[This post contains a gifted dress from Elvi Clothing]
In 2013, blogging was just picking up, I was sixteen, and I had just started a blog. After admiring so many other bloggers such as Charlotte Fisher, Victoria from InTheFrow, Helen Anderson, Kayla Hadlington, and so many more, I decided I wanted to try my hand at blogging..
Blogging back then was fabulous. A truly lovely community, and a community that I wish I had joined a few months prior because I might have had a chance of getting featured in Company Magazine alongside some of my idols in their monthly blogger feature.
Fashion blogging in particular was this fun and quirky thing. It was based around styling up clothes in your own unique style, and exploring different trends while documenting how you got on. From the JuJu Jellies craze, to tie-dye, pastel vibes, slogan tees, and chunky sandals – blogging in 2013/14 was marvellous. But has blogging, and fashion blogging more specifically, become delusive? And is it losing the originality that used to overflow within the community?
Times change, I get that. Things will always change, improve, and alter, and I am fully aware and accepting of this. But what about when something is becoming more delusive?
I've "ummed" and "ahhhed" about writing this post for the longest time, but almost six years of blogging experience means I am incredibly passionate about blogging, so here I am, sharing my opinions and comparing today's blogosphere with 2013's...
This is not directed at anyone, and I am not judging anyone. It's just hard as a blogger of six years who has always been genuine, true, and real to witness the direction in which blogging is going.
Back in 2013/14/15 things were very real within the blogging world. #OOTD meant a photo of an actual outfit that you actually wore on that day, but nowadays #OOTD is a meaningless hashtag that we are all guilty of using when you didn't actually wear something on that day.
I remember shooting my outfit photos in the spring of 2014. I had just bought a bridge camera off of eBay with my Christmas money, and I was so excited to finally become a 'proper blogger', so I styled up an outfit – a cream lace dress with a gorgeous kimono – I ruffled my hair up, and asked my mum to take a few shots of me outside our apartment. I rushed back inside, uploaded them straight away, wrote a blog post, and then published it instantly. I then wore that outfit out that day. Yep, that was an #OOTD back in 2014.
The same goes for when I started college later that year. Before or after my lectures, I'd get my mum to take photos of me in my outfit of the day outside of our apartment, and then later that day I'd write a post and publish it, that day.
I'd spend hours styling the outfits I'd wear, and I'd write blog posts dedicated to how I had styled it, why I teamed that with that, and why I loved it so much. Blogging back then was real, innocent, raw, and genuine.
I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite, because I don't exactly follow the above ritual anymore. But my outfits are still ALWAYS genuine, they are completely styled by me, and I do wear them for the FULL day (excluding two occasions where I shot two outfits in a day). But these days, many bloggers (fashion in-particular) mass-shoot outfits, never re-wear clothes on the gram, and you can tell that they probably won't wear it again in the future. It saddens me, because this isn't fashion blogging as I know it.
I miss the old-school #OOTD, and the spontaneity of hitting publish on a blog post and not "schedule". I do schedule posts in advance as I love to be prepared, and it's great to do so I can focus on my uni work without worrying about blogging – but I'm not a full-time blogger – I'm a full-time student with blogging as my hobby, so I guess it's understandable to some extent.
But if you are a full-time blogger, why on earth do you need to mass-shoot 20 outfits in a day, and schedule all of your blog and Instagram posts? If blogging is your job?
Blogging is something the majority of us do for joy, passion, and excitement. We get excited about showing off a new outfit we've bought, or something that we kindly get gifted from a brand. We get excited about styling an outfit up with a favourite garment or accessory that we might have had for years. And we feel a rush when a post we've worked hard on has gone live, and we keep refreshing the page to see if any of the community has commented yet. This is what blogging IS, this is what blogging SHOULD BE, and this is how I will always blog... with passion and excitement.
I understand that things have changed, and blogging is now a respected profession for many, but surely this doesn't mean that blogging can be abused in this way?
Not only this, but we have people calling themselves bloggers when they don't have a blog. According to google, the definition of 'blogger' is "a person who regularly writes material for a blog" – but that's none of my business.
I will always blog in the same way I have done since I started. Yeah, okay, my posts aren't as spontaneous as they used to be, but I don't have as much time as I used to. So yeah okay, I might shoot an outfit and not post it for three weeks, but rest assured that I wore that outfit all day long, styled it myself, and actually wore it because I LOVED it.
I didn't want to write this post to offend anyone, to bash anyone, or to upset anyone. I just needed to get this off of my chest. Blogging is something I'm passionate about, and something that will ALWAYS be a huge part of my life, and I just find it sad how it's changing so quickly into something that is no longer passion-filled, spontaneous, and personal.
Steal Mollie's Style
I'm wearing a black roll neck from M&S which was £4 in the sale (not bad, eh?), with my gorgeous new Helga Double Breasted Dress that Elvi Clothing kindly gifted me.I teamed this with some black shades, and my favourite black Paula Handbag by Lulu Guinness. With black loafers from Kurt Geiger.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that #OOTD is a big fat lie?
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