Insta Your Way to Fashion Week?
Originally published in the Autumn 2016 print issue of Valley Magazine.
With an astonishing 500 million active users on Instagram, it’s no surprise the photo-sharing app has — quite literally — changed the filters in which we experience fashion. Ava Graham sat down with a few of the blogosphere’s most fabulous to talk about the ever-changing fashion industry and what it takes to manage a successful style feed.
Snap. Filter. Post. Social media has influenced so many aspects of our lives. It’s changed the way we read the news, the way we apply for jobs (Snapplication, anyone?) and of course, the way we dress.
“Instagram is always at my fingertips,” says Nia Alleyne, senior at The New School in New York and the face behind Let’s Wear Black.
She laughs as she describes her aesthetic, “Rock ‘n’ Roll with a mix of Bella Hadid.” Alleyne started her blog in September 2014 and in the past two years, has seen the rising importance of platforms like Instagram.
“I’m very conscious of what I’m posting, when I’m posting, who I’m wearing, if the picture goes with the ‘theme’ of my Instagram. It’s tedious work, but it’s definitely worth it.” With a 73.5K following, Alleyne assures us that if it wasn’t for her blog she wouldn’t be so “connected.”
“Social media is everything,” says Simi OA. Like Alleyne, OA, a Penn State alum, has been blogging her “chic and sophisticated” style since 2014 on House of Àrà.
“There are fashion bloggers that don’t even have a blog,” says OA. She tells us how the art of Instagram photography and curating a feed are exponentially important for fashion blogging today. There are a lot of people that don’t even visit blogs; alternatively, they scroll through social media feeds. “It doesn’t matter how good your blog or content is, unless you have an Instagram that reflects it.”
So, why talk about blogging? Bloggers are some of today’s strongest influencers — whether they’re front row at fashion week, featured across editorial spreads, or taking over Instagram. Just take Chiara Ferragni as example, who has created an empire since her blogs beginning in 2009.
Our enamouration with blogging is more than the glitz and glamour, we love it because we can do it too, but Alleyne warns that starting a blog isn’t so easy. “There’s this notion that blogging is as simple as taking a picture but there’s so much that goes into it,” says Alleyne.
“The whole premise of blogging is based on an illusion of ease — everything is flawless,” says OA stressing that this illusion is just that, an illusion. “it tricks a lot of people, even me, that blogging is supposed to be easy.”
It’s all too easy to get swept up in this fallacy of effortlessness, the Let’s Wear Black star confirms. The hardest part, according to Alleyne, is not comparing herself to other bloggers. “it can be very easy to feel like your blog isn’t good enough,” says Alleyne.
“It’s so important to have good photography, fashion blogging is 50 percent the outfit and 50 percent photography,” OA urges, “and savvy social media.” Two ingredients necessary to survive in the blogging world, says the mastermind behind House of Àrà.
For a successful blog, Alleyne advises you on three fronts, “be true to yourself, be consistent, and have fun.”
Fashion has never been an easy industry to break into, but social platforms and blogging are leveling the playing field more than ever before. Both Alleyne and OA agree, it’s most important to stand out in a way that’s your own.
OA credits her blog’s initial success to her unique style, “everyone was about minimalism, so I came on the scene with my short hair and love of color.”
Alleyne’s Let’s Wear Black had a similar beginning, “[there was] this opportunity to bring something different and inspire others in and outside of the closet.” A mere two years on the blogging scene, these girls have proven to be unstoppable. Shaking up the industry one Instagram and blog post at a time, it’s no question as to why the pursuit of fashion has never been more exciting.