We all know a typical fashion blogger, fashion vlogger, fashion Instagrammer. Some of us will know several.
And if you don’t know one, chances are you will know of one (I will clarify, I am a fashion blogger but an atypical one).
They are sitting in the front row of fashion shows. They are taking outfit selfies at boutique stores. They’re the ones that populate our Instagram feed with countless images of themselves in whatever outfit they carefully selected to wear that day.
Their “fashion haul” videos are inescapable on YouTube and images of them litter our Pinterest boards and style magazines. And they’re showing off their latest buys, on other forms of social media, often sponsored and gifted by a brand.
They may be immaculately dressed, wearing something kitsch, or look like they’ve all shopped at the same store (evidenced by their cloned outfits).
Add to all of this a Fashion Bloggers TV show and you can see how commercial fashion blogging has become.
It won’t make you truly happy.
Think that overpriced polyester off-the-shoulder dress you saw at a boutique store is going to make you happy? Or believe the top in Kim Kardashian’s collection going to change your life? Think again.
While positive feelings do occur when we buy something (the “shopping high”), the good feelings we associate with shopping doesn’t last because it’s not true happiness. This is what psychologists call hedonic adaptation, no matter how euphoric somethings makes us feel, we drift back to our baseline level of existing. The famous study of lottery winners who were no happier than non-winners 18 months later proves the theory that shopping won’t make you happier in the long term.
It’s an illusion.
There’s more to buying stuff, wearing stuff, looking like hot stuff, taking photos of stuff. And it’s more dangerous than we realise.
While it’s easy to pine for a fashion bloggers lifestyle when they’re looking fabulous in the latest trendy stilettos or clutching the must-have bag, in reality, it’s all smoke and mirrors. What you see on social media isn’t really how it is.
When 18 year old Instagram starlet Essena O’Neill quit social media, the news ironically went viral on social media. As she told Elle magazine: “I’ve spent the majority of my teenage life being addicted to social media, social approval, social status, and my physical appearance.”
Essena O’Neill changed the caption of this Instagram photo after her social media enlightenment.
On her Instagram account, she changed her name to “Social Media is Not Real Life”. In a show of support, Kayla Itsines, Australian fitness star, posted this on Instagram:
An Instagram photo posted by Kayla Itsines in response to Essena O’Neill’s announcement that social media isn’t real life.
It leaves you in debt.
While bloggers with 6 million followers or more are making $20,000 to $100,000 per Instagram post as reported by Harper’s Bazaar there are hundreds and thousands of fashion bloggers not earning any money at all. In fact, to keep up appearances, they are spending money they don’t have, on stuff they don’t need to put into already overstuffed closets.
If you track a fashion blogger for a week, you rarely see the same outfit or items of clothing. A ridiculous fashion faux-pas that encourages people to buy more things out of fear of being seen in the same thing.
A lot of fashion bloggers liken themselves to Carrie Bradshaw but remember, she’s a fictional character. No writer who writes a weekly column and does the occasional freelance article can afford the wardrobe she has. I know this because I’m a writer who writes a hell of a lot more pieces and even I can’t afford $400 Manolos each week!
You become a sell-out.
I recently tracked a fellow eco vloggers YouTube videos and Instagram account and quite frankly was disappointed with what I saw. There were so many product reviews and photos of products, that I could smell the conflict of interest a mile away. Her recommendations were corrupted by the gifts, the money, the follows, the status.
It took all my strength not to point out the irony of being an eco-conscious person whilst promoting consumption. (Pat on the back please, that was hard to do!) This eco blogger gives out so many recommendations to buy natural products that I can’t work out which brands she really loves.
Now while I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with receiving sponsorship from brands whose products you are fanatical about (if I did, that would make me hypocritical as Eco Warrior Princess does accept sponsored posts from socially responsible brands that align with our high ethical standards), there comes a point when enough is enough, and especially when you’re coming from an inauthentic place.
Conclusion
The commercialisation of blogging and social media brings into question what was once an innocent means of style expression. Behind the trendy outfits, poses and pouty expression, there can be a darker side – no matter how many overly-styled highly-edited behind the scenes images we’re shown. When it comes to following fashion bloggers, there’s three rules you should follow: style, authenticity and ethics.
We want to know: Do you follow any fashion bloggers? Why do you follow them? Are there any fashion bloggers that you used to follow that you don’t anymore, and why? Would love to hear from you so please leave a comment.
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