The lovely Sandiso Ngubane has written an interesting piece for iFashion today on fashion blogging, entitled, It's A Blogger's World. Take a moment this lunch time to read it. As a fashion blogger myself, I found it definitely addresses some of the concerns I have about the credibility of the industry and the reasons why it is such a hodge podge of good and bad as it explodes in numbers.
The great thing about blogs and the internet in general is that it is self-selecting. The power rests in the hands of the public and they choose what they want to read about and who they want to support. This is democracy at its best. And this democratic approach will mean that the blogs that are good, valuable to the readers and have consistency and staying-power will eventually win the day. Or will they?
The fundamental problem is that blogs also make false heros. By virtue of having enough 'coolness' or mates in front of computers, or twitter followers. a person with no fashion education, experience or expertise can declare themselves a fashion blogger and develop enough of a following to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. They then set about making declarative statements about designers, trends and the industry with no understanding of what underpins it all, what the context or history is and the technical details of what they are talking about.
Don't get me wrong. I am a huge fan of freedom of speech and the right to an opinion. Long live opinions! It is just that within the context of a fashion blog, there needs to be a measure of credibility there in order to validate the opinion. That is what I work so hard on for hours every single day. Researching, building my knowledge, experience, insights and refining my opinions. I hope you value that above all else on this blog.
Having said that. Not all fashion blogs offer opinion. Some offer inspiration, joyful celebration and shared experience by being 'one of the readers' as opposed to the 'expert'. I love these blogs too. Beautiful images of great fashion stories are one of life's great indulgences. And are just as valuable as the ones with opinions and insights and critiques.
So I guess what I am saying is that everyone who wants to can, and should, have a fashion blog. And there is something for everyone within that. Just make sure you know who you are and what sort of blog you think will be the most authentic for you. And then feed it as often as possible. The only thing worse than a discredited blog is one that doesn't get updated regularly. Now that's a blog I refuse to read. So what do you all think about this issue?