How the fashion blogger is taking over the world.

anyone with anything interesting to say can garner a following. And it is, in some ways, a good thing. Fashion is no longer restricted to celebrities, socialities and editors. People without journalism or marketing degrees can sit in the front row of a fashion show and report back to the public about what kind of clothes they should be wearing. Readers and fashionistas have a face that they can relate to.  

Furthermore, bloggers bring a certainly level of diversity that may have been lacking before. Mellie Davis is a great example. Her blog, the Fat Apple, chronicles the struggles of a curvy woman to find clothes that not only fit, but also flatter. Someone like Mellie might never have found her place in the fashion industry had she not been able to make that place herself. And there are countless blogs out there offering inexpensive alternatives to the designer items on the runway and in magazines. Budget Babe, Cheapalicious and Painfully Hip come to mind: blogs that bring more options to people who aren’t willing or able to spend $1000 on a bag.   

So what is the problem? There are a few, and while I don’t think they outweigh the benefits by any means, the internet is changing everything, and it’s doing so at warp speed. As the fashion industry and journalism (and every other industry, for that matter) adapt, I think it’s important that we keep these pitfalls in mind so we can keep things honest, open and healthy for everyone involved.  

1. Pretty rich, white girls are still the most likely to succeed.

• it should be noted that this is being written by a pretty, once lower middle class now upper middle class white girl

• Yes, the crowd at the Break Room was more diverse than a fashion event 10 years ago might have been. But take a look at the most successful fashion blogs, and there are still a lot of skinny white girls wearing expensive clothes. The privileged are the ones with the means and access to the best clothes, which means they’re the ones that write the blogs that get them the free clothes. Furthermore, a huge percentage of the American population doesn’t even have access to a computer or internet. Impoverished urban areas are still hugely underrepresented in the online community. 

1. What about the writers and journalists?

• An English major hasn’t guaranteed work or respect for a long time, but there are a lot of highly trained and very intelligent journalists and writers out there who have to work a lot harder to get steady work. There are only so many seats in Lincoln Center. Having your work seen no longer depends on education or qualifications, it depends on being web and social media savvy. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing but it does mean a shift that universities and training programs have been slow to make. College students should graduate ready to find their place in the working world, and I don’t know as many colleges can guarantee that any longer, and not just because of the economy.  

1. Do we deserve all that we get?