I bought a dress… Now I’m changing my blog.
{dress not pictured… yet}
I didn’t realize it at the time, but this past August I hit 8 years of blogging. The Fashionista Lab has certainly evolved from the early days, when I mainly talked about shopping conquests and things in my closet, and has gone through many iterations since. 8 years is a long time! I’ve changed, technology has changed, and the game has changed… I don’t want to be on the fashion blogger hamster wheel anymore. I can’t compete and I don’t want to. I’ve never been good at playing others’ games — only my own.
Plus, after gaining a lot of weight I wondered if I had anything to say. If I didn’t like how I looked in photos, and if none of my favorite clothes fit anymore, what could I offer?
New Dress, Old Ideas
Then I bought a fabulous dress. A dress that I jumped through all sorts of hoops (many of my own inadvertent making) to acquire. It’s a spectacular story and I couldn’t wait to tell it. And you know what? I’ve actually been thinking about stories a lot lately. I miss telling them like I did in the early days of this blog. The dress got me thinking, and I realized that I do have quite a bit more to say. In fact, here are just a few topics I can think of:
- how obsessed I am with Everlane’s GoWeave fabric, and how it used to be more common for clothing brands to devise and patent their own textiles
- my mixed feelings about companies like Everlane – I appreciate basics, a girl cannot live on basics alone
- my shopping conquests and my strategies for scoring deals
- the few things I have bought at full price and how they’re working out for me
- Rent the Runway – should I be renting my wardrobe instead of buying it?
- how ridiculous the fashion industry is, in that so much money is left on the table by people who don’t care about the bodies in their clothes
- lipstick. There’s a lipstick art project I’ve wanted to do for a couple of years now
- books! I recently (ish) read Gods and Kings by Dana Thomas. It was an affecting read, made even more so by having Savage Beauty (which I also have on my bookshelf) on hand for additional illustration. I take great pride in my collection of fashion books and I should talk about it more often!
- research: I have a research project about couture, fast fashion, fashion blogging and late stage capitalism. It’s slow going with a full time job and without institutional resources, but in my own way I’m making it work
- TV? I’m catching up on Game of Thrones and I will have so much to say when the 8th season airs. I also maybe finally quit the Bachelor, so that may or may not be a thing I’d like to talk about
- my FAVORITE topic, and one of the central themes of my Master’s thesis – the professionalization of fashion blogging, i.e., influencer marketing
- and outfits, when I feel like it
New Direction!
I’m excited to be changing my blog and taking it in this new direction: more stories! I’m working on a re-design too. While I’ve been dissatisfied with the layout for quite some time (and my theme is no longer supported), it wasn’t until I realized the kind of content I want to put out that I decided how I want it to look. The idea is to make it easier to find all the different sorts of stuff I’m writing about. At some point in the near-ish future (the next 3-6 months?) keep an eye out for some changes.
Now that I’ve given myself permission to have fun again, I think we’re going to have a great time!
Photo Credit: @BOTBW2013
Location: Soho
Clothing: Top – Banana Republic | Skirt – J.Crew | Shoes – Freda Salvador
What's your opinion?