So it’s a new year, a new term, and a new blog from the Cherwell fashion team. Forget about collections, essays or the hideous thought of lectures that start before midday, what better way to start the term than taking a look at the latest craze to revolutionize the fashion industry – the wonderful world of fashion blogging.
I’m sure if we all cast our minds back far enough, sieving through the cringe worthy memories of dressing like your favourite Spice girl (I blame you, Sporty, for my brief foray into ill fitting tracksuit bottoms), we can remember a time before it was so easy to skim mindlessly through Facebook, Youtube and Sporcle in never ending circles of procrastination. Since then, the growth of the internet over the last two decades has been a huge driving force for fashion, making it possible to bring both high end and high street fashion to every home, with the click of a button and a flash of plastic. Following the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, which enable us to stay in touch whenever and wherever we are, fashion bloggers have been springing up all over the world to interact with the latest trends, showcase individual style and share ideas.
Fashion blogging is not to be underestimated, definitely an area of expanding importance, connecting fashion passionate individuals across the globe through a common interest in what to wear and how to wear it. Successful bloggers have become respected and established figures in the fashion world, invited to fashion shows in the hope that they will spread good publicity for the designer. Two successful fashion bloggers who have cultivated their talent and passion into a career are Tommy Ton the photoblogger behind the Jak and Jil blog who is inundated by requests for his photos and Susie Lau who’s popular Style Bubble blog got her a career as commissioning editor for Dazed Digital, the online faction of Dazed and Confused. In the same way that Youtube can launch a sensation (PLEASE name me someone who hasn’t seen Gap Yah…), bloggers can go from zero to hero in a matter of outfit changes. Take blogging sensation Tavi Gevinson as an example, a thirteen year old school girl and fashion enthusiast with a surprisingly mature and idiosyncratic style that won over top writers and designers, earning her a front row seat at New York fashion week last year and the impressive status as a muse for Rodarte.
As the blogging trend continues to spiral, designers increasingly look to fashion bloggers as serious colleagues to work with. HnM have recently revealed they are releasing a line of clothing in collaboration with Swedish fashion blogger Elin Kling, setting something of a precedent and illustrating the merging together of bloggers and the wider fashion industry. Perhaps the most charming thing about the rise of the fashion blog is that it is slowly readdressing some of the elitism of fashion, enabling unknown writers and photographers to bring their views to a wider audience and to be noticed.
Item of the week: It’s white and it’s lace, two things you’ll be seeing a lot of next season and it’s got a peter pan collar that Alexa Chung would be proud of. So a valid use of the student loan really…
Check it out
here..
Blog of the week: It’s not technically a blog, but as this is the first week, I’m going to recommend Lookbook to those of you that have been missing out. It’s the perfect place to go to for inspiration from photos of hundreds of well-dressed people from all over the world. If you like what you see there are often links from the lookbook profiles to individual blogs – a good way to find lesser known gems.
Magazine of the week: This month’s Elle magazine has a guide to the S/S catwalk collections, so definitely worth a look. If ever in doubt, scan the pages of style.com or vogue.com – something that caught my eye this week was the release of the video of Tom Ford’s much anticipated private showing of his Womenswear S/S Collection, featuring big names, provocative designs and plunging necklines.
Take a look here
