By Virginia Boswell
The decision to start a blog can be a huge, life-changing step or a quick, fun project. For many young bloggers, it starts as the latter without a thought to the possibilities a blog can bring or the creative way it can show off their personal brand.
As the fashion industry has stretched its perfectly polished, ring-clad fingers into every aspect of social media, a trend has emerged when it comes to hiring the next “it” girl in the business. No longer is it necessary to have intensive summer internships in New York City to get a foot in the door. Tech-savvy girls are capturing the attention of the industry through online blogging.
A local Dallas blogger, Bradley Agather Means of “Luella & June,” had just that experience. Blogging recreationally without formal journalism training, she built a following among the fashion-minded. Agather Means was eventually sought out by “FD Luxe,” the fashion magazine of The Dallas Morning News and is now a fashion editor.
“I follow her blog every day and totally trust her fashion sense and knowledge,” said Caroline Hafner, an avid fashionista and past intern at DVF. “I am more inclined to read ‘FD Luxe’ because she is an editor there.”
A blog as a resume: Is it too good to be true? For women like Agather Means, amazing job opportunities have literally fallen into their laps, or their blog’s inbox, as companies have pursued these women – often based solely on their ability to post fashionable pictures with short, quirky excerpts about favorite trends, online sales, and up-and-coming stores that readers “just have to check out.”
SMUStyle editor and chief Schuyler Mack said she hopes to make herself more marketable both through her work with the fashion blog and her personal “foodie” blog, Devouring Dallas.
“I already have an in with the foodie world. Now I am hoping to gain acceptance into the fashion world. I am really in-tune with local happenings, and think that is so important for your blog’s audience and to attract local companies,” Mack said.
Bloggers have created their own voice and dedicated following over the few years that blogging has become a real aspect of the fashion world. Where in the past the world of fashion seemed distant to the average woman, bloggers have brought an easy-to-understand version of the ins-and-outs of the industry to the comfort of your computer screen. In this sense, the voice of a blogger has become almost like the voice of a friend, one that many women listen to every day.
Brooke Reagan, of Brooke du Jour, said her fashion blog is her brand and she pushes it daily.
“My strong online presence helped me secure my past internship with Marie Claire and my current internships at ‘Rent the Runway’ and ‘FD Luxe,’” Reagan said.
Reagan explained it is very important for bloggers to put thought into each post, making sure pictures are sharp with well-written copy especially for future employers to see.
Blogger hopefuls can now see that hard work can pay off, and that creating a strong voice and personal brand can demand attention from all corners of the fashion industry. Why use a resume when a blog is an inside and intimate look at the fashionista herself?
