Friend Friday: I can do anything you can do better.

Here and there I have ranted a little about fashion blogging and the general world of the blogger. But lately I have hit one of points where I wonder where blogging is going. The atmosphere seems to be more about promoting oneself to the nth degree than producing good content. And I do know several writers that are complete exceptions to this theory. What kind of world would it be if I was right all the time anyway? Katy Rose, a blogger with a lot of insight, created a great platform to suss out the open ended questions that exist in blogging. Rose is one such blogger who I admire for doing her own thing and saying her own thing. She created FBFF for bloggers who want to speak their mind. Below is this week's questions to get the juices flowing, sort of speak. I decided to move Fashion Film Friday to Monday so that you could get a weekly idea of how I feel about this wonderful world of blogging we love so much.

Me at Joe Squared in 2010. Photo by Lynley Bernstein.

1. Have you ever looked at someone's blog and thought yours will never measure up? When I started blogging I was intimidated. Even two years ago there were so many bloggers doing what I wanted to do but better, or so I thought at the time. I started slowly through trial and error and I think I am still learning how to portray my own voice in the blogging world. I am the biggest fan of Susie Bubble because she doesn't make bloggers feel intimidated but instead welcomes anyone with a healthy opinion. That is rad.

2. Do you (did you) feel pressure to meet some kind of undefined standard for fashion bloggers? Sometimes, even now, I feel pressure to have advertisers and take pictures of myself in "cool" clothes. But those feelings get squashed when I realize that all I want to do is create discussion about fashion as well as digital and print media. There were always be uncertainty about what is popular because that is often how the media works. To get your ideas heard people have to be listening. Alternatively I am happy with my intelligent readership.

3. Many established fashion bloggers are also extraordinary DIYers, bakers, and crafty people. Do you think you need to combine all of these things to be successful at blogging? I think that it is difficult to combine all your passions into one format and I respect those that do. However I don't think you have to be a Jane or Jack of all trades to be successful. The important parts of blogging are the ideas of the blogger. The talents of a blogger are amazing too and add to the value of the blog. Slowly I am working on photography, videography, and essay writing. I think blogging has helped me with these passions and given me an outlet to practice and gain feedback.

4. The most successful blogs are the ones that have their own personal voice - how are you developing your voice or how did you find yours? This is such a heavy question. I developed my voice once I noticed no one discusses fashion blogging and designers for the most part. I wanted to look critically at designers, magazines, blogs, and have fun with it. Only recently have I posted outfit posts which are fun too. I want to approach fashion critically but with a positive attitude. In the future I want to open more discussion to my readers which is why it is important to think about what I post. Since the holiday there has been a sort of slump on the blog due to the fact that I did not want to produce content that was both lacking and false to what I believed in.

Almost two years it has been since I wrote my first blog post. The process was that of elimination and trial and error. I did not want to do what others were doing nor say what everyone else was saying. I also knew that I couldn't completely re-invent the wheel. It is a little nerdy but once I started following the popularity of fashion film and started working on my media studies major at uni I discovered another way of thinking. This has been a been a difficult voice to keep up with as digital media is always changing. It could be argued that digital media changes faster than fashion, it is incredible. And this is what I want to push myself to discuss in the future.

5. Toot your own horn... what's one thing you do that is unique to you and your blog? What gives your blog an edge? Since I am totting my own horn I would say that my newness to examining fashion and blogging critically makes me unique. The edge comes in my approach. Critical thinking doesn't have to be stuffy and uncool! I am the friendly sherpa through which readers can explore the complex facets of the fashion world from different perspectives.

Life is beautiful, let's share a little. 

Joy D.