Graffiti with Punctuation

Graffiti with Punctuation

So lately, I've been connecting with other fashion bloggers and visiting their blogs.  Let me tell you, these bloggers are awesome.  I mean, they seem like and look like normal people, however, Patrick Demarchelier must live at their house...and they have photo shoots....everyday...with makeup artists...and possibly lighting apparatuses.  Maybe Grace Coddington is there too, getting the most out of the shoots.  I have no clue, but it's possible.

All this reading and networking has led me to a question, "Am I really a fashion blogger?"  I don't know.  While I would like to upload my daily looks, I am camera challenged (my 5 year old whom is an amazingly better photographer than I am, also has a lust for breaking things...and my LG phone is...well, a piece of garbage). Furthermore, I just don't know how much available time I have during the course of a day to pose, and then, of course, photoshop my flaws away! (I am no different than Madonna; we all need a little re touching!) 

My dilema is, I am young enough to have a blog but I am old enough to know better.  A thousand self taken shots in my latest looks is nice for me and family, but for cyberspace?  I don't think so.  While I would prefer to stay self employed, I do not want to ruin my "employability", either.  (Yes I make words up and put them in quotes. )

When I see fashion bloggers (who are my age or older, mind you) posing in their front yard, in their laundry room, at work,  or on the street in their daily outfits...I kind of cringe.  (okay, I laugh really hard and then cringe) I don't mind shots of your favorite outfits...but every day? (and Patrick really isn't taking the pictures?!)  It reminds me of my 16 year old niece's Facebook page with all of her self shots...with two fingers up....the jersey shore lip poke...head cocked to the side...the infamous booty shot...the crazy bathroom mirror shot...Well, you get the point.

It's kind of cute when my niece does it, I mean she IS in high school...but a grown woman? I don't know about that.  To me it reeks of, "grow the {insert expletive here} up".  But hey, that's just me.  

So what am I to do?  It seems that the prerequisite of being a fashion blogger is, exactly what I loathe and on a good day, deeply suspicious of.  I am a  30 years young, self employed mother with a passion for fashion but with the common sense of a 70 year old.  No jersey shore mouth pout shots in my foreseeable future; and while my son is a remarkably talented photographer, I don't want to get in the habit of waking him up before school to take my picture.  Something seems odd about that.  I have one of the most glamorous mothers in the world, but I don't remember her asking me to take pictures of her for her look book.  I'm just saying!

Additionally, while I am addicted to fashion, I also enjoy reading, politics, science, art, philosophy, kung fu  flicks,travel, history, gourmet food, technology, documentaries, and Avatar: The Last Airbender (the cartoon, not the movie).  I say all that to prove my interests are varied.  While nothing compares to finding a vintage Dior at a reasonable price; or buying a Louis Vuitton bag from Louis Vuitton, or the sway in your hips when you know you look good, or the look in the mirror you give yourself when your make up is flawless...it's only a part of who I am.  (Albeit a major part!)

Fashion is not my life, it's a part of my life.  It's how I non verbally express my individuality; it's how I make myself feel better on bad days, it's what I do to turn my husband on or drive him crazy when he gets the bills. Yet, I have a whole life outside of fashion pursuits...and a great one at that.

Recently, on one of my blogger networking sites, I came across a particularly snarky blogger.  She was attacking other blogs for whatever reason (I saw a disturbing trend in who she was attacking, but I'll leave that alone).  Like the bleeding heart I am, I spoke up for those bloggers.  After a little online banter, I realized the girl was young.  Very young!  She had no experience in life yet, but thought she knew everything.  (You remember how that is!  "Youth is wasted on the young"-George Bernard Shaw)  Her blog was mediocre, but she does have an incredible eye for fashion.  What she is lacking, however, is common sense...and decency. Yet, she is definitely classified as a fashion blogger.  I am pondering if I am interested in being lumped in the same category with her or others like her.

My encounter with this young woman also made me realize that she feels what she is doing is life changing.  I also have a sneaking suspicion that other fashion bloggers feel the same way.  I have never been so full of myself to believe that.  What I am doing (and they are doing too, even if they don't realize it) is entertaining and hopefully inspiring.  I am sharing a bit of information, hopefully in a humorous and stylish way. I have not fed anyone, clothed anyone, cured anyone, sheltered anyone, nor stopped a speeding train with my blog.  I mean really, what I do is little more than graffiti with punctuation.

So where does that leave me?  How do I define what it is I do?   Maybe fashion blogger is too narrow a term to describe what I write about.  Especially if fashion blogger just means taking a whole bunch of pictures of myself and sharing them with the cyberverse.  When I look around at other fashion bloggers, I am always left wondering where do I fit in this world?  Yes, I mostly write about fashion and cosmetics, but I haven't developed the Devil Wears Prada sneer and attitude yet...so does my lack of (dare I say it) bitchiness snobbery exclude me from being a fashionista?  Could I be too intelligent?  Okay, I am reaching with that one and being a bit snarky.  I admit it.

I really don't know.  I don't have all of the answers...I'll just keep stroking away at my mighty keyboard, until it finally makes sense...or until some other fashion blogger x's my name out and writes their name on top.