Vogue’s take on fashion blogs
Features | Michele Obi | December 5, 2006
The heading above comes from an article in this months Vogue UK regarding the phenomenon of fashion blogging, which I was beside myself in excitement to read. What a breakthrough for fashion bloggers to be recognised by Vogue as a legitimate form of media! However a couple of paragraphs into the article and I just became plainly disappointed at the incorrectness of one particular fact and opinion.
Author of the article Linda Grant cites the Manolo as the first fashion blog to hit the blogosphere and continues on to claim that it is the prototype from which fashion bloggers struggle to keep up with.
“Not Manolo Blahnik, but his namesake, an anonymous New Yorker who knows everything about shoes.
It was my first and indeed the first fashion blog- the prototype from which all others struggle to keep up.”
As a fashion blogger, I felt slightly insulted, for myself and for the other fashion bloggers who do not blog in the hope of becoming as commercially successful as the Manolo and therefore do not view the Manolo as a prototype to struggle to keep up with but rather as a fellow colleague whose wit and talent is admirable.
Secondly it is inaccurate to name the Manolo as the first fashion blog which Grant says began on October 16, 2004, as My Fashion Life began in 2003 and No Good For Me – my first experience of a fashion blog – has been on the circuit for even longer.
The rest of the article gives a little insight into why fashion blogs are becoming read by fashion lovers, the motivation behind the blogs and the bloggers of The Bag Snob, and the Manolo, and an indication of their blogging income.
A copy of the scanned piece is below, what do you guys think?
Ehh, dont’ take it seriously. Reporters get confused all the damn time about fashion blogs. Things will get included because a reporter is bad at research, only explore this area of the blogosphere, yada yada yada. I have learned to ignore the pieces. I still have to give interviews of course but for the most part the “omfg fashion blog” article is mad old news. We are here and fashion reporters aren’t very good at reporting on it or coping with it.
Hmm…yes it is a little behind the times. I mean the Manolo, bless his heart, has not really been keeping up with his blog for the past 3-4 months. I think the columns he’s writing are sapping his energy a bit.
The model of 1/2 go fug yourself and 1/2 shoewawa is a pretty good model though.
I think the point of the article was to point out blogs that the writer likes. The traffic numbers are completely irrelevant.
I read the article and maybe the reporter got the “hits” and “page views” confused. Plus who cares anyway. Why is there so much hate out there? Bag Snob and Manolo are two of the funniest and greatest sites out there! Don’t be jealous my pretties, your turn will come….
Just to clarify, my post wasn’t written out of jealousy, it was because I felt a part of the piece was factually incorrect. Bloggers are highly criticized and are not viewed as credible partly because their facts are not double checked, therefore apparently we are more likely to get our facts wrong.
I just thought it was ironic, that someone writing about blogs, didnt get their facts straight first. Aside from that the rest of the article was fine, and I agree, bag snob and manolo deserve much love!xXx
Hi MIchelle, I was not directing the jealousy comment towards you! It was directed at Marty. He seems to know a lot of numbers so perhaps he works for a competing blog? It seems mean to be making up stuff about Manolo (who is always a gentleman) and Bag Snob (such a fun site). Bloggers have had a long road to legitimacy and it seems to me that they should be nice to each other. Writing this venom just shows the world that we’re unprofessional. I have a beauty blog and frankly, I am thrilled that other blogs are getting the recognition they deserve (and everyone knows journalists know nothing about unique visits, page views, and hits). Your site is one of the best out there and we wouldn’t be here without you! I Love MFL! xoxo, S
Aaahh thanks so much Sabrina, I can’t help but smile, everytime a reader shows appreciation for the site. It really is a lovely feeling
Whats the url for your beauty blog?
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