6 Reasons Why Blogging is THe BEST Outlet for Working in Fashion

There definitely are way more reasons than six that can be applied to why blogging is such a great way to be a part of the fashion industry, but you’d most likely get bored fast, so here’s a handful of essential reasons to pacify the notion. My life has been 100% consumed with fashion since high school, and I’ve tried a lot of different fashion-related hats for size, to see if I belonged in design, publicity, marketing, sales, or editorial. In recent years, there’s a new component added to the mix: digital. It’s such a magical word, as (at least to me) it has forward-thinking, futuristic leanings and uncharted possibilities, which nicely fit into the world of blogging. Don’t get me wrong, I learned so much about the work and fashion environment through my various gigs over the years, which have led me to appreciate these reasons as to why the blogging world RULES even more:

You Can Live Anywhere

It’s true! We are so connected via the internet that becoming resourceful and on top of the latest fashion happenings is easier than ever. There may be certain advantages of living in a larger city like New York or LA and blogging, but, on the other hand, there are plenty of disadvantages too. Living in a big, and most likely more expensive city comes with a higher cost of living, which means, let’s face it: it may be much harder to blog full time, and you may have to “do your time” working another career longer. Also, think about the euphemism, “being a big fish in a small pond;” you don’t need to feel like you live in the middle of nowhere and, therefore, can’t make it as a fashion blogger. It can certainly work to your advantage, and you may be able to become the go-to guy or gal in your geographic location for publicists and brands.

Your Start-Up Costs Are Low to None

There aren’t many businesses or industries that can claim virtually no start-up costs, which lo and behold, bloggers can!

If you worked as a designer, for a print publication, or a more traditional fashion industry job, you’d instead be trying to fund a Kickstarter campaign or looking for investors, as this would be downright impossible!

Instead, when it comes to fashion blogging, the biggest investment you will make won’t be a financial one, but more of an allotment of time, and although time is money, you can pretty much acquire all of your blogging tools for free, from web hosting to social media. It’s up to you if you eventually want to evolve and grow your site and to do so, you may want to buy a hosting plan and domain, a new computer or camera, etc.

You Set Your Own Schedule

I have a blogger friend who, in her “about” section of the site, says that she only responds to emails three days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so please be patient if you’ve sent an email. I think this is an awesome plan, which helps to manage when and what kind of work you get done, as well as expectations of those who want to work with you. If you don’t respond on the weekends, or only work on the weekends, that’s totally up to you; if you’re not a morning person and your day groggily starts at 10am and finishes at 7pm, good for you! Take advantage of the beauty of being your own boss, and when you punch that proverbial time clock.

You Deal with Who, and What You Want To

I’ve worked in some pretty toxic fashion work environments in my day, and although I am grateful for the experience, I’m glad to say a big “no thank you” to entering that world again.

The cattiness, coldness, blatant rudeness, clique-ish behavior that I’ve observed doesn’t feel like a place mentally and physically that I want to indefinitely spend 40 hours a week being around.

As a fashion blogger running your site, you don’t have to deal with this. Ever. Bye Felicia, to all of that noise!

In the elaboration of this concept, which leads to the next point, you won’t get pushed into writing about subjects that make you feel uncomfortable or comprise your morals in any way. You dictate what kind of content ends up on your site, and you won’t have to worry about being on the “sh&t list” if you say no, you don’t want to do something for ___ reason.

You Don’t Have to Sacrifice Your Integrity

Picking up from the last point, you can say yes or no to opportunities and advertisers; if something is off-brand for you and your blog, don’t be afraid to let the person on the other end know that.

Re-negotiate terms, or flat out reject opportunities that deep down just don’t feel right.

Chances are; you won’t regret it when you trust your instincts. I’m not saying that every other job in fashion may compromise your integrity, but when the only person in blogging that you have to answer to is yourself, you might as well make sure that you feel fulfilled and happy with your work decisions, and exercising integrity is a great way to get there.

You Can Work from Home

It’s totally acceptable if, not assumed, that many bloggers work from home. You’ve certainly got to be disciplined to do it, but it is a pretty fabulous perk of the job. Working in my PJ pants, an old baseball jersey and a hoodie while my cat battles my computer monitor for my attention rarely gets old, but, of course, there’s a balance to everything. You’ve got to shower, put on normal clothes and leave the house now and then to interact with other humans, and stretch your muscles, for fear of turning into a total recluse. All kidding aside, figure out your schedule as to if you like to leave and attend events or take photos in the morning, afternoon or evening, when your most productive writing self emerges each day, set a time to take lunch every day, etc, and stick with it to establish a routine and some “office-like” protocols in order to maintain an ideal mix and separation of your home life and work life.

Need more inspiration as to why fashion blogging is pretty much the best? How about the fact that you no longer need to be a model, actress, or celebrity to grace a magazine cover, as these three bloggers did on a recent issue of Lucky Magazine? Also, Jennine’s article on 5 Things to Learn from Fashionista’s Top 20 Style Bloggers also is a great read, along with…everything else here at IFB!

What would you like to add to the discussion?

(Image credit: Shutterstock.com)

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