Blouse - Thrifted from the Salvation Army
Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village
Boots - Some sports store
I still read my old favourites, as well as some new loves, but I have to admit that I'm losing interest in most others. My list of unread blog posts in Bloglovin is up around 150 and as I scroll through the titles, so few of them pique my interest. I feel a little guilty, because I started following them all for very good reasons. The women are bright, intelligent, creative, stylish, caring, friendly, inspiring... and I can't help but feel like I'm missing out. Yet I still don't read the posts.
I'm no less interested in style - I enjoy clothes now on myself and others more than ever - but I am less interested in the rampant consumerism and commercialism I see everywhere. It's almost impossible to read style blogs without winding up on a clothing website or scrolling through the shoe sales pages somewhere.
It really bothers me seeing young women being sent items from companies, to the point where their outfits are entirely comprised of 'care of' items. Most of them are too young to realize they're being used as free advertising. The pittance spent sending out pairs of shoes or tops saves companies thousands of dollars in formal advertising. And those 16-17-18 year olds have no clue, neither the ones wearing the items, or those happily eating it up and running out to buy more of the same.
Too often I'm also seeing fat-shaming, and an obsession with weight loss, becoming thinner, overly-expensive beauty products and well... just lots of things I disagree with and dislike. I support creativity, stepping outside the box, being a unique individual with different tastes, diversity and an open mind. Go take a stroll through any large mall though, and people look like clones of each other most of the time. I think the kicker is when I see someone wearing an item I was looking at in a store, but dismissed for being cheap, overpriced and mass produced. Moments like those remind me why I thrift and buy vintage.
I guess what I'm getting at with all of this is that, for the most part, I've moved on to another stage in my life, at least blog-wise. I'm more interested in content about emotions, self-love, desires, sex, life challenges, goals, health, exercise, food and eating habits, and things that add to my life. And while it can be nice to get a little outfit inspiration, I'd rather read something that inspires people to do something greater, be it starting to exercise regularly in a healthy manner or to stop thinking negative thoughts about our bodies.
If any of this stuff sounds like something you would like to start reading about (and if you follow Sal's blog, you've probably seen some of these before) here are some of my favourites. I really think any woman can gain from the voices of these strong female writers.
I've been putting off going through my blog list and cleaning things up, distinguishing what I really really love from what I just feel meh about. Reading blogs should not be an onerous chore and until I get that done, it's going to feel that way. I really hope some of you do check out these blogs, they shone light on a lot of things for me. I wish you all a super awesome weekend. Cheers!
6 comments:
First of all... I love this outfit on you. What great and intense colors! And the pattern is gorgeous.
Now that I got the fluff out of the way, I definitely hear you about blog taste development. A lot of the blogs I followed early on just weren't quite right for me. These days I follow a mix of self/body love encouraging blogs, plus style blogs of real people who thrift a lot, and also love self-declared feminists.
I think I need to go through my reader and get rid of some blogs that just kind of annoy me. If I wouldn't be your friend in real life, I probably shouldn't follow your blog, ya know?
(Just to be clear, I will definitely keep following THIS blog :) )
I can totally understand where you are coming from. I have been wanting to add more real-life content to my blog but have been unsure if other people would be interested. Reading this post made me realize that the reason I created my blog was to have a space that was all mine and somehow over time, I lost site of that :( Time for some blog revamp.
So that blouse is fantastic. the color looks great on you and I love that the sleeves are a different but somehow matchy print. Great find!!!
You have a lot of insightful comments in this post. For me, my work deals a heavy dose of reality and seriousness so following fashion blogs is a form of temporary escapism into a simpler, more superficial world. I make a clear distinction between the glossy/website-as-advertisement types which are simply candy for the eyes and a source of inspiration, and the 'real' blogs that I actually connect with. I'm happy you're still dropping by to comment on mine; I promise you'll never see your taboo subjects on mine!
I used to follow more fashion/style type blogs. Now I mostly have feminist and photography blogs on my google reader. I am looking for some more personal blogs I can relate to though, I want to regularly share comments with a circle of people. :)
Kait
Hello Celynne -- thank you so much for recommending my blog. I'm honoured to be included in such good company.
I'm looking forward to getting to know you -- there's a surprise in your hotmail inbox ... xxx
I am totally with you on blog content. Lately I've found myself removing a lot of style blogs from my reader because they've started to seem too vapid. I appreciate when a style blogger can not only put together interesting outfits, but write meaningful content as well. And they don't even have to write deep posts all the time for me to stick around - as long as someone posts something with substance every once in a while, it will keep me coming back.
You may want to check out the blog Eat the Damn Cake - she's an amazing writer, and usually her posts are about body images/beauty.
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