TOP ASOS (runs small in the bust) | COAT Wander + Lust | CLUTCH Nordstorm | LEGGINGS Plush | PUMPS Louise et Cie
Yes I said it. What no one tells you about fashion blogging. Everyone either thinks you run a glamourous life and they are envious that you always look like you are wearing the hottest Saint Laurent bag of the season or they think you don’t have a job and have no clue what you do. My dad was the latter. He’s a retired lawyer, he had a great career. When I first told him what I was doing back in 2014 he didn’t get it. But I had a full time ‘real’ job in real estate so he just looked at it as a hobby, which at the time it was. I started fashion blogging full time in 2016, and then finally, he got it.
I am like you sometimes, scrolling through instagram, reading other fashion blogs and think wow, this is unbelievable, she’s so lucky. But there’s a lot of things I wish I would have known before starting this. And I am not writing this post to discourage anyone, because I love it. And I want you to follow your passion if this is it! I self taught myself everything and sometimes I wish I knew all this before I got started. I recently got my real estate license in New York because I kind of missed the old career I had. I’m never going to stop blogging, but I just encourage everyone to follow their passions, wherever that leads them, and that was my first one. Which brings me to my first point of what no one tells you about blogging.
IT’S NOT A GET RICH QUICK BUSINESS
Do it because you love it. Not for money, to travel the world or become an instagram star. I started my first blog, It Girl Weddings, because I felt like I had a voice, not an expert, but a voice. I wanted to share and build a community to help other lost brides and find modern trends to help them. It takes time to learn how to build a website, set up your accounts, connect with brands and build a following. I made like pennies my first year, literally, especially with the minor set up costs. Start your blog as a productive hobby that you love and then see where it takes you. Make sure it’s a topic you are passionate about because you’ll be talking a lot about it!
PEOPLE ARE MEAN
From comments on your instagram or blog to brands telling you that you are not at the same level. You need to have thick skin. Take a breather before you respond, be the bigger person. Either respond, or delete the negative comment and block them. You don’t need the bad energy.
FASHION BLOGGING IS EXPENSIVE
Especially fashion blogging over other types of blogs. You CONSTANTLY need new clothes. New outfits to style daily. Say you wore a scarf once, after your readers have seen it, they never want to see it again. It’s yesterdays news. They’re over it and want to see what you will wear next. Sure you’ll get some things for free in exchange for posting and possibly income later on as you grow. But a new outfit everyday is expensive.
YOU NEED TO KEEP YOUR STANDARDS HIGH
Just because you are a fashion blogger doesn’t mean you have to stick to that lane. You can work with really any type of industry, think dog products, cars, home improvement, food, kids, travel, lifestyle, etc. This is great but you need to keep your standards high and not accept everything that comes your way. The WORST email I ever got early on was from a company that wanted to pay me to post. I’m like great! But then they said they wanted me to promote their cookie brand, which was to send cookie crumbs to your ‘crummy’ friends. How ridiculous is that?! If you don’t keep your standards high and only work with the brands you ACTUALLY like and want to wear or products you want to use, your followers won’t want to follow you any longer. Your following will no longer like your brand, your outfit or believe in the products you are promoting.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST
Every blog post, every instagram post you put out in the world is a reason to keep following you or to unfollow you. Everyday I get followers and lose followers.
NO PRIVACY
I get recognized on the streets of New York, at the airport… etc. When you put your life out there, it’s out forever.
PEOPLE THINK YOU DIED IF YOU DIDN’T POST
Sure it’s nice to have people caring about you, but sometimes you just want a vacay or to take a few days off, or actually enjoy your dinner with friends rather than posting or instagram storying it. This brings me to my next point.
IT TAKES OVER YOUR LIFE
You are CONSTANTLY trying to create fresh, interesting and quality content, rather than just living and actually enjoying the moments in your life. It’s hard to take a break, or turn it off. You basically work 7 days a week. It is more time consuming than it looks. In this post I talked about what fashion bloggers do all day.
YOUR INSTAGRAM DM’S AND EMAILS BLOW UP
You will get a lot of positive follower feedback, business opportunities, questions and advice. But when you have a public account, you are subject to anything really. I have received inappropriate pictures and offers.
YOU HAVE TO COME UP WITH CONSTANT CONTENT
This might not sound hard, but coming up with compelling content everyday can be a challenge. Some days I wake up and have no idea what I want to write about. Other days I’ll wake up randomly and feel inspired to start writing at 3am. I find it’s helpful to work on something else when I don’t feel inspired to write and work on other things like social media, emails or backend website work.
THE HOURS CAN BE WEIRD
I always tell people to try to set a regular schedule, like post Monday-Friday. But some days I’ll have all day events or meetings, other nights I go out with friends. It is a blessing to be able to make your own hours, but try to stick to a schedule that works best for you.
FASHION BLOGGING CAN BE LONELY
Working from home or on the road is amazing, but it can get lonely not having coworkers or having someone to talk to all day. Attend fashion events, connect with other bloggers or work in coffee shops to get that human interaction.
YOU NEED TO LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY
Instagram has very high standards for having high quality pictures. Sure you can hire a photographer to take your pictures, but if you want better quality photos of your flatlays, interior photos, travel pictures, etc., you’ll want to learn photography, specifically how to shoot in manual mode.
POSTING PICTURES OF YOURSELF YOU DON’T LIKE
Most people post only pictures of themselves they think they look good in. But as a blogger, you need to post outfits you shot with your photog that maybe you feel like you don’t look your best in. I feel like out of 50 pictures, I only like maybe one of myself, but I post it anyway to share my outfit with my following.
YOU NEED TO BE PROFESSIONAL
Some people who have never had a boss before may not understand the importance of being professional. Respond to emails in a timely manner, over produce for brands, follow up with them to ensure they loved your campaign you did for them and respond to every email, even if you don’t want to work with them, politely decline the campaign or event.
FASHION BLOGGING CAN BE DISCOURAGING
From getting rejected from brands, to realizing your instagram or blog analytics are not growing, or even worse, declining. Focus on putting out continual quality content. And if you still aren’t growing, try changing things up a bit. Or even poll your followers, “what would you like to see more of?” They like you because you have an authentic voice they relate to. So give them what they want.
IT’S NOT ALL GLAMOROUS
Especially with instagram, people think you live a picture perfect life, but that’s not reality. Most of the time we are in front of a computer, writing posts, doing SEO, responding to emails, etc. There have been some days (more than I’d like to admit) where I haven’t gotten out of my sweats until dinner with my friends.
IT’S CONSTANTLY CHANGING
This goes for most things in life, the world is always evolving and getting better. Fashion is constantly changing, even Fashion Week has changed tremendously since instagram came out for ‘ready to shop’ fashion. When I started street style was the thing. Now it’s more lifestyle fashion pics that seem to be getting the most attention. Tomorrow it will be something different.
I hope you all find this helpful and if you have any questions, please feel free to email me! I encourage all of you to follow your passion!! Just wanted to give some insight from my experience in the industry.