Screen grab from www.highheelconfidential.com
Since I am presenting on consumption of class and the showing of fashion this week, I thought it might be a good idea to invigorate some discussion around one of the areas that interests me—the fashion blog as a class-leveler. While I am not exactly an ardent follower of even the major fashion blogs (Frugal Fashionista, Jezebel, The Sartorialist), I do devote a considerable amount of time on one blog in particular that chronicles the sartorial choices of Bollywood stars and Indian socialites, accompanied with an incisive, witty commentary –Highheelconfidential.com. Written by two Indian women, whose identity is restricted to just their first names (Payal and Priyanka) yet who have now been featured in just about every fashion magazine and mainstream newspaper in India, the blog has become the go-to destination for every fashion aware Indian. For the many celebrities who find their fashion choices ruthlessly dissected, layer by layer, on the blog, the only way to salvage an embarrassing write up (accompanied with full length photographs of their ‘unfortunate’ taste) is to ensure that the next public appearance redeems the previous debacle.
Blogging works as a class leveler on two accounts- one by according the blogger the right to free speech that extends into a democratization of the fashion space and two, by allowing just about anyone with an Internet connection to voice their (moderated, of course) opinion, no matter how tenuous their connection with fashion in their everyday lives may be. Geographical, ethnic and cultural barriers cease to operate with the Internet functioning as a giant playing field where anyone can come play anytime of the day (or night). While online blogging has opened up a delightful vista of fashion related media consumption for the average Internet user, the industry is not oblivious to the power inherent in this seemingly innocuous little interplay between writer and reader. An article published in a leading Indian newspaper describes the fashion industry’s response to bloggers:
“Those critics are bloggers, fashion bloggers, and they have helped redefine and indeed democratize the industry. Though the first fashion blog only appeared in 2002, a Google search today throws up more than 147 million results. One mention on the right blog can reach million of readers around the world who actively seek out new developments in fashion.
Bloggers are now so powerful that the Council of Fashion Designers of America included them in the voting process of the next round of CFDA Fashion Awards. Steven Kolb, executive director of the CFDA, told WWD that including bloggers was simply a natural progression on the council’s part as it attempted to stay current without compromising its legitimacy.
Perhaps the defining moment was when Dolce & Gabbana invited a 22-year-old web designer from Manila to a seat in the front row of their show last season. Bryan Boy started blogging from his parents’ home at the age of 17 and his eponymous blog now attracts 5,000 visitors a day. His fans often send in pictures of themselves in his signature pose – standing with hips thrust to one side and a handbag in an outstretched arm – and celebrity participants have included the likes of Marc Jacobs, who even named a handbag, the BB Ostrich Bag, after this new-wave star.
Jacobs invited another blogger, Tavi Gevinson, now 14, to his show at last year’s Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week. The Chicago teenager has 50,000 people following her blog, Style Rookie, which she began at the age of 11 – without her parents knowing what she did.”
Indian bloggers are not far behind with the country’s premier fashion event –the Lakme India Fashion Week –invites top bloggers (Payal and Priyanka above, amongst others) to be a part of the event and they, in turn, publicize it by posting pictures and reactions, always with their trademark brutal honesty though.
In context of the above, here are a few links you might want to have a look at before class:
www.highheelconfidential.com
www.bryanboy.com
http://www.thestylerookie.com/
Tavi Gevinson’s blog. Check it out, if not for the fashion content then for her (let’s just say very ‘unique’) style of writing… sample this-- “Givenchy was so rad”!)
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