The Fashion Blogging Phenomenon

If you told me 10 years ago that girls as young as 13 (ahem Tavi Gevinson) could rise to the ranks of high fashion fame—brushing shoulders with Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld all while attending fashion shows for Marc Jacobs and Dior—I wouldn’t have believed you. 

Tavi Gevinson with Anna Wintour, credit: zimbio.com

Yet, Tavi of the "Style Rookie" is just one of a handful of fashion bloggers who are what we call making it “big.” Not to mention other fashion bloggers as Aimee Song of "Song of Style" who has been reported by Refinery 29 to be making hundreds of thousands of dollars through her partnerships, collaborations and event hosting duties, not to mention the revenue earned from the myriad of ads that appear on nearly every fashion blog nowadays. 

Aimee Song of "Song of Style," credit: songofstyle.com

And how many celebrities out there really have a collaborative line with mega fashion chain H&M? I’m looking at you Elin Kling (of "Style by Kling"). Or how about a new hot line at mega-fashion house Mango? Carolina Engman of "Fashion Squad" just released a line there. I think it’s safe to say fashion blogging has exploded in recent years, but let’s see why that is: 

  

Elin Kling posing for her H&M line,  credit: http://stylebykling.nowmanifest.com

A blog comes from the world web + log, but blogs have extended themselves to become so diverse that they cover almost every facet of life from music, fashion, food, and movies to politics, religion, and so on. But the way in which fashion blogs in particular have been able to garner so much attention and become an active influence within the industry is particularly fascinating. 

There’s no doubt that this new web tool has certainly changed the way we view street style as well as personal style. But some may ask what do blogs offer that professional magazines don’t? Well for one, they’re more personal. These are all individual people all around the world who spend at least a few days a week writing as well as photographing their outfits while they’re out on their daily musings. So why are we so obsessed? People have an innate sense of curiosity about what? Other people! And especially for avid fashion followers: we're obsessed with fashionable people! How do you explain our crazy obsession with celebrity style? 

Anyways, fashion blogs enable anyone with a camera, computer, and interest in fashion to speak their mind, showcase their fashion sense, and in a way—act as their own fashion magazines manning all positions of model, stylist, writer, photographer, and editor. There's something especially raw and special about this. It's not a team of 50 people shooting one model with an enormous budget. It's usually just the blogger or blogger and photographer working together.

Fashion blogs unlike fashion magazines offer an insider’s peek into the lives of everyday fashionistas and essentially offer an ongoing online catalog depicting real-life street styles from around the world! 

How cool is that? 

Today, fashion bloggers are being plucked from obscurity and placed in the forefront of fashion events, shows, and campaigns as a new “pseudo” celebrity due to the enormous amount of readers they’ve been able to garner and can draw in to fashion events. Although many of them are being paid to host parties and events, it’s much cheaper on the wallet than let's say tapping Kate Bosworth or Kate Moss on the shoulder for instance—another reason why they’ve become such a hot commodity.

So where is the world of fashion blogging going to be in the future? Only time will tell. But at this point—fashion bloggers have become a key integral part of the industry in driving not only fashion inspiration, but sales. 

So you better grab your camera, put on your best outfit and start blogging because who knows if you’ll be the next one to make it “big.”