Join the Club

How today's female power house bloggers inspired me to begin writing my very own fashion blog.

I have a confession to make, throughout my teenage years I developed a habit of going to great lengths to ensure I was never photographed in the same outfit twice. It started when I began going to clubs with my friends on the weekends. Along with our fake I.D’s, we would bring along our cameras and chronicle our “look” for the evening. I carefully choose outfits for every club outing, and would hit up the mall the day before for a new shirt or halter top. I wore what I now call “disposable clothing” because it was so cheap and flimsy it would either fall apart after one wash or cease to be appealing after one ware. Over the years I thankfully grew out of this phase of partying till the break of dawn and wearing short skirts, but never got over my fear of being caught, or god forbid photographed in the same outfit twice.

Last spring while Facebook creeping I noticed one of my friends had “Liked” a page belonging to a cute looking fashion blogger, the page was The Chriselle Factor. I had never previously read her blog, but the beautiful shots of Chriselle in gorgeous clothing and AMAZING shoes definitely caught my attention. I spent several hours on her blog checking out her outfits and reading her posts and I quickly became a fan. Ever since that day I maintained a steady list of my favourite fashion bloggers and have diligently read their blogs single every morning.

The source of inspiration for me was how these young ladies (they are all MUCH younger than me, and very successful mind you) had a steady stream of amazing outfits that they concocted by incorporating and recycling key items from their wardrobe several times over. They were doing what I had avoided for years and looked fabulous and flawless all the while. Their message to their readers was to invest in better quality items that can be worn over and over and over, to be true to yourself and not a slave to fashion trends, and to put yourself out there and always exude confidence, for me this was impossible to ignore. 

Furthermore, if they could wear the same pair of Current Elliot jeans 5 times in one month and still engage thousands of readers with every post, then so could I. This wasn't where I decided to start my own blog, but rather where I decided to be more creative in the way I dressed myself and the items I purchased. These young women who own the fashion blogs I read have a daily message to be confident and love yourself, and I fully approve.

The turning point was when I discovered The Man Repeller aka Leandra, the quirky, well dressed lover of layers and self deprivation, not to mention insanely talent writer became as I am sure she has for many other girls out there, a role model and someone who I wished I could be friends with. It’s obvious this chick is well educated and super confident and for me that was the most inspirational blog I could have discovered.  After several months of laughing my ass off to her every word I decided to begin my own blog. 

Having survived 7 years of University and post grad studies I luckily came out with what I believe to be a semi-decent writing style and ability to put my thoughts down on paper. Writing had always been a favourite past time of mine and was my favourite element of all my schooling. Having a blog and using it as an outlet to express my thoughts on fashion seemed like a no brainer.

Sometimes fashion and women are not taken seriously where intellect is concerned. I maintain that fashion shouldn't be taken too seriously, but women; we should be. These days, a well-dressed woman doesn't necessarily equal an intelligent woman but sadly, an image of a woman dressed to the nines, hair and make-up done often brings on stereotypes of a ditsy, self-centred girl who only cares about whether or not you noticed her new pair of shoes. While I do love shoes there is much more to me than that, and there is much more to every woman. Judging someone based on the way they dress is a critical mistake I believe a lot of people make on a daily basis. I can now chalk up my obsession with never wearing the same outfit twice to a simple lack of confidence. As a teenager this is typical, but some adult women struggle with confidence issues their entire life, and that’s just not cool.

Some fashion blogs are really awesome at drawing attention to these issues, while also throwing in some shopping tips, fun collages and funny stories, and that is precisely what I want my blog to be. I started my blog three months ago and didn't tell a single friend or family member because I was afraid of having my writing judged, but when I finally let the world (the Facebook and Twitter world at least) know that I had been putting a ton of effort into my little blog it was worth it. 

Last week I read an on-line article that focused on “exposing” all of the events in which Kate; the Duchess of Cambridge re-wore and recycled an item from her wardrobe. Apparently she wore the same trench coat three times over the past year, which I found to be humorous because like most of you I am sure, I wear the same coat every single day from November to March. What does it say when we are obsessed with picking apart Kate’s every outfit, so she wore the same coat twice, you've got to be kidding me? Royalty, they are just like us! Young women need positive role models who are going to tell them to ignore this rhetoric and just be themselves. Not everyone can afford 365 trench coats, and while Kate actually can she also chooses not to. I believe this is something great she is doing for today’s young girls who are watching her every move and trying to emulate her in any way possible. My support for this kind of thinking about fashion is precisely why I own this blog, and hopefully also why you are reading this :)

And in case you are wondering why exactly I chose that particular picture for this post, the short version of the story is that red dress was purchased for a friend’s bridal shower this past summer, and was then re-worn to another bridal shower last month, yup, I believe I have overcome my fear, and yes I was photographed at both events and there is a trail of evidence up on Facebook. 

~ This post was written and submitted to IFB as part of their IFB Project #87: Why Did You Start Your Blog?  ~