) were ripped up in shreads. I know that not everyone loves fashion bloggers and I know that sometimes ad placement can be very irritating and blatantly obvious. Sometimes people just have to make a living. But not all bloggers are the same, as you said. I am one of those who recently started her blog as a hobby, but in the future, if there is a chance, I would like to have it as a plus income alongside my career without jeopardizing what my blog is really about: making/buying my own clothes and wearing them. No I don’t have a bf/sister/alien who takes my photos with a DSLR, but I try to work with what I have (which is extremely busy friends and a digicam). I am glad someone spoke about the rest of us. I loved this article!

    Reply
  19. Linda A Cassidy

    so true and on point. I can read that list and see so much of myself yet why oh why do we still let the naysayers make us embarrassed about stating what we do.

    Reply
  20. Margaret

    Thanks for all of this. It’s great to read about other bloggers having similar trials and tribulations.

    Can anyone recommend someone reasonable to do fashion blog design work? We are looking to make some changes and want someone who knows what works and what doesn’t.

    Reply
  21. Manpreet

    I think you are very right. All of us are not bloggers of same kind. Each one are different and not everyone is looking for making money.
    And I am not sure about what kind of status is given to fashion bloggers in bogging industry for I have always looked at fashion bloggers as some really cool and stylish people are very creative. If someone thinks bad about em.. He is just stupid. Ignore !

    Reply
  22. Lynne

    Many fashion bloggers don’t live in the USA, much less NYC or SLC. Personally I prefer to read a lot of non-American bloggers, both fellow Australians and Europeans. And I’m always looking for interesting Asian bloggers, because Australia is part of Asia (we even have Asian taste buds) and their insights and outfits are more relevant to my climate and society.
    http://www.pinterest.com/sidherian/

    Reply
  24. Julia

    SO so so true 🙂 Love all the articles.

    Come and see my new outfit on my blog
    http://www.chicchoolee.com/2014/10/05/ripped-boyfriend-jeans/

    Reply
  25. Kristen

    I am 44, live in Denver, and have a fashion blog! I am a stay-at-home Mom but my past careers were all within the fashion industry! My blog Kristen Keller: Journey To A Beautiful Life (http://www.kristenkeller.com/) allows me to continue with my love of fashion in a creative, fulfilling way. Thanks for this post! I love it!

    Reply
  26. Delilah D

    Your top three points describe me:
    Some of us are over 40 (gasp!)
    We are different colors, shapes & sizes
    Some of us are plus-sized

    Although I love it (been blogging less than a year) I struggle sometimes because I don’t want people to think me to be shallow or that what I do is frivolous. Honestly, I don’t really like to take photos all that much but I blog because I love Fashion (always have and always will), its MY creative outlet, and to show women like me (plus-size and 40+) that style evolves and gets better with age.
    Thanks for this article!

    Reply
  27. Madame Solange

    This is a very good article. I for instance am more a visual person than a writet and love fashion. I love to be called a style blogger instead of a fashion blogger and used to think I was too old for this till I read about: annette ahhsoneo and Sabina.
    I think its great when you can follow your passion one day it will make for you.

    Reply
  28. Mallory Brown

    I really wish everybody knew this, but sadly, they don’t. We’re far from perfect!

    chromobeauty.blogspot.com

    Reply
  29. Zamri A.

    Don’t forget another point: some of us not even work in the fashion industry! 🙂

    Reply
  30. Raivyn dK

    I wish everyone knew this. Thank you for helping to inform the world that there’s more to some of us [a lot of us] than what meets the eye.. We’re not all shallow! 😉
    http://inf3kted.com

    Reply
  31. Sagan

    Yes! I have three different blogs to cover all of my interests (health, fashion, and communication), and I’ve found this to be true in all areas of the blogosphere. Bloggers tend to get lumped together and a lot of assumptions made about them when they’re in a certain industry / category – but the only thing that we really all share is our interest, our passion for these things. It’s one of the things I love best about blogging: there might be hundreds and thousands of blogs on the subject of “fashion,” but each one is just a little bit different from the next!

    Reply
  32. Yana B.

    Thanks to this post I look forward to continuing to blog…because I’m not very far away from 40! Glad to know I won’t have to stop then… 🙂

    Reply
  33. Jordan Sky

    How refreshing. I was just telling someone that although I love the blogging community that all plus size fashion bloggers can’t be super girly and into the same look. I was also sure that fashion bloggers couldn’t all have mounds of money for these outfits.

    Reply
  34. Onianwah

    I love this post. For some weird reason, it makes me want to become a fashion blogger, lol.
    So fresh and truthful.

    Barbara
    www.barbara1923.com
    Lagos, Nigeria

    Reply
  35. Anett

    Thanks a lot for lifting my spirits in what has been a tough week! Just starting to use Google Analytics after having relied on the stats in Blogger has made me temporarily depressed, as all my readers seem to have disappeared/never existed. I started the day by receiving two comments on my blog, though, so the week is ending on a really high note! I will keep on writing about fashion, dreaming about fashion, shooting photographs about fashion for as long as it is fulfilling. Hopefully, along the way my blog will gain momentum and I will build a network within the industry both nationally and internationally, that will keep feeding my passion. We all just want to do what we love, right?

    Reply
  36. Melody

    LOVE this post! I can attest to many of the points under the “Some of Us” section.

    I love that I look different than most fashion bloggers. Yes, this It makes it a little harder to get my foot in doors, but once I do I know I can grasp attention!

    xo, Melody

    Reply
  37. Suzy

    I LOVE this post! I’m a (nearly) 40 year old UK lifestyle blogger based in Portugal with ambitions for world domination 😉
    Suzy x
    www.suzyturner.com

    Reply