Thursday, April 03, 2008

Fashion Blog History

Dear Hubby and I met with our friends Pat, Kaye and Chico at The Met last Sunday for this:

Which was a special event organized by The Met's Costume Institute. I have to say, I was awestruck by the presence of these famous fashion bloggers in one room...

Do I really need to identify them? I am pretty sure these faces are familiar by now...Oh well anyway, from left: Cathy Horyn of The NY Times' On The Runway, Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist, Diane Pernet of A Shaded View on Fashion and host Harold Koda of the Costume Institute.

I really enjoyed this panel discussion on fashion and blogging, and like an eager student, I diligently wrote down notes as each speaker talked about his/her blog. Some interesting tidbits I saw/picked up...

- Diane Pernet was a striking vision in black, dressed like a grieving Spanish widow, albeit with bloody red lips and dark sunglasses indoors, her hair teased to the heavens and her dark flowy mantilla following her like a ghost
- Diane's blog has 15 contributors, from New York, Los Angeles, Mexico, to Kuwait, Mumbai, Sao Paolo and Tokyo
- She prefers intimate meetings with designers to attending runway shows
- Scott Schuman described himself as "the straight kid from Indiana who wanted to be in fashion". Then added humorously, "...typical story."
- Scott started out The Sartorialist without revealing his true identity, "So that if other people found it (the blog) stupid, they wouldn't know it was me..." Wow, he went through the same phase of self doubt as me! Difference is he's over it, and I'm still pretty much hiding under a cloak of mystery hehehe!
- He wrote and took photos the way Anthony Bourdain wrote for other chefs, he did it the way designers and fashion people looked at other people, not as a total outfit, but at the subtleties that make the outfit work (in my own words, I didn't quite catch everything)
- His wife once asked him, "When are you gonna make money out of this (the blog)?" Ahh, same question I hear from Dear Hubby! As I spend so much time with MFO! Wow, I'm sure his wife is now mighty pleased at how her husband's blog found a life of its own!
- He didn't plan for the blog, he just let The Sartorialist take him where it wanted to go
- If you are wondering why his photos have become better June 2006 onwards, he attributes it to better equipment! He said he started investing in better equipment around that time. Then again, he's always had an eye for inspiring photos...
- Cathy Horyn, the NY Times journalist, started out her blog August 2006, same time as me!
- The idea hit her as she was watching the Emmys
- Her blog was a venue to say something that doesn't necessarily have to make it to the papers
- According to the panelists, a big part of a successful blog is how strong the personality of the blogger is. He/She should be able to create the right kind of format/forum and shouldn't try to appeal to so many people, lest the blog fall into the "corporate blog" category.
- That means to say, ignore the haters and love your blog posse no matter how small it may be. The panelists say that while certain posts have proven controversial, with heated comments being tossed back to and fro, the blogging community sorts it out in the end. So don't be afraid to personalize your blog as much as possible. As we've seen in the Philippines, with our love for intrigue and passion for hysteria, its better to be controversial than to be considered boring right?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Diane Pernet = iconic!

I love her blog as well! :)

Anonymous said...

hi. wow you saw Diane? She used to be my teacher back in Paris. Actually she was my favorite teacher. Should have told you to say hi from me. i believed (kapal ba?) i was her favorite student that time as well. She's really terrific! You don't have to publish my comment. This is Anna, of stylepod :) Remember us? I'm the French Muse. Anyway, i still visit your blog from time to time. Love reading about your fashion finds. Unfortunately, we haven't been updating ours due to our busy sched.

Ok keep up the good work. Take Care!

The French Muse

Anonymous said...

I remember Diane told us before that when she was covering the London Fashion Week back in 2003, I think she went home late in the evening. She was crossing the road, then all of a sudden a car, with full on brakes, came screeching by, almost hitting her. Poor driver, she said she thinks the driver thought he saw a ghost :) haha that's Diane for you. Even at night she still wears her shades...even while she teaches.

TFM

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