Fashion Bloggers
Are they equalizers of high fashion or an addition to one’s growing anxieties.
As defined by wordpress.org a Blog (an abbreviated version of weblog) is a website that maintains an ongoing chronicle of information. A very prominent phenomenon that has come with the onset of social media in the previous decade is perhaps the rise of fashion bloggers. A commentary on the latest fashion trends and the lines launched in various fashion weeks was earlier provided by the monthly fashion magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, etc . While these fashion magazines still have their market, this new wave of fashion bloggers has over the years presented itself as an alternative source of fashion commentary. However, the same social media and through it’s medium the fashion bloggers bloggers are also accused of facilitating an environment that always seeks perfection in one’s “look”, demands never-ending OOTDs (Outfit of the Day) and puts a pressure to always #WakeUpLikeThis.
Today, with their hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and their billboards across metro cities, their occasional appearance in one’s social media feeds or their presence in any group’s conversation, what can be agreed upon is that while the opinions of fashion bloggers can be debated upon, they most certainly can’t be ignored. What I seek to analyse here is whether fashion bloggers have really democratized high fashion for the masses or if they have just added on to the pressure of being perfect in an already overly self-conscious world. It is indeed true that with time the presence of fashion bloggers has made high fashion apparel more accessible, yet there is also an onus on them to throw light on the dark shadows of the fashion industry which earlier demanded these perfect standards from their models and now from social media followers
Today, bloggers are sought by the magazines as guest correspondents and by the brands as word of mouth advertisers. This is motivated by their “relatability factor” which is brought on by their take as amateur fashion appreciators that brings high fashion from catalogs, magazines, and fashion TV to one’s day to day life. The presence of bloggers in fashion weeks provides a behind the scene commentary which has made the events more relatable. Leandra Medine (American author, blogger, and writer who is best known for Man Repeller) is known to throw lavish parties where her followers are introduced to the latest collections of all sorts of brands ranging from a Hermes to an H&M. This fashion blogger’s take on style exemplifies the ironic nature of haute couture. It is elusive and expensive, but often impractical and unappealing. Medine’s method of mixing high and low is typical of most popular fashion blogs, which shows readers how to mix as few as one luxe item into an outfit(Pous). This relatability adds to a more intimate and bi-directional relationship, of an Instagram profile and its follower as opposed to that of an article in a magazine or a catalog and its reader which has provided an opportunity for brands to generate more word of mouth publicity for their product that they are certainly utilizing well.
However, being attached to both social media and the fashion industry, fashion blogging has had to encounter their fair share of challenges as well. The fashion industry, for a long time, has been accused of promoting a particular standard of beauty which is not kind to majority of the population. Social media too, holds the notoriety of constantly propagating a certain lifestyle that forces one to be hungry for fame, attention and validation from strangers causing depression in some and anxiety in others. The damage to mental health of bloggers who build their careers on the basis of the validation they get from something like follower count or likes or capturing that spontaneous candid is worth noting too. The #FearOfMissingOut (FOMO) in this day and age is real. Along with social media trends, social media breakdowns are a big hit on the Internet as well. The same Internet which is a platform for someone to uplift themselves after a bad day can also be a bully. In 2015, teen Instagram sensation Essena O’ Neil dramatically quit most of her social media accounts. Essena, who had more than half a million followers, and could make $2000 a day from her outfit posts, dramatically rejected the platform that gave her fame in a YouTube video and wrote new captions on her Instagram posts that exposed the artifice behind them, telling fans: “I just want younger girls to know this isn’t candid life, or cool or inspirational. It’s contrived perfection made to get attention”(Smith).
However, when it comes to the earlier described challenges to fashion bloggers it is imperative to recognize that influencing is a two-way job. While by constantly glorifying perfection, yes the world they may be creating for the masses may not always be perfectly healthy for the followers yet they are also playing an important role in showing the brands the defects of their supposedly perfect world. Whether it is a movement to promote all sizes or all skin tones or all races, through fashion bloggers we have found a way to send this message to the brands “Hey! It’s the 21st century, why don’t you join us here”. The battle has not been entirely won (we see you Victorias Secret) but it can’t be dismissed anymore.
Fashion bloggers are here to stay, although over the years the field has constantly become more competitive and it is a challenge for them to constantly maintain their niche and balance that with their mental health while allowing themselves time and space to rest and recharge. In a famous Bollywood Movie, Dear Zindagi, it was said that genius is knowing when to stop and it is expected that people using smartphones will be smart, if not geniuses. Like other growing industries, the fashion industry now has a new challenge, which is to become sustainable. This demands initiative by bloggers and cognizance from consumers. As for the democratization of high fashion, I am pretty sure if The Devil Wears Prada were to be made today then Miranda Priestly would definitely be tormenting Emily to coordinate with various bloggers for Runway’s next issue and Andy would get her big style awakening not with the help of some fellow Runway employee but rather through a simple scroll through her Instagram feed.
Read Indian Media: A Sinking Ship? by Maria Rangwala
Works Cited
1.Terri Pous. “The Democratization of Fashion: A Brief History.” Time, Time, 6 Feb. 2013, style.time.com/2013/02/06/the-democratization-of-fashion-a-brief-history/
2.Smith, Lauren. “Instagram Star Essena O’Neill Who Shut Down Accounts Posts Emotional Video.” Grazia, Grazia, graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/instagram-star-essena-oneill-shuts-social-media-accounts/.
3. Shinde, Gauri, director. Dear Zindagi. Gauri Khan, Karan Johar, 2016.
About the Author
Navya Karnwal is an Electronics and Communication engineer who is interested in Literature and now works in Human Resources at a pharmaceutical company. She likes memes, reading and quality cinema (Welcome, Hera Pheri, Phir Hera Pheri, you get the gist).
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