What's out there?

When Fashionality presented their pitch, it was interesting to receive multiple feedbacks and concern that the idea of the backstage of fashion blogging has already been explored (if not over-explored).

So what's currently out there, and how is our feature going to differ?

Because there are so many variations of blogs, websites and features that claim to explore this similar topic, this is by no means an exhaustive list of what is out there on the internet. However, we can already come to a few conclusions form this list:

1. These features often have different ideas of what makes a successful fashion blog.
2. The features also have different means of exploring the idea.
3. Some features focus on an in-depth exploration of a niche part of a successful fashion blog.
4. The features are targeted at different audiences.

Here are the top three features and websites that I examined (among others):

1. Independent Fashion Bloggers

IFB has grown to be a renowned online community for fashion bloggers to share their ideas and tips on how to develop a successful blog via articles and forums. A section of their website also explores the Business of Blogging. While there are certainly benefits that comes from the articles being written and shared by bloggers themselves, I find that there is sometimes a sense of illusiveness and lack of detail and specificity that leaves the reader none the wiser about how to improve or monetize their blog. On the other hand, their interviews, such as the recent article, 'Tips to boost your blog business: what you can learn from Nasty Gals' success', should be noted when we develop our own feature as they really attempt to bridge the gap between the fashion industry and the individual blogger. Our feature must find a unique perspective from IFB.

2. Grit and Glamour: Build a Better Blog

One idea that I am immediately drawn to when I saw this site is the idea of having Vlogs to explain the intricacies of building a better blog. Our feature will also explore the use of images, videos and voxpops to get our ideas across. One way that our feature will differ is the amount of research rather than personal opinion that we will obtain. I appreciate her interview style in this article to get her point across but I'm disappointed to find out that she was answering her own questions. As Fashionality feature writers, we cannot claim to have authority or expertise on the topic.

3. The Business of Fashion

The main disadvantage of this site to Fashionality's target audience is that BOF is a UK-based site. While the internet transcends geo-national boundaries, Fashionality must necessarily cater for a more Australian-based audience in its exploration of Australian as well as overseas brands. Any attempt to avoid addressing local firms or local issues facing fashion bloggers would render our feature to broad, vague, and therefore probably unhelpful. BOF is a prime example of how the feature has chosen to focus on a niche area of fashion blogging - the business. Unlike BOF, however, Fashionality will not be focused on delivering fashion news to readers but will have a more analytical focus on the fashion industry and the place of fashion bloggers within it.

Photo by Francesca Teng

Fashionality

Fashionality will aim to take an original approach to exploring how to improve fashion blogging, not purely from a business-model perspective, but by considering as many of the different viewpoints of the fashion industry as possible. There are many facets of a fashion blog that appeals to the fashion industry but none of these facets seemed to have been explored in depth and in a critical and analytical manner, yet delivered to the prime fashion-blogging audience of young adults aged above 16.

The above existing features, however, does provide inspiration in terms of layout and the tools that we can utilise to produce an attractive and attention-grabbing feature for our readers.