We Need To Talk About Blogging

Hiiiiiiii. Guess what? It's this blog's first birthday. Time flies, dunnit? I know that it's customary to have a lil' celebration, and pat yourself on the back and wotnot, but actually, I'm not really sure there's much to be patting about. Instead, I'mma do a big auld reflect-a-thon on what this year has meant. (Stay with me...I promise faithfully it won't be too snoozy...well not as bad as a 1D post anyway!!)

First off, CHECK.THESE.PICTURES. Lolz huh? They're from pretty much exactly a year ago. I remember just being so excited & in a huge frenzy & super-keen to take lots of pictures of ALL MY CLOTHES, ALL THE TIME. Actually, I would totally wear all these outfits now. I love looking back at stuff like this and thinking "Jeez, look at my patchy fake tan!", "Whatever happened to that blouse?" and "OMG I got those biker boots in GapKids for like £15!". 

I guess I've gotten a touch more daring in my outfits looking back. A bit more pure fashion, maybe. So, from what I've seen on other blogs it's the done thing to thank everyone who has followed & commented over the year. And oh-my-gosh....how amazing is it when someone does actually take the time to do that? So thank-you lovely girls :) I realised pretty early on that I was never gonna be a "successful" blogger as such....and in any event how does one measure success? Thousands of followers? Dozens of comments? Tons of page views? Adverts? Stunning layouts? Gorge pictures? Well...yeah...all of those :) So it's kinda obvious that I'm lacking in all aforementioned categories! But even if you have NONE of the above....should you carry on blogging? Or should you just say to yourself  "I'm clearly shit at this, time to throw in the towel"? Thing is, I'm not a competitive person. I'm 100% the least competitive gal you will ever meet. And I think you have to have at least some of that spirit to "do well". Maybe.

(Just throwing in another picture at this point to keep things moving along visually. Look how much a good camera & a good camera lens can do for you! This was taken at the end of last summer and you'll probably easily clock the Zara-ness of it all. I know what you're thinking....if she can take a 'quality' picture like that...why can't she take them all the time? That's the difference between a good photographer (ie/ not me)...and a shit photographer (ie/me).

So, what's been GOOD about blogging? Well, for me it's being creative. That sounds a bit wanky, but I still can't get over how you can be stylist, art director, picture editor and writer, like, whenever you want! Pinch me!! Having worked at magazines the last thing in the world I would ever wannabe is a fashion editor/assistant/stylist. If your idea of fun is putting together a prop kit, steaming clothes, breakfasting with PRs, booking models who don't show up and sending couriers all over LDN...be my guest :) But the freedom to actually make editorial decisions is like...double-wow....as so much of magazine life is filtered through everyone else -managing editor, deputy editor, Miranda Priestly, subs, lawyers, until eventually nothing of what you intended remains. *Giles Coren Toys Outta Pram Face*. 

And also....what's good is....I love connecting with girls who get excited about the same things as me, like a dumb-ass nail polish, or a new shoe. 

(Throwing in another piccy here, also from last summer....working the whole Mary Berry look...ugh corn-beef legs...which are now about twice the size.....double-ugh).

So, what are the BAD things about blogging? Well....I don't wanna go too heavy on the negative vibes here but, let's face it, there's tons of stuff that's more than irksome. Firstly, it's super-exhausting isn't it? Especially if you never get sent clothes, and you have to haul everything (Hark! I hear the world's smallest violin); and if you have to shoot on the street, and everyone stops to look at you, and asks you what you're doing, and you have to swerve your neighbours, and get up early on Saturdays & Sundays coz that's the only time you've got, and you have to pray it's not sunny, and that it's not freezing, and that you've remembered to charge your battery, and hope you don't look fat, and that you don't close your eyes and pull a stupid face in every frame, and that you get at least something in focus, with no cars or joggers or dogwalkers in the background. (Shall I breath now?) And well....most of time it's the last thing I feel like doing. Which is probably a very good sign I should give up, right? 

And well.....I didn't realise that blogging was so dog-eat-dog really. And that you kinda have to whore yourself out all over the place to "get yourself known". I mean I couldn't admire girls more who post on Lookbook/Chictopia/Chicisimo/Asos/Fasholista/Pintrest/Look/WIWT/TIW/A Million Other Places I've Never Heard Of like, EVERY.FREAKIN'.DAY. I mean, how do they do it? Where do they find the time? Not to mention Tweeting and Instagramming the shit out of everything. But I just hate the ruthlessness of it all (I know what you're thinking...she's just bitter...let's buy her a pint of Murphy's....cheers, thanks, don't mind if I do!). Which brings me to the worst of the worst.....the mentality of a follow-for-a-follow. I think this stuff is basically symbolic of LIFE. You either have a generous spirit or you don't. You either wanna ruthlessly get on, or you don't. I did get to that point where I was like "If one more Swedish teenager mugs me off and pretends they wanna follow me when they don't (and won't) I'm having a hissy fit, deleting this MOFO and going back to what I really love to do, which is read Harry Styles Tumblrs all day and eat biscuits". 

Instead I'm still here whining :) 

And, well, I'm interested to stick around for the end of Google Reader or GFC or whatever the heck is being deleted/changed/stopped...just for the...you know...lolz.

(So, lets's just throw a final piccy in here to keep tingz a bit less wordy....again from last summer, non SLR (obvs), in those Primark trousers that everyone had...yada yada yada).

So, in summary, thank-you for being nice (those who were/are), sorry if I prattle on too much, sorry for putting things on a downer (if I did) and....er.....have a nice weekend :) xx