Getting dressed these days has for me, become something of an online experience. Don't worry, I am not about to tell you that I webcam getting dressed. I simply mean that I will sit and search the web, or should I say Pinterest, for inspiration on what to wear. Am I saying that I go online and copy other peoples style, NO! I am simply saying, like a magpie, I look for sparkly things. In this case, street style pictures that give me inspiration. Ironic isn't it, the whole reason a lot of people started fashion blogs is to provide inspiration or showcase their style and in the end it has turned into one big Pinterest board of pretty much the same thing tweaked 5 different ways. Take street style for example, it used to be about the imagination of the wearer and the fashion world took note and inspiration from it... Now its an opportunity for companies to have their clothes photographed. To be honest I don't have a problem with that and I am not naive to the fact it happens. One bugbear I do have is when people are dressed head to toe in borrowed clothes styled by other people. As a blogger, I feel you guys return to my blog and other pages because you like how I style my clothes. Now if other people are styling you surely it becomes impersonal? Is there an element of deceit? Sometimes I feel bloggers are being used by the fashion industry as the approachable 'model', the every woman, the most effective marketing tool! No one is sidelined because they don't fit what ever image is being projected by the company. How did I get onto this rant? Oh yes, via Pinterest. It is obvious to me which bloggers have been styled and polished and I am not slagging that off. You could argue that they are using the brands and gaining content for their blog with clothes they might not have been able to afford. But I will say, they are not my favourite bloggers. So with these thoughts in mind I recently started wondering in what direction I want to take my blog and how I can get back to my roots. I mean literally anyone can have a blog these days, go on Pinterest and emulate someones style, but that isn't why fashion blogs started and it certainly isn't why I started mine. This is when I decided to cut the habit, go cold turkey (probably the wrong time of year being near christmas). But I have stopped looking for inspiration on the internet when I get dressed! Without sounding arrogant I know how to dress myself. When I started my blog in 2010 I didn't go on the internet and then get dressed I would go to my wardrobe and wear what I thought looked good. My full outfit wasn't guided by trends, I may have taken hints but I wasn't a slave to them and recently I feel like I have become a full on trend consumer. I used to shop with the view that I like that item not because 'its on trend' (ugh I hate that phrase). Now don't get me wrong I am not saying you cannot dress head to toe in a trend and actually, trends are an important part of fashion as they signal change, but for me I feel I have fallen into the blogger trap of comparing my blog to everyone else's and feeling like you have to play keep up! I'm sure everyone with a blog at some point has done it but when do you stop comparing yourself and start to change into something your not? I think sometimes it can be quite hard to be original especially when your constantly on social media self promoting and also consuming images of others. So I have set myself a challenge, to stop looking for style inspiration on the bloody internet and to also stop comparing myself to other bloggers.
Hollie x
Jacket- Vintage
Jumper- Zara
Denim Skirt- Ark Clothing
Ankle Boots- Kurt Geiger
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