Fashion is Passion

Wild Parties. Cocktails. Travel. Rooftop photo shoots. Free clothes. The life of a young, successful fashion blogger sounds like anything but work. Commuting from a magazine event in France to an interview in Germany is simply another day on the job, a part of the excitement that comes along with turning a hobby into a career.

Many college fashion bloggers get their start with only a handful of readers, if any at all, but they do it because they love fashion, and they want to share that passion and their personal style with others. Some fashion bloggers are more low-key and mostly post OOTDs (Outfits of the Day). On the days they have time to put together a delicate or sexy outfit, whatever their attempted look is, they get their aspiring photographer friend to take pictures of them to document the ensemble.

For many blogs, these photo shoots are an opportunity for the fashionista to show off their best outfit combinations and for the photographer to come up with creative shoot concepts to add to his/her portfolio.

Blair Eadie, a blogger based out of San Francisco, Calif., updates her blog (atlantic-pacific.blogspot.com) roughly once a week, showcasing her lavish wardrobe. During an interview with collegefashion.net, she confessed that her boyfriend takes most of the pictures.

“My boyfriend was more than happy to help me and without him the blog would not exist!” Eadie told College Fashion.

Her style is quite upscale, but she is a merchant for a high-end retailer so it’s appropriate for her job. Eadie pieces outfits together to emulate a girl that looks like she just walked out of Manhattan in 1952, equipped with a pearl necklace and an intensely teased bun hairstyle. Although her style seems unattainable for women on a budget, this is not the case. In fact, Eadie buys the majority of her clothes from typical clothing franchises available throughout most of the U.S. and Europe including: Zara, J. Crew, H&M, Forever 21 and more affordable online shops like Topshop and ASOS.

“One thing I love about fashion blogs is that they prompt you to think outside the box. They share wild, crazy ideas and outfits that work,” Aziza Sheppard, sophomore communications major, said.

Julietta Kuczynska is a 25-year-old fashion guru living in Warsaw, Poland. Her blog, MAFFASHION at madamejulietta.blogspot.com, has quickly become one of the most followed personal fashion blogs in Europe.

Kuczynska does not organize her blog like Eadie does. Instead, she goes for a wider variety of fashion coverage. She does not only post her most recent photo shoots, which are more unconventional than Eadie’s classical approach. She also posts “fashion inspiration” pictures which are a conglomeration of random photos she finds while scouring the internet via other fashion blogs and Tumblr.

Kuczynska gets invited to a lot of swanky parties, so many of her photos are just of her and her friends hanging out, staring sans smiles into the lens of a thousand dollar camera. She may be the definition of a wide-eyed, urban hipster, but her fans depend on her to provide them with some guidance, or fashion faith, if you will.

“Their readers become more fashionable through the tips, ideas and secrets on trends that they publish on their blogs,” senior communications major Jenna Tinney said.

Fashion blogs do not necessarily serve the purpose for their readers and subscribers to mimic their exact outfits, although many bloggers list clothing items’ brands and give links to the brands’ online stores, so that is certainly a possibility. They encourage others to get creative with piecing similar outfits together.

For instance, a blogger might model Americana shorts that are from an obscure online boutique (oftentimes that the boutique sent to them for free, hoping the blogger would wear them in a shoot and give their business free publicity). Instead of purchasing those shorts, they might also offer a how-to guide on making a similar, DIY version of the shorts.

“Fashion bloggers can be helpful to college students because they show the latest trends… For example, high-waisted, studded and lace shorts,” Tinney said.

It may seem like such an effort just for the sake of clothes, but blogging is truly a network of stylists coming together to spread the love of style and originality. If a blogger  affects another person in some way, that could be the tipping point that pushes that person to follow their dreams within the fashion industry. Or to simply rock a pair of combat boots and an oversized sweater to psychology class.

Natalie Hicks can be reached at natalie.hicks@theminaretonline.com