stuff about fashion blogging, again, again

(The first two.)

So I just watched Jefferson Hack's interview with Imran Amed of the Business of Fashion for the thousandth time, because it makes me very happy, and very optimistic about this digital age, which is so big that it's beyond any of us and we have no clue what to do with it, and about fashion in general.
Don't you love this guy? I like how, among many other things, he said magazines are only more important now that there's no need for news and there can be substantial content. For me, there are only a few magazines whose more news-type stuff I read (Interview, T, Vogue US) and the others I really just look at the editorial content.

Aaaaand I smiled at what he said about bloggers. Does this mean I think I deserve to be sitting front row, or at all, at a few shows? Hell no, and it's never because of my blog alone, it's because I'm affiliated with a project or magazine that has me there, but I'm happy to write about what I saw and how I feel about it on the blog as well, and hear what my commenters thought, and maybe this reaches a different demographic of people than a magazine or newspaper, because anything can only reach so many people before there have to be some that can't identify with it. This doesn't mean anyone has to be all print, or all blogs. No one is going to stop reading a magazine they like because they started reading a blog. Blogs are not magazines, they are not alternatives to magazines, and they usually have different goals than magazines, though it doesn't even make sense to generalize it that way because each blog or magazine has a different goal from the next. It just means that you can hear from someone with years in the industry and someone who is more outside of it; you can hear different opinions from people with different backgrounds, and this ultimately makes for a more interesting discussion. I don't think the digital age means that bloggers, not magazines or critics, decide what's cool or what people wear; I think it means that no one really decides that now, because there are so many points of views. I know that I don't try to give any advice about what people should wear, because I just would like everyone to wear what they want. This larger discussion sort of forces people to be more creative and honest, which is a good thing, no? All this Internet-ness makes fashion about a conversation anyone can take part in, which is, in my opinion, more democratic and interesting.

Still, I didn't turn in my vote for the CFDA -- it's a different thing, because my opinion on my blog is less determining of someone else's fate than a CFDA vote. I can post a rap about Rei Kawakubo and write about the magic of Celine for this blog, but I can't hold that kind of responsibility for another person's career. I just want to be a part of the conversation.

Sooo, speaking of industry pioneers doing interviews with the Business of Fashion...
Untitled 1
Very jealous of anyone who lives in London! For those of us who are stuck in our homes, it'll be livestreamed here on Thursday, July 22nd, 7:30 GMT. I can't wait! And now, while on my shopping fast, I am horribly tempted to look at Net a Porter. Ack.

45 comments:

Maile John said...

My heart races watching this interview! I love Jefferson's idea on satellite blogs, its brilliant!

Sonia said...

I completely agree - I love blogs, but I'm not parting with my glossies any time soon! You're very smart y'know, and I admire your CFDA vote decision-thing a lot. So yay!

Also jealous of the Londoners! Business of fashion <3

Sonia xo

Rheanne said...

love this ♥

http://rheanne-thegirlinnottingham.blogspot.com/
^^follow

Love, x

Erin said...

Oh. My. God.

I have been seriously scarred for life by the above comment...

I really agree with you on the whole thing with blogs not being an alternative to magazines. I read your blog AND Vogue, not one or the other!

-Erin

Exercises in Style said...

definitely right..I love blogs because somehow they give us the chance to be part of fashion world, but still I love to flip trought magazine's pages! great blog yours!

nobody said...

you have a good point of view. the most horrible thing about bloggers is that they believe they're creating the fashion, that they're ruling its world, because they have 5000 of readers who say that they're cute.

sarah said...

i don't know if i think bloggers should be able to have a voice in fashion? is it more democratic in a way (voice of the people and all that)? or is it just the voices of a select group (yet again)?

J. Fonte for RogueRanting.com said...

Ditto on what you said about blogs not being a replacement for glossies.

Blogs don't have editorials- or Emmanuelle Alt. LOL.

Maxens M. Finch said...

You made me learn something, didn't know this guy. I feel a bit stupid, but thanks.

Tavi said...

sarah-I don't think it's just the voice of a select group STILL, only switched over to bloggers as opposed to editors/critics. I don't think there IS a select group because now everyone can have an opinion. If that makes sense.

Contact said...

im equally jealous of those in london... that video is very inspiring!


<33
heelsandinspiration.blogspot.com

Deano SC said...

22nd 7:30 syked!

Anonymous said...

I think the whole editor vrs.fashion bloggers is pointless. The more people that have views and opinions on things and the more people that have a love for something the better it will be because were all giving different opinions. If an editor really loved fashion than they wouldnt care about letting bloggers in on it because the more people in fashion the better it will get. Great video and post! Can't wait till thursday!


WWW.TheLevelHeadedChild.blogspot.com

Leslie said...

i am constantly puzzled over the blogger/editor rivalry because the two are completely incomparable in my mind. i am someone who, for the most part, does not buy magazines because i feel like they are so full of plastic content (but i understand most people do. and i totally don't think magazines are going away anytime soon, because like he said, people want that experience, the spatial relationship to things. there is no sublime future, so people need to stop freaking out that books are going to disappear within our lifetime). i pick up a us vogue (for example) and the space isn't being used to start a conversation with the clothes or the idea, it's just being filled up for the sake of being filled up. editors and creative directors don't work to challenge their readers ideas about new styles or ideas; they just try and shove this idea of a luxury fantasy lifestyle as far down your throat as they possibly can. it's so weird because editors and magazines have the accessibility and the edibility to content and ideas that bloggers strive for and yet they remain completely static--whereas bloggers are curators of constant visual streams of consciousness and yet there is still this limit on the visual aspect because, well, not all of us get sent miu miu clothes to take pictures with. but i mean, duh, blogs are so completely personal. i totally lost my train of thought, whatever, i wrote a blog entry a while ago about raging about editorial content or lack thereof, if anyone cares enough to read it. http://jellybones.net/blog/?p=622

i think the point i was trying to make before that whole wall of text appeared was that yes!!! technology rocks!!! and this dude is totally brilliant--what he said about tilda creating a fashion video was great. i mean it seems such a complete waste to me for any photo shoot, music video, ANYTHING to just be on default, to JUST be aesthetics. no, generation y is not the underdogs and no, we don't (can't) really stick it to the man anymore, but we aren't completely bubble-headed consumers of plastic culture! we are probably the first total generation of users, who constantly upload personal content (pictures, videos, blogging, whatever) and it's not meaningless temporary culture--it's turning into something totally permanent. i mean most people who start fashion blogs aren't consumers of high end fashion, i don't think most of us are convinced by agenda, inc.'s belief system on luxury brands or lifestyles. most of us aren't interested the business or the commercial side of fashion, right? i think what blogs have contributed to was the validity of fashion as an art and not just a craft, and we should move in that direction, or else life will just be that scene in the september issue where all the dudes in penguin suits get together for breakfast and complain about how prada rain boots are totally uncommercial and how the hell are we going to market this stuff.

ADNA said...

Just to let you know, I envy you I still can't believe you got those Miu Miu shoes! And second, how old are you now about 14? I admire your blog and have seen it grow, keep up the good work! Regardless of what critics say, I consider you as an inspiration to me and the little thoughts I put into my blog. (=

Anonymous said...

Here here for bloggers!

Miscellaneous said...

Hello "Tavi-Titties",

In light of the fact that Tavi is 14, I have alerted Blogspot and the Police. I suggest anyone else who reads this blog, feel free to also contact Blogspot.

With an uncle who works internationally combatting child pornography, I suggest choosing your words wisely.

KARLITO said...

Magazines are fun to read and then having a blog to read that talks about what you just read is even more fun. I love reading people's opinions and enlightening me to things I might have missed.

Richard Kilroy said...

I agree with what you have to say totally, I've always believed that having something print is something you can treasure, such as photography and illustration, whereas articles and discussion can be suited any medium!
I actually want to send you a copy of my new fanzine on fashion illustration as I think / hope you'll really like it! how do I go about posting you a copy?

www.richardkilroy.com/decoy.html

Unknown said...

Tavi, after seeing you mentioned and photographed here and there, I had to come see what all the to-do was about. After reading through some of your posts, it is easy to see that you are a smart, witty girl with your own style. I admire you for following your muse at such a young age.

With that said, as an older (wow, that makes me feel old) style blogger, I can say that I agree with you about the editors vs bloggers controversy. I wish the hoopla about bloggers trying to take over the universe would die down. We are living in a digital age and it's cheaper and more convenient for people to gather their information online. Niche magazines will always have a following if they are good. There are certainly some magazines I will not give up, no matter how good the web gets. It's nice to sit on the porch with a magazine in hand. It's like reading a real book vs a digital book--not the same experience and cannot really be substituted if you like the vintage feel of holding a real book or magazine. I think magazines are starting to reach out to bloggers to ensure that they don't die out. I've been receiving many more pitches and things of that nature from magazines. I like to think that we can work together to really shape a more democratic look at beauty and fashion.

And lastly, to address your first part about Seventeen, thank you. As a woman, mother, and one-time mental health counselor, I appreciate the fact that you took the time to publish this on your highly visible blog. THIS is how we make change. This is how we get away from the industry standard of using unhealthy models and convincing a good portion of our population that they are not only unhealthy, but ugly. Shame on Seventeen. Drugs also lead to poor decision making, which is MUCH scarier than being overweight. Good for you for catching that poor marketing. Keep up the wonderful work!

SabinePsynopsis said...

That was interesting. I think he put the change of how we use/perceive media these days very well. But 40 quid for the N. Massenet interview... Ouch!

lily said...

awww. the video didn't work for me. What I love about your blog is that the parts where all you do is post up pictures, links and videos is just as interesting as your actually talking. On an average tumblr, the pictures are SO BORING. but here on yours they introduce me to a whole new world! please don't stop!

Anonymous said...

I do think blogs compete a lil bit with Magazines... Actually the internet in general just competes with magazines... and like you said this does push people to be more creative which is really good! Some magazines are still not realizing this. I think that in this time Magazines have to become collectible items... everything on them have to be so unique an amazing that people will really want to buy them and keep them. Like in the past Vogue used to have amazing editorials and worked with all kinds of artists For example Salvador Dali made the cover of Vogue... an amazing painter! Not like now a days where Vogue is just this pretty cover with boring editorials

Unknown said...

Very interesting post thank you!

Long life to the magazines!!!!

http://valentineavoh.blogspot.com/
-the diary of a fashion stylist-

Tayler Worrell said...

wow aghhghghaghhg. I got an email about this and i want to go so incredibly bad. this interview makes me so excited about the industry and my opinions and future in it! and your review nailed it. it really did. thanks for posting!

www.bighairandbikinis.blogspot.com/

zoomslow said...

"rap about Rei Kawakubo" <3 :-)

Unknown said...

Great, interesting post!

www.eighteenthnyc.com

Unknown said...

That was very interesting .

cancercowboy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
cancercowboy said...

the problem is that the internet as a whole makes the sales figures go down. and that reduces the amount of ads quasi automatically.
plus, the publishing houses are forced to sell their ad space cheaper. don't know if thats true for US fashion magazines, but i know it applies to german newspapers and news magazines, with just a few exceptions.
this has a bunch of consequences and none of them are particularly good for editorial independence. most mags ain't here to educate or provide a forum for discussion; they are advertisement platforms, sadly. thats where they make most of their revenue, not with selling actual printed material.
communication between readers and writers beyond the 'letters to the editor' is a rare thing. Magazines have to change to continue their existence and thats hard but inevitable if they wanna stay (or again become) relevant.
the other alternative is of course to regulate the internet much sharper and to control the upload and use of content way stricter than ever.

Masha said...

yeah there are so many informations now from blogs, magazines, tv, radio. and all this information is really different. So the smart people are the choice, the smart people will not prefer to read or just a magazine or just a blog, the smart people will take all interesting for him information, will mix all that and will create a his point of view, his style. With all this information we can be unique!

http://leblogdemasha.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this blog post! I actually referenced it in my London College of Fashion interview yesterday (had to write about digital media vs. magazines). I agree that magazines and blogs generally have different aims, and a blog is not a magazine. Personally I like both, but for different reasons. I really hope that the quality of writing in magazines does not become compromised by the number of adverts or promotions in them, whilst I also hope that websites do not start charging money to read online content (as some British papers have threatened to do).

Keep up the great work, Tavi!

http://soulisrainingclothes.blogspot.com

sami said...

please please please,hepl me. What can i do to my blog have a lot of vistis??? You are the most, and i think i have style but i haven,t publicity. My outfits are cheaps and chics ;) and i,ve todas las ganas del mundo de triunfar en la moda. Si tienes unos minutos libres, sería un placer para mi que te metieras en mi blog.Eres un crac y yo, tambien;)))! besos desde España.(y mil gracias tengas o no tengas tiempo)
http://www.mientrasmevisto.com

SOJOURNED IN STYLE said...

i read about imran amed in a magazine and was really fascinated by his perspective but i agreee with you on the blog and magazine comparison :)

Blioux Studio said...

Great interview but the stained curtain drives me banana cakes! It's about fashion people...details count.
I think however you want to get your voice out is your prerogative and it's the readers prerogative to look at and read what they want and disseminate what's important to them. Digital media might make glossies better. Use high quality images, laid out in a creative way on great paper and people can pay for quality glossies and save advertising for the digital world.

Unknown said...

Finally someone who agrees with me on NOT TELLING OTHER PEOPLE WHAT TO WEAR. It really pisses me off when someone insults someone else's clothing for being "different", or when magazines run "hot and not" lists. I think anyone who dares to wear something "weird" deserves a medal!

Izzen said...

YAAAAAAAY.

http://izzenxoxo.blogspot.com/

La Clochard said...

"I don't give a shit!" hahahahah yes, I love this guy!

kisses from Spain :)

Teetho said...

I know that I don't try to give any advice about what people should wear, because I just would like everyone to wear what they want. This larger discussion sort of forces people to be more creative and honest, which is a good thing, no? All this Internet-ness makes fashion about a conversation anyone can take part in, which is, in my opinion, more democratic and interesting. bookmark

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