When you’re a fashion blogger, you end up having to look at a whole lot of photos yourself, and let’s be honest, you’re not always going to like what you see.
These fashion blogger fails – for want of a better expression – might make you cringe at the time, though, but there are important style lessons to be learnt from them, if you’re willing to pay attention. Here are some style lessons we can learn from fashion bloggers…
// Outfits should look good from every angle
Ever noticed how some fashion bloggers only ever show you their outfit from the front? That’s sometimes just an oversight, or because they didn’t have time to photograph it from every conceivable angle… but it’s sometimes because they know it doesn’t look quite right from the back: they might even have had to pin it into place, or leave a button undone to make sure they get that perfect picture.
That might work for outfit shots, however, but in real life people aren’t just going to see you from the front – and when you turn around, you better believe they’ll notice that bulldog click that’s holding your dress together.
Tip: make sure you look at your outfit from all angles before you decide to wear it – in real life you can’t just hit the “delete” button on a shot you don’t like.
in real life you can’t just hit the delete button on a shot you don’t like…
// Always wear shoes you can walk in
If you’ve ever spotted a fashion blogger mid-shoot, you might notice the pair of flats stuffed in their bag, ready to be slipped back on when the camera stops clicking. While it’s true that some fashion bloggers really do wear skyscraper heels every single day (No, not everyone finds high heels impossible to walk in…), but others will wear them just for the photos, then change into something more comfortable to walk around in.
Tip: Again, this is all very well for a fashion blog, but in real life people will see you ALL the time, so it’s a good idea to wear shoes that are comfortable enough to walk in AND which look good with your outfit. It can be done, and you’ll look – and feel – a whole lot more stylish than if you’re trying to hobble along in shoes you can’t walk in, or wearing a beautiful outfit with a pair of scruffy old flats.
// Dress for the Weather
Ever wondered why fashion bloggers don’t freeze to death when they’re prancing around in bare legs and strappy sandals in the snow? The answer is that they DON’T prance around in bare legs and strappy sandals in the snow – they take a quick picture in the snow, so you can see their outfit (no judgement here, by the way: it can be almost impossible to get decent photos indoors in the winter, so sometimes you need to just suck it up and step outside for a few minutes if you want to get a good shot of that cocktail dress you’re planning to wear…), then they go back indoors and get changed into something more suitable.
While we understand why fashion bloggers do this, the rest of us actually WILL freeze if we don’t dress for the weather, and we’ll also look pretty silly wandering around with bare legs in the snow, or, alternatively, a thick coat in the height of summer. So..
Tip: no matter how much you love that summer dress or winter coat, wear it in the season it’s intended for. Refusing to dress for the weather doesn’t make you look stylish – it just makes you look a bit silly.
// Buy clothes that you’ll actually wear in your day-to-day life
We’ve all seen photos of fashion bloggers dressed to the nines, or wearing a ballgown on the beach or whatever, and while it does make for a great photo (which is why fashion bloggers do it, obviously), you can’t help but ask yourself where on earth she was going dressed like that?
It’s not just fashion bloggers who are guilty of doing this either: we’ve all had those moments where we’ve seen something we absolutely love, but which aren’t even remotely practical for our lives, and it can be all too easy to convince yourself that you’ll find an excuse to wear it, only for it to languish unworn in the back of the closet, while you struggle to find something to wear to work.
Tip: life is not a photoshoot. Buy clothes that you’ll actually wear, not the ones that you’d just LIKE to wear, if your life was totally different.
// Sometimes you need an objective opinion
One of the things fashion bloggers learn early on is that an outfit which looked good in the mirror can look totally different on camera – and not in a good way, either. It’s always disconcerting when that happens, and it can be hard to know which view is right – camera or mirror? They say the camera never lies, but that’s not actually true – a photograph captures a split-second of time, highlighting things the naked eye just doesn’t pick up on; meanwhile, we all know that some mirrors are more flattering than others, so who do you trust?
Tip: if you’re finding it hard to be objective about an outfit, find a trusted friend, and ask them to be honest. Sometimes the opinion of an actual human being is the best help you can get.
// Not all trends work for all people
When you’re a fashion blogger it can be hard not to get swept along in every new trend you see, and to want to wear the same styles they see other fashion bloggers wear. It’s important to remember, however, that not all trends will work for all people, and if something just doesn’t suit you – or you don’t actually like it/ feel good in it – you don’t need to wear it just to keep up with the Joneses – or whoever your favourite fashion bloggers are.
Tip: work on developing your own style rather than simply copying trends. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy a trend when it comes along, but only wear it if you genuinely like it: after all, fashion fades, but style is eternal…
