The crash of the Fashion Blogger Inc.

It happened and from the lips and the fast typing keyboards of the most commercial and ad-driven of fashion magazines, Vogue US. I'll leave this commentary of why I have this opinion on the magazine for later, because the point here is that through an article on The Guardian I have found out the news and the drama that ensued.

4 US Vogue fashion editors (who I follow on IG and admire, because honestly I have always wanted to be working at Vogue, overall) during Milan fashion week, called out fashion bloggers as:

pathetic
trolling
desperate
heralding the death of style
get yourself another business
sad women in borrowed clothes
distressing


#sorrynotsorry

But first, some factors cannot be ignored. 

There's always the generalization that hurts, because it's like "if you want to cook Italian, just add garlic to everything" because hell, no.
There are girls (and the Brian Boy guy) that have built empires and they have worked hard at it, and they pay taxes, and have collections of shoes or whatever under their name.
It must be taken into account that those same fashion editors have been flown into exotic destinations, invited to scrumptious dinners, gotten discounted runway looks. 

HOWEVER, these guys are all stylist, influencers, YouTubers, TV personalities, designers, in other words, the gods of fashion's Olympus. I can't help but wonder, if there have been different professional figures in the business for ages, now all of a sudden some social media fashionista can do it all? 
This needs a little bit of inside knowledge, but, to use the equestrian world as an example, the farrier is not the polo player and although they work together, the farrier will not even be considered to substitute a jockey, or a nurse a plastic surgeon. 

They appear as a swarm, sit front row, snap selfies, Snapchat (used as verb here), post Instastories of the entire runway to show they are indeed frow-ers, get out causing pandemonium, get snapped by the street-style photographer, change and 1) do it allover again if they are the top; 2) go home because they were only lucky to get one account. 

L e t m e a s k y o u "where's the style here?"

The collections are presented not for the crowd in front  of the venue, but to give inspiration of the moods of the next season. 

Do they even read the notes of the designer, like fashion editors do?

Are they obliged by contract to uhhh and ahhh no matter what or they'll be without a job?

Do they have an opinion, know how to formulate one and read through the looks, like fashion editors do?

I barely see a blogger at a re-see, which is when the day after you go to the showroom and get a close encounter with the whole collection, look by look on mannequins, so to hear it from the words of the artistic director, to touch and feel the fabrics, the details, the nuances, the accessories, the story. Like fashion editors do. 

 

OPINION: MY OWN

1. It's a practice that brought to consumerism and conesquently the polluting and un-ethical plague of fast fashion;
2. Lack of self esteem:  they all look flawless, impeccable, thin and invisible size and you are pushed to look like them;
3. they don't have their own style, they wear what they are either paid to wear, post and bring engagement up on or are gifted in exchange of posting and bringing engagement up, double perks if they are snapped by street photogs;
4. they have brought ridicule to the world of fashion, degrading the work of the designers to the It bag or It shoe;
5. they are the reason why I never introduced myself as "fashion blogger" although I blog about fashion and style, I am far away from all of THAT

Where would you find this topic in THE CHEAT SHEET OF ITALIAN STYLE? Everywhere ... but if you want me to be specific, I'd start from Chapter 1 - "The Four Keys to the Italian Way"

How to live with style wherever you are

I was selected to take over the blog section of CreativeMornings/Miami, our city's chapter of a worldwide community of like-minded creatives who gather one Friday morning a month. 

This is an ambitious one you guys: the topic of my book concentrated in 5 posts and 1 city, Miami.

Now, don't you even think you will not be buying the book when it comes out, but what I wrote is just enough teasing.

Go ahead and scroll down, click, read, choose and pick what peaks your curiosity, but more than anything answer this: got to the comment and write YES or NO to the following statement

"We don't follow trends, we set them" 

How to live with style in Miami: the neighborhood

TAKE AWAY: stay away from the limelight, don't follow the sheep. 

The closet swap

TAKE AWAY: it's a thing

A summer in the city, that is, when you don't live in NYC nor you spend the summer on vacation, what us commoners do to keep it Haute. 

TAKE AWAY: pretend.

How to be Italian (wherever you are) 

TAKE AWAY: luxury is a state of mind.

 

How to keep up with Fashion, when you don't live in a fashion hub.

TAKE AWAY: You can take the girl out of Fashion, not Fashion out of the girl. 

DON'T FORGET TO ANSWER: are you team #wedontfollowtrendswesetthem YES or NO

And the Hamptons of Rome is ...

 

Let’s see: Rome is not on the coast, it has its own beach though, Fregene, as remotely close to the Hamptons as Jersey Shores. But just drive a bit north, a bit south and sail a bit west and you ARE where the Hamptons were invented (sometimes I speak “Mean Girls”).

In a radius of 100 Km. you find Capalbio and Orbetello, Porto Ercole and you go south and you find il Parco del Circeo, Sperlonga (way more south), Ventotene, and with Gaeta and Ponza I mean WOW. I actually think that Ponza could really be its Hamptons. And to give you a hint of the splendor of the beaches, the sea, the seafood, thesunsets, they are on the Mediterranean, same as all the places that the Roman Emperors had selected as their summer residence, like the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, the Eolian islands. 

Now let's read  the article on W Magazine where they tell you that the Hamptons of Rome is Puglia and have a thing or two straightened up:

  1. Puglia is a region, not a city or a neigborohood, it's like Lazio, the region where Rome is. Same as Tuscany that is the region where Florence is. So when you are in Florence you don't "also go to Tuscany" because you already are in Tuscany.
  2. Italy is shaped like a boot and Puglia is the “heel” which lands its beaches on the Adriatic sea, not the Med and there’s a sea of difference, pun intended.  
  3. In other words, it’s like saying that the Hamptons of New York is Georgia, that is, nothing to do.
  4. Distance from Rome to Borgo Egnazia is almost another plane ride. 
  5. After some investigation, because I had never heard of that place before, I found out that's the place where Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel got married. 
  6. NOW you get it. 
  7. Rule n.1 of vacationing in Italy: do like the locals do.

Not saying that whatever they are promoting isn’t gorgeous, spectacular, romantic, chic and all, but it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

On this same wave length:

WHAT TO PACK FOR AN ITALIAN SUMMER

Tank + shorts + flip-flops, fanny pack, visor and gooey white SPF, especially if you wear them ALL together.

one more thing: cappuccino is morning breakfast with croissant, not after lunch or dinner. If you don't believe me, take a peek at the table next to you next time that you have lunch.

More on this on the book: get on the newsletter to stay