“From models to bloggers to It Girls, the constant stream of gifted shoes, bags and sun-soaked, carefree faces clogging up your Instagram feed can sometimes make you (if you are not a model/blogger/It Girl) forget why it is you work crazy hours for tuppence in an industry that, at least on the outside, appears to only favour the famous.”


The aforementioned extract is taken from a recent article published on I-D online by Courtney Iseman, which explains why she finds the “It Girls” of instagram an insult to the fashion industry – here’s my response.Fashion Consultant and Casting Agent

Dear Courtney, 

Here’s the thing about the blogger “It” girl to which you refer – she hasn’t just stumbled into success, she’s worked hard to get there. You see most bloggers don’t post a few pouty instagram photos and then “SHAZAM” they have thousands of followers and Versace’s taking them out for an espresso machiato in Capri. No, most bloggers, work a 9am to 5pm job or are enrolled in full time education – their blogs (at least initially) are what they do with their free time. They too have “long days behind a desk or on set” and “fight to get ahead in the business”, but when you go home for a glass of vino with your mates, most bloggers are sitting at their laptops churning out articles about “five ways to wear Birkenstocks” free of charge for brands or publications. Why are they doing it? “Love for the clothes” just like you.

Like others in the industry, bloggers are incredibly proactive and dedicate hours to their craft – they’re stylists, photographers, pr professionals, digital marketers, writers and website builders in their own right – not bad for a twenty-something girl if you ask me. With no relevant experience under their belts, they create robust social media strategies that gain them all those thousands of followers you talk of. Most bloggers don’t have brands knocking on their doors to collaborate. Most of us bloggers are tirelessly contacting PR agencies and brands to partner with them. We email every fashion publication in the business offering our services free of charge to better our credentials so that one day we might be paid – not in bags and shoes, but in cash (wouldn’t that be nice!). Yes, we get free stuff – Hell some of us get free designer stuff, but those of us that do are a fair few years into our blogging careers by then and have worked hard for that recognition.

We deserve to get paid for our profession. We have impressive readerships, which we present in media packs that rival those of national magazine titles. Those media packs are created in InDesign or Photoshop which we’ve self taught ourselves to better our professional offerings. The blogging veterans might get $5000 for an instagram shot, but I can guarantee the majority of us are not getting paid those kinds of figures. What’s the going rate for an advertorial in Vogue these days, hey? The “It” bloggers are at the top of their careers and deserve to be remunerated accordingly. 

Facebook and Instagram are all about showing off – I don’t think we can hold the blogging community entirely responsible for that. Luxury fashion is all about aspiration and if you envy the girls with the expensive, albeit gifted, handbags then someone’s doing their job right.  With hard work and determination (like you say), I hope one day I write like Susie Bubble, interview like the Man Repeller, style like The Blonde Salad and shoot like Park n Cube – their instagram accounts inspire me every day.

Best of Luck,

Sophia (an aspiring It girl blogger)

x

 

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  • Jaclyn
    http://www.bumpkinbetty.com

    Hey Sophia,

    This is a great post and I love your response – very witty! I agree that bloggers often get a bad rep and no one seems to understand the time, effort and work that goes into maintaining a blog. In this case though I feel the journalist is less blogger bashing and more criticing the ‘curated lifestyle’ world of Instagram. Although I definitely fall victim myself to the appeal of the ‘styled shot’ and the likes which come with it, pairing my new shoes alongside a pink peony and such like, in some ways I do miss the simplicity of when instagram was just that – an instant update of whatever we were doing at that point in time. It’s wrong of the journo to group ALL bloggers in the ‘super-celebrity’ blogger/ celebrity/ IT girl tag as that is such a world away from the lives of the majority of bloggers out there. If we think about it we can only really think of a handful of bloggers that are achieving those heights, and as you say it’s come through years of hard work so why deny them it. Knowing how large the blogging community is however, that can only mean that there are a lot of people out there not reaching those heights at all and doing it simply for ‘the love of fashion’ or beauty/ interiors/ photography and so on.

    Great post, really enjoyed reading it and as a blogger who juggles this with a much more than 9-5 freelance career, I can relate to all.

    Jac
    http://www.bumpkinbetty.com

    July 16th, 2014 14:36
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    • girlinmenswear

      Hi Jac,
      Thanks so much for your comment – it’s great to get feedback (as you know!) and also hear from other bloggers who feel the same. I think instagram serves many purposes – the “personal”, where you update your friends with what you are up to – and the “branded” which is all about the curated. I certainly follow a mixture of the two. We bloggers work hard at what we do and deserve recognition for our efforts – I look forward to following your work, and thanks for checking out mine. Soph x

      July 18th, 2014 10:22
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  • Jefferson Pires
    http://www.schoolboycouture.com

    I couldn’t be more proud of you right now! X

    July 16th, 2014 19:11
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  • Jen
    http://www.jenelectro.blogspot.com

    I’m very glad you wrote this witty reply back.
    I read that article mouth agape – could not believe the nonsense Courtney was spewing .
    Journos need to stop blogger bashing, painting us all with same brush.

    x

    July 18th, 2014 13:56
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    • girlinmenswear

      Agreed! Thanks for the comment Jen, much appreciated. Love, Soph x

      July 20th, 2014 19:08
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  • Ifeoma A
    http://styletagged.wordpress.com

    I can’t say how much I love this post!!!!!!! You just totally said my mind 😀 great post.

    August 21st, 2014 21:07
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    • girlinmenswear

      Glad you agree – we’ve got to club together us bloggers! xxxx

      August 22nd, 2014 8:15
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