Bloggers & Body Image Brouhaha

[BattyMamzelleMember]

 I think when we surround ourselves by Yes-men all the time we forget that the world has more more sounds to it.

Well said Bella! A cursory look at the comments on IFB recently shows that the site has moved away from thoughtful comments, and services only affirmations of their point-of-view on a given matter. It’s disappointing, and it creates an environment that pushes thoughtful commenters out.

@Kaitlyn I know that I personally was DELIGHTED when I found BT through V’s twitter feed because it was addressing the issues that weren’t getting recognized at IFB. I actually participated in #TGIFB once and had to leave early because I couldn’t believe the sheep mentality being reflected by most of the tweets. And the condescending replies I kept getting in response to my dissenting opinions from whoever moderated that day really turned me off.

@Courtney Thank you for recognizing that part of the post. I actually added it in last because I realized that as bloggers we ALSO have a responsibility to promote each other and change the conversation. I know I haven’t been doing nearly enough to promote the blogs that actually DO reflect my taste and aesthetic, and it’s time I stepped up too. It’s not ALL on IFB.

@Lindsay I completely understand how difficult it must be to be in a position like that, especially when IFB’s stance in the past has been “they’re just  JELL-US” when it comes to criticism. I personally am very thankful for BT and the chats each week are AWESOME. It’s actual engagement instead of random interactions behind closed doors. When I first found IFB I thought I’d never be a success if I didn’t post outfits, so I did for a while. But then I realized that I DIDN’T WANT TO, and that was okay too, so I stopped. But no one at IFB tells you that, and I can’t for the life of me think of that last time they featured a blogger who didn’t. But to be fair, I stopped paying attention ages ago…

[Citizen RosebudMember]

And a call to action- let’s do it people! Step up and shine the spotlight http://www.thecitizenrosebud.com/2012/08/money-where-your-mouth-is.html

[Sydney Page LesterMember]

First, I want to say how excited (seriously) I am that so many people have moved beyond reacting to this issue and are starting to think about starting to do something!

Lola  – I agree with you – I had always loved the little blurbs IFB came out with, I thought they were so great and cute and full of insightful knowledge.  Reading what you all say though, It hits me that they were more like “fluff” pieces – throwing out a great topic matter, but making the content so short and sweet that it almost wasn’t worth reading.  That being said, I am truly interested in a lot of the topics they covered, I would just like more details, more depth and more interaction (and this is why I do Monday night #BlogTrends)

Kaitlyn – thank you for sharing Taylor’s apology (I joined IFB, but never really posted a lot or got involved – it didn’t seem to have the same interaction with the community as Blog Trends has – I mean, you tweet with me!).  I have a lot of respect for people who can openly say “I’m sorry” without any ifs, ands or buts and Taylor did just that.  I’m left wondering if J will issue an apology or if her open letter will stand?

Citizen Rosebud –  “And s***t, girl, I don’t ever want to “be featured” on a site that can’t take a few knocks and throw back some well aimed punches. Ugh. I think when we surround ourselves by Yes-men all the time we forget that the world has more more sounds to it.” Such an interesting take – Yes, I want, and I think we can agree, that we do’t want to be around Yes men all the time, but more than that, we want people that will stand up for their (well written and well informed) beliefs when they have them.  It seems that a  lot of times, most people spend more time apologizing for something they said or did because it was poorly thought out or written as a reaction versus a response.   Also – your call to action is awesome – because it’s not about self-promotion (which I can see was somewhat in my own solution suggestion), but because it expands the sense of community by sharing with others people we read because they truly inspire us.

Lindsay and others – thank you for pointing out the good things that IFB has brought.  If anything, it has showed us that we want, like and need community – but has also shown us the importance of what community really means.  I have been trying to comment more on the blogs I read as a way to support them, but that’s a departure from how I usually am – quiet and just content to read.  But even though I’ve never met you ladies, I believe that if we had coffee (or drinks or desert) we would all get a long and could actually say what we thought, disagree with each other, and still get  along.  That to me, is the true meaning of a community.

 

[Citizen RosebudMember]

The best thing about blogging for me was the connecting with and getting to know such a vast group of like minded people around the world. I lift my virtual coffee cup at you @sydneypagelester and company!

 

[Sydney Page LesterMember]

Re: call to action from Citizen Rosebud… I was looking through my blog roll to find some off the beaten path blogs and I could really only come up with three  on my blog roll that I loved and that I thought would be unready by you all (out of about 10-14).  Interesting no?  I really do like the style of a lot of the famous/popular/sponsored bloggers – because some do have very interesting and unique ways of styling and mixing (Think Sea of Shoes and Glamorai) – others can be bland or the same, but I do still keep tabs on them.  I almost feel as if I should take them off the blog roll, or feel bad for admitting I read them (ok, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Atlantic Pacific yes I do read)… So how do we come to grips with this in our own lives?  Because seriously, I’ve never seen anyone layer like Atlantic Pacific and while I don’t think I would dress like that, I just find it interesting to see what she will come up with!  Thoughts?

[Citizen RosebudMember]

Here’s where the convo gets sticky- I support your blogroll- whomever is on it- and there IS a reason why the big fish are big fish- people respond to them. The challenge is for our society, and within ourselves to EXPAND what we respond to – in terms of beauty/ideals etc. Quality comes in all forms, sizes and shapes, and that includes the size of success of a blog. Kudos to you for having a variety of tastes- I don’t read the big fish regularly because I’m the type of fool who spends waaay to much time trying to support the little peeps and I have too much time spent reading them any how. Overwhelmed with blog reading- need to cut back but that’s the trick- WHO should be “top tier” but aren’t? That’s who I’m asking each of us to promote. Forget about the corporate sponsors that pay them- who can add value to the style conversation going on in our day to day lives? Let’s talk about them!

[Sydney Page LesterMember]

Ok, good answer.  That gets me thinking in a whole new light.  Who should be top tier because of their true talent?  I get inspired by girls/women like myself – wearing clothes that I know I could wear because they haven’t filled their looks with “c/o” or labels that I do love but don’t/can’t buy unless I’m eBaying or luck up at the thrift store.  So… who inspires because of their talent?

[Kaitlyn PierceKeymaster]

@chicstripes I don’t think there is anything wrong with reading the existing “top tier” blogs at all! I don’t think we need to pull away from these blogs in order to support new ones. Many of these popular blogs are popular for the reasons you mentioned. I think that instead of being so focused on these blogs we need to take time to expand the things we are reading and find some new people that inspire us.

@citizenrosebud I agree with that! We should take the time to discover the top tier quality blogs in the sea of blogs and help the ones that we don’t see as top tier understand what we want to see more of. The point of our community is to help everyone improve, that is why we created the critique board. It’s there to help those that aren’t getting the feedback they need to grow and reach new audiences or just appeal more to their existing audience.

I think just by starting this train of thought we are well on our way to making some changes in the community as long as we can all commit to continuing to do this. What do you think?

[Citizen RosebudMember]

For me these people qualify as “top tier quality”

http://clothescamerasandcoffee.blogspot.com/

http://helgavontrollop.blogspot.com/

http://stylecrone.com/

http://www.waynetippetts.com/

Why are they not as famous as Fashion Toast, Bryan Boy, The Sartorialist, Sea of Shoes? For me, they reek of quality, original and inspirational style. Roz is going to be famous, I’ve not doubt about that – she’s gorgeous as well as talented, and white and thin- and young so she’s an up and comer. Wayne should be as famous as Scot Schuman seriously not sure why he isn’t.

Judith and Helga, maybe it’s just me- but i eat their style up like candy and their blogs have actively impacted my attitude of style for sure. I think the whole world should read them!

[Kaitlyn PierceKeymaster]

@citizenrosebud maybe you can start a thread where you can post these and we can collect some from others. Then we can all use it as a reference for new reading material and inspiration. It would also be a good place for us here at Blog Trends to find bloggers to feature when we find enough volunteers to help with that much content.

[Sydney Page LesterMember]

A new thread would be great because this is delving into new conversation territory, but it would also just be great to be able to post our favorite deserving top tier blogs.  I had never read any of the 4 @citizenrosebud mentioned and I often find myself trolling existing blog’s blogrolls because I’m bored of what I’ve been reading.

[Citizen RosebudMember]

Here’s the new thread! http://www.blog-trends.com/forums/topic/the-best-top-tier-quality-blogs-youve-never-heard-of-share-yours/

[LindsayMember]

Re: @sydneypagelester and @citizenrosebud ‘s convo about expanding your view of beauty. I want to share my personal experience. I was raised in a town of 2,000, 99% of which were white and Christian. That being said, I was never satisfied. I was bored and uninspired. I would go to neighboring town’s bookstore to get foreign fashion magazines, National Geographics, and photography books. I knew there was more out there. It was Kevyn Aucoin’s Face Forward book that really touched me by seeing so many different types of women (and men), all just so beautiful.  There was so much that I wasn’t being exposed to in my present situation.

Right now, that’s the best analogy I have to the current blogging situation.  We’re so sheltered and we’re being force fed blogs of a certain type because that’s the environment that’s been set in front of us.  Like @Sydney, we need a call to action.  If diversity of all sorts if important to you, go seek it out.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but finding a good blog is HEAVEN for me. I love finding a new point of view, a new style, and a new methodology. I think we all need to put on our adventure hats and go hunting!

[Cameron MiquelonParticipant]

Jennine appears to have calmed down since the last time she personally addressed this issue, for what it’s worth: Jennine Jacob’s Apology to the IFB Community.

[CatherineParticipant]

I just joined Blog Trends tonight, but I know I’m meant to be here, because it started with the whole IFB debacle.  I’m not a true fashion blogger, but do write about it from time to time, and I thought joining IFB would help me connect with other bloggers like myself.  (I should mention that I’ve been  blogging since 2008, but recently moved to self-hosting on WordPress and committed to writing more seriously at the beginning of the summer.)

So, I joined IFB at the end of July and was inundated with all of the friend and “Will you check out my blog?” requests.  I did meet some very nice people and started following some great blogs, but I didn’t feel any sense of community at all.  And then the article and open letter came out, and I felt like I had to take down my IFB badge from my site, out of disgust and embarrassment.  I didn’t get to read the original article, but I think I was more shocked by Jennine’s letter and her truly defensive replies to the comments.  That just rubbed me the wrong way and appeared so unprofessional, in my opinion.  Plus, most of my fellow IFB members look nothing like the women Taylor described in her piece, so both women were just alienating themselves from the entire IFB community.  I also tried posting comments on all three pieces, and none of them were ever published.  I thought that was odd, considering that I said nothing that would even be construed as “bullying.”

I read a few fashion blogs, but my very favorite is Wardrobe Oxygen by Alison Gary, and she mentioned Blog Trends, so here I am.  Even though I just joined, I’m so impressed already with Kaitlyn’s help and the responses I’ve read on the forums.

My body image issue is a bit different than most, and I wrote a post about it on my previous Blogger site, before the IFB drama even began: http://walkingwithcake.blogspot.com/2012/07/not-just-another-pretty-face.html

I’ve been hesitant to feature pictures of myself in the past, but I’m so inspired by the beautiful bloggers of all colors and shapes, and that gave me courage to tell my story.  I’m excited to be a part of Blog Trends and I can’t wait to learn from my fellow bloggers.  This place just feels like the right fit for me. 

[Author]

Posts