Bangladesh: The Collapse of Ethics

Result of the collapse

On April 24th, a clothing factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing over a thousand people (1127 at time of writing). Clothing brands, such as Mango and Joe Fresh, are receiving criticism as their clothing was produced in the collapsed factory. Other brands, like H&M and Zara, are teaming up in order to prevent things like this from happening. And while these brands are working to preserve their name and to create positive PR, I have seen less news about this than Kim Kardashian's fail of a Met Gala dress in the fashion world.

Am I saying I haven't read a lot on the Met Gala? I have read a fair share and even wrote a post about it. But so many people have turned a blind eye to this tragedy in the blogosphere and it's due to two things - guilt and payoff.

Keepin' it Real(ly Appropriate)

Have you ever noticed how people never seem completely happy with their age and maybe, to a larger extent, happy with who they are? (That's a whole other issue, though) I notice this a lot among fashion bloggers through the way we all dress. While Madonna dressed twenty years younger, fashion bloggers dress twenty years older. And if we don't dress older, many dress to get pageviews.

Pageviews. The delicious, sweet nectar ever blogger wants to enjoy that not many get a large chance to try. So many bloggers sacrifice their style and voice in order to play to what seems to be popular in the here and now.

The Skinny on Body Image

Let's say that ever since you were little you wanted to be a model. Not any model, but a high fashion model who posed for Valentino and walked for Prada. You've always been moderately attractive and slim, but not slim enough. Not to be strutting Alexander McQueen's newest avant-garde dress down the catwalk. So you stop eating in order to look like the models and before you can actually realize what you're doing, you've developed an eating disorder.

Anorexia nervosa and bulima nervosa are two eating disorders commonly associated with women and models. The National Eating Disorders Association estimates that roughly ten million women at any given time suffer from an eating disorder. Mirasol also reports that one in every 200 American women suffer from anorexia. Anorexia is also the most lethal mental illness (yes, even beating depression), killing 5%-10% of those who contract the illness in the first ten years, and 18-20% in the first 20 years.

Obviously aware of this problem, Star Models, a model agency based out of Brazil, created an ad campaign called "You Are Not A Sketch" with the goal of empowering women to be more than sticks and bones and to "say no to anorexia".

Picture from Star Models' campaign

The campaign has been getting positive reviews, showing most girls that it is not attractive to look like a fashion sketch.  It's a great way to disillusion women suffering from an eating disorder and stress that looking frail and bony is not as attractive as they may have thought. However, there are people who like how the model looks and could view it as a goal and not be disillusioned whatsoever and rather encouraged.

Trend Spotter : Tropical Prints

Shirts (L-R): Michael Kors & River Island Shorts (L-R): Current/Elliott & Scotch and Soda  Scarf: Banana Republic  Shoes: Corso Como  Bag: Brahmin 

Tropical prints have been going around this Spring as fast as B.O. at Comic-Con. Yes, this is a true trend that is sweeping blogger nation and I am here to help you, fellow trench enthusiast, in understanding the true ways of the Hawaiian Shirt and how to rock Grandma's Summer Bag.

I like this trend. I've seen many bloggers pull it off quite well. Unlike many trends featuring crazy prints, like snakeskin or army camo, I'm much more inclined to buy a shirt or shorts with this print. I don't know why, maybe it just speaks to my want to look like a middle aged woman saturated in stereotypical Tommy Bahama menswear.

Just belt it and, girl, you'll be the talk of the Fashion Police!

Jokes aside, this is a trend I seriously love. It's bright and loud and, if you actually know what you're doing, can be styled in sophisticated ways. This trend is seasonal and highly trendy. The likelihood of this exact trend being in style next year around this time is slim. Maybe get a couple pieces from Zara and you'll be set for the rest of spring and summer.

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | BLOGLOVIN'

Are Fashion Bloggers In Love With Themselves?

Hey all!  I'm moving up to Oregon for school and won't be active/have new content until Monday - see you all then!

-

The point of having a fashion blog is to show your readers your style and your opinions.  One could say that being a personal style blogger is extremely self obsessive, and I can see where they're coming from.  Posting pictures of yourself day after day can give off that vibe. So, are we obsessed with ourselves or just doing our jobs?

Thinking of making this my background for the blog. Thoughts?

I personally believe that we have to be confident in ourselves to have a fashion blog. For example, if the blogger in question is a personal fashion blogger, then it is his or her job to post themselves looking fashionable.  We have a target demographic and this demographic is interested in fashion that average people would wear.  And, if bloggers leave thoughtful comments, it builds a strong network of people who are interested in one another. This includes criticism, since having a fashion blog means getting judged.

That is in a perfect world, though.  Bloggers don't leave thoughtful comments all of the time, so it's difficult to build a relationship with a blogger who posts "nice shirt" and never returns.  But it certainly inflates our ego.  And, if self promotion pays off, people will follow your blog, which results in comments and pageviews.  Which, of course, inflates our ego even more.

It starts small.  Maybe GOMI will feature you for thinking you're the greatest thing because a fan knew who you were in public.  And you focus an entire post on yourself - not on clothing, fashion, or the person who approached you - but on yourself.  This may have been completely unintentional.  But talking about yourself all of the time comes across as self absorbed (whaaaa?). 

Then you start doing crazy things.  Like getting your twitter verified and publishing books full of content that a person could get from your blog.

(Slightly) Exaggerated to get the point across. 

This is all a snowball effect, but it happens to the best of us.  On a smaller scale, one could say we are self focused because it's our goal to promote our blog have it be through commenting or doing guest posts.

So, to answer the question "are we obsessed with ourselves or just doing our jobs?", I find that it takes a bit of the first to accomplish the "job", especially if the blogger is a personal style blogger. However, when our ego starts getting too inflated, the job becomes self promotion with fashion on the side.

So, do you guys think fashion bloggers are a little too obsessed with themselves? Do we forget that the point of blogging is fashion and not trying to get pageviews?

Thanks for reading!  Feel free to defend yourselves.

Edit: If this offends you, of course I'm sorry. I felt that this was something to bring up.  Many of the bigger bloggers have some sort of clique, which excludes regular bloggers (like me).  I feel that if they were more open to their audience and not so focused on themselves, we would have a stronger community.  In no way am I trying to offend my readers - I'm thankful for each of you! But as fashion bloggers, big or small, we run the risk of becoming self absorbed.  Do you know of any ways to prevent this?

Art as Fashion

To say I love art would be an understatement. This may be a bit dramatic, but I'm planning on making it my life since I'm an Art History student. And, since it's part of my life, might as well make it part of my wardrobe. Here are three pieces of clothing and accessories that I find to be extremely artistic and different. Art as fashion seems to be a growing trend, one which I am very excited to see evolve.

Air Tattoo 

Vine by Air Tattoo

Air Tattoo is "Wearable Art For Your Neck". I love the idea behind this Kickstarter.  There are four different necklaces to choose from, all vastly different from one another and giving off different moods. And, while these are some great designs, I don't know how practical they'd be or how well they would go with clothing.  Sure, they look good on a naked model - baby vomit would look good on a naked model (too far?). But, on a clothed model, it looks a bit...awkward.

All that said, I may still take a chance on these beauties.  There's only three days left to get them until the campaign ends on Kickstarter, so get on it!

Black Milk Clothing

Der Kuss Dress for 90 AUD

Holy mama, I freakin' love Black Milk. Black Milk is a clothing company based in Australia that loves nylon. They have legging, bathing suits, and dresses which are all made with fashion aware girls in mind.  My favorites are the pieces with classic art printed on them. The picture above is a print of Der Kuss by Gustav Klimt, one of my favorite pieces of art.  There are other pieces featuring pieces by Van Gogh and pieces which are just plain artistic. 

Wearing Black Milk definitely takes some guts because the pieces are so loud. But, I think the payoff is worth it.  If only James Jean was featured on the site...

James Jean Jewelry

Constellation for 600 USD 

James Jean, my favorite living artist, has a beautiful line of jewelry.  There are five "sections" in his line - Drip, Butterfly, Bone, Strata, and Bat. They are all so vastly different but beautiful and detail oriented.  However, these pieces are insanely expensive.  Nothing is under 300 dollars, which is very disappointing since his jewelry is so unique.

He offers scarves and shirts as well. If you have the money, go for it.  Maybe buy me something while you're at it.

Do you guys have any pieces you love which incorporate art into the aesthetic? Hate art as fashion?  Feel free to tell me about it!

Ally

Blogger Etiquette: Are We Too Nice or Too Lazy?

I took a week break due to my vacation to Canada. I'll have a new post on Monday.
---
On a daily basis, many of us leave comments on blogs. Typically, these comments are usually brief and positive.  And when I say positive, I mean cavity inducing sweetness with chocolate fudge and sprinkles.

But, what happens when we get something called constructive feedback or - GASP - a negative comment?

I think most of us would be hurt or even angry and delete the comment.  Why? Because we aren’t used to any sort of criticism.  And, we aren’t ones to give criticism for this reason.

But, maybe we don’t give criticism because we are lazy.

Here's an example.

What you see

Now, let's form a comment based on those really quick thoughts.

What you could post

 What you do post

There is an obvious difference between the two.  Once is thoughtful and constructive and offers ways to make the blog more interesting.  The second is uninspired, but nice.  Sometimes it's hard to say anything more than a sentence or two.

Now, I am not unthankful at all.  Comments are great and make the blogger feel good.  But there are times where the pure nice words are being typed so we can go on one's page.  And we all do this.  We want recognition for our work.

Everything boils down to this - are we too lazy or too nice?  In my opinion, the two go hand in hand.  If one is going to offer constructive suggestions, there has to be a sizable amount to the comment so the blogger isn't offended. And who wants to write a ton of words, right?  So people write the minimal amount which is typically pure praise.  It's a never ending cycle.  And, when there is criticism, there is hurt feelings because this criticism is mistaken as being mean.  Just think about the whole IFB affair - comments disagreed with a post and the creator of the website ended up calling her readers bullies.

In the end, I'd say if we toughened up and gave more thoughtful comments, we would benefit not individually, but as a blogging community. However, that's just me.  What do you think?  Are we lazy and want views or just too nice?

Please remember I am thankful for any and all comments - it's just a trend I've noticed.

Guest posts, 100 followers, favorites - OH MY!

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. I went to the mall and bought my boyfriend a Vince sweater for fifty bucks (usually they’re 165) and watched Curb Your Enthusiasm. A relaxed weekend, but a welcomed one. Anyways, this isn’t exactly a fashion post, but rather a message to everyone. 

Firstly, thank you all for subscribing, as I now have 100 followers. Considering I’ve only been around for two months, I’m extremely thankful for all of the support I’ve received and plan on bringing more content to everyone.

Secondly, I’ve add a list in the sidebar of blogs I love. I tried to spotlight those who do not have many followers but have great content. I probably do not have enough followers to heavily influence their traffic, but anything helps - right?

Here they are...

Coffee and Cardigans
The Curatorial
Faye Roco
Fashion Fetishism
Moi Minnie
So Capricious

I enjoy everyone that I follow. These stick out to me because they always have content worth reading, clean design, and fabulous photos. They’re pretty unique and most of them have an edge to them. Please check them out!

Thirdly (I'm oh so formal), I’ve been featured over at My Love Affair With Fashion where I write about the classic tee and jean outfit. It’s my first guest post and I’m excited to be featured.

Click to read!

I suppose this was a post full of firsts! Again, thank you everyone for your support and I can’t wait to grow with everyone.

An Analysis of Style

Shirt: Madewell (different color)  Belt: old Coach  Shorts: Levi's (similar)  Sunglasses: Ray-Ban  Jewelry: UO and DogEared  Shoes: Coach

Hey - haven't seen you guys for a while.  I'm sorry for my brief departure, but I'm back~

I notice that blogs seem to grab "inspiration" from one another - especially when it comes to styling. Recently I've been seeing a lot of the half tuck and the top knot.

Hand in hair, top knot in place, flamingo pose, admiring the ground - my most original picture to date.

Before reading any further, please remember that these are my opinions and I am not saying they are better than yours nor correct.

To start with the positive - I really do like the top knot.  I'm not exactly good at it, but they're flattering.  Looks great with collared shirts.

Now, onto the bad - the half tuck.  Based on my "research", I believe that J. Crew started doing this, then popular fashion bloggers, then regular bloggers.  I really don't understand what is appealing about this look.  I think fully tucked in shirts look much better than leaving a flap out or just tucking in the middle.

Maybe the half tuck is only popular because J.Crew (and Madewell, much to my chagrin) is doing it and bloggers want to attract them as sponsors? Or maybe people actually do like the half tuck.

I would love to talk about this in the comments!  If you do like it, tell me so.  Thought provoking discussion can be had even when it comes to fashion.

Gotta love the reflection of my boyfriend.

So, what do you think of the new styles you're seeing lately?

-Ally

P.S. - This is only a taste of some new, more opinionated and "discussion promoting" content that I plan on bringing to my corner of the Internet.  Stay tuned!