Blogger Inspo pt. II

It's that time of the month! Well, er, I've only done this once and it was three months ago so... just ignore that first sentence. But it is that time where I look for other fashion bloggers to see what they're doing to get some inspo for my posts. Not copying, but observing that tiny detail that they put in that one post that got them 10 times (more like 1,000 times) as much traffic as I get, but more importantly, gain more interest because it's, well, more interesting. You got the whole spiel in the first infamous "Blogger Inspo™"  where I basically fangirled over the amazing Leandra Medine, or Man Repeller. If you've been reading my posts for the past three months, it's fairly obvious that she's my main source of inspiration (next to my own creative mind); I practically mention her name in every single one of my posts. It's been three months, Natalie. Get over her. Since that's never going to happen, it won't hurt to add an extra dose of inspiration from someone else, someone who is not on every fashion lover's list of favorite bloggers, probably because she's only 23 and doesn't live anywhere close to a fashion city. I give you...

Alyssa Lau. Ordinary People. The next it-girl from the sleepy town of Edmonton, Canada. 

Instead of discovering her through the masses, I discovered her while reading an article from the UO blog, which I hardly ever read but should start doing so more often because they discuss a lot of up-and-coming bloggers, musicians, etc. who would not be known otherwise. I started reading the article and fell in love in that weird blogger-crush way because Lau is probably the coolest fashion-girl I've read about in a while. She somehow was able to become relevant in the middle-of-nowhere Edmonton (I promise I'm not making fun of Canada, my dad was born and raised there) and even created her own shop called New Classics Studios, which is all about the ethical production of its clothing. She's only 23 years old, has a successful blog, and somehow created her own shop that promotes fair trade and all that social/environmental awareness that we don't see in other shops. I've only touched the surface, but based on these general facts, Alyssa Lau is a name the fashion industry should start to get familiar with. 

For starters, she has one of the coolest styles, like, ever. She's able to make the most out of the practically year-long-winter that she has to deal with in Edmonton by using her eccentric fashion sense to keep her warm while looking the lowest temperature of cool. She was even able to make sweats and converse look fashionable, which is definitely not included on my list of talents. She brings this mix of femininity and androgyny to her looks by pairing items like baseball caps or cool-girl sneakers with dresses and that chic bob of hers. Plus, she has a post dedicated to turtlenecks, so of course I have to love her. But it's not just the style that makes me want to be her, it's how she presents herself. Instead of being that robot-fashion-blogger (kinda like how I used to be) that spews out trends, she's relatable. She's unique. She's.... refreshing (I'm pretty sure I described Leandra Medine in my other post this way. Oops.). She's able to make herself like-able in about a paragraph or less, which I'm obviously unable to do (another talent of mine: the inability to stop typing). Instead of filling her posts with thousands of words, she fills them with dozens of quality photos that are arranged in a way that creates this unique aesthetic for herself. I didn't know it was even possible to make posts more interesting just based on the composition of photos, but she proves it to be. Maybe it's because she has her own personal photographer/boyfriend (goals, am I right??), but her strategies definitely seem to be working, at least for me. 

And finally, in the least offensive way, she makes herself ordinary, just like her blog-title states. Ordinary is meant in a positive way in this situation, because instead of being this hot-shot fashion blogger, she admits that she's just like the rest of us (but maybe a little cooler). Instead of being "tough" and wearing bare legs in the cold, she admits that she despises it, even though she lives in what seems like the arctic tundra. She even thinks that what she does [fashion-blogging] is really unusual, because even though it's getting more popular, it's still strange to say in your your resumé "career: fashion blogger". Instead of making her posts more formal than they should be, she brings this friendly, relatable tone to her writing that shows how she's always being herself. And I guess that's reassuring, because it proves how blogging is what she loves to do, not what she does to make a living. I guess we're pretty similar in that sense.

All photos are from her blog or lookbook

Also, I'm a year late to sign up with Bloglovin', but I finally got an account. Follow me  for updates on all my posts (or click on the new button on my sidebar, right below the follow on google+ button)!!

Another note: I'm also a year late to get a Twitter for this account. Follow here!!

Blogger Inspo

As a fashion blogger who has had her blog for almost a year (the anniversary is coming in about three weeks!!), it is my goal to make all of my posts completely original. That's also how I am as a photographer, and as a writer, and even when I put together my outfit for the day. I want to be original. I think everyone strives for that, but sometimes, it's impossible to say that there is no inspiration that led to the artwork, the writing, the post, or the outfit. Throughout the months with this blog, I've learned to become more original because I learned the gist of how to be a blogger. With new things, everyone has to use someone for inspiration to know where to start. But once you get the hang of these new things, new posts, new art, new writing, new etcetera all comes from your own creativity and originality. I depended on it for a while, but now, after (almost) a year, it's gotten to the point where I have occasionally run out of ideas. I spend a lot of my time researching fashion related things, like watching runway shows and reading articles from Nylon and Vogue, and this also includes discovering those fashion bloggers who have made it pretty big in the fashion and online world. A few months ago, this was Margaret Zhang, the one who runs Shine By Three, and through her, I realized I needed to broaden my topics to things other than fashion to gain more interest from readers (and myself). This next one is completely different, but she has been invited to practically every show in all of fashion month this year, and she's a name that people who don't even involve themselves with fashion know.

Leandra Medine. Wait, let me start that over. Man Repeller. That's better.

The first name is a little less unknown than the latter. And that makes all of the sense -- successful bloggers have a known brand, and their true identity may be only known by its longtime fans. Nonetheless, her quirky attitude and style, along with her humorous and even sarcastic tone, attracted millions of people. I may even call her one of the biggest independent fashion bloggers out there. And how did she make it this far? The fashion blogging world is a tough one, yet she was able to stand out and make it her serious career.

That's the thing -- she's different. Even when it comes to her oddly put together outfits (which I think are magnificent), she's able to put herself on top by being unique, maybe even shocking. And she's definitely not afraid of what people think of her. Her words ooze this fun, yet artfully careless attitude that makes me want to read every single article on her blog, and that would take ages. Her usually short but effective posts make me, and probably hundreds of others, want to be just like her. In every sense of the word. And I guess that's why she's so important in fashion right now -- she's refreshing. We need someone we can look up to when we want to throw stuff together (with artistic intentions) and call it fashion. 

Her cool and (probably) charismatic personality show through her writing, and a post from her about turtlenecks is bound to make me laugh (see here). I laugh in an intellectual and witty way, however, because she somehow knows how to appeal to an audience that makes fashion more than buying expensive brands. She knows exactly how to throw in a properly timed joke, how to skillfully place a few racy comments in a post about fashion, and finally, how to relate to us. Her brand name says it all. Why would a fashion blog be titled man repeller? How does that even make sense? Well, she explains it by defining it as "she who outfits herself in a sartorially offensive mode that may result in repelling members of the opposite sex. Such garments include but are not limited to harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls, shoulder pads, full length jumpsuits, jewelry that resembles violent weaponry and clogs." These few sentences explain how brilliant of a blogger she is because nearly every woman should immediately want to read more of her posts by just reading that definition. She's relatable, in the coolest and most intimidating way ever. Basically, she wants to shock others by her unconventional ways of fashion, and that sounds like the perfect way to live life, at least in my opinion. 

My Gratuity Towards Tavi Gevinson

It's been about 3 and a half months since I created this blog (at least my tumblr), so I'd thought I'd write something to dedicate my gratuity to the goddess that is Tavi Gevinson. I realized that she's the person who inspired me to actually get up and create a blog like this (I've always had considerations of doing it, but I didn't actually start until I saw her blog). The first time I had heard of her was only about a year ago -- I saw her in some pictures of Mae Whitman's on Instagram because they were in the show Parenthood together (Mae was a major character for the entire series,and Tavi was pretty minor, I think she was Haddie's girlfriend -- I stopped watching the show after a while so I'm not completely sure of the details). I didn't think of her again until last July, when my family and I were visiting Chicago and we wanted to see a play. We were looking through a list of all of the local shows happening in Chicago, and we immediately stopped when we saw one called "This Is Our Youth" that starred Michael Cera. Most probably know that show as the one on Broadway, but it used to be a show in Chicago inside a tiny theatre. We bought tickets mainly because my entire family loves Michael Cera (I mean, who doesn't?), but once I read the rest of the cast, which only also included Kieran Culkin and Tavi Gevinson, I recognized Tavi's name from Mae's photos. I thought she was solely an actor who was in her 20's, but in the playbook, it said she was only 18. After the amazing play, I was shocked to see a woman fresh out

of high school be so successful and talented at what she does, which was acting. I immediately followed her on social media, and soon realized that she was more than an actress -- she was a fashion icon (at least in my eyes), a successful blog runner, and the editor-in-chief of a magazine called Rookie, which I had never heard of before. Thus the obsession began, and I constantly got ideas from her unique looks that embody her identity and the awkward transition from teen years to adulthood. I later found out that she had been running her blog since she was 13, and that her blog is one of the main reasons that she gained fame so early. Her blog is now defunct, but that's because it transformed into Rookie Magazine, which she now writes for and edits along with a few dozen other people. Her story inspired me -- because she is so young and successful, I thought I could make a blog like her. Although my blog is not just like hers (her's is probably more personal, and mine focuses more on fashion than other aspects of life), I thought I could be like her. Maybe not just like her, but someone people look up to for fashion and everyday advice that all teens struggle with. Along with Rookie Mag, she creates a Rookie Yearbook, or a compilation of articles, photographs, sketches, and much more that are found on the website in a single year into a 350+ page book. I've wanted to buy the third one for a while now, and I finally ordered it and it came in the mail today. I've spent all day reading it instead of doing more important

things, and I'm only halfway through (remember, it's over 350 pages and is about the size of a normal yearbook), but never have I seen something so relatable and creative and put together in the most unique way until I read this. It's a book made for teenage girls, so all the images and articles are meant to attract our minds -- what we're thinking, what we like to see, what we need to hear. And it really did just that for me, and I'm not even done reading it. It makes me even more grateful towards Tavi, because she was able to keep her sense of her teen years into creating a book that only a successful adult could do. The fact that this woman is only two years older than me and she's already managed to act in a T.V. show, be on Broadway with two extremely successful actors, run a successful blog with thousands of fans, appear on the cover of many magazines, and be the editor-in-chief of a successful online magazine astounds me but it also inspires me greatly. Her work has allowed me to realize that I would love to work in the side of fashion that involves writing and editing, a place where I can use my free spirit to write about something I'm truly passionate about.