Dressful

1. Do I write about
what you want to read

- or -

what I want to read?

Is it a waste of cyberspace and effort if you don't find it interesting?

... what do you find interesting?

2. Can I be critical and sharp
or will it be considered unprofessional?
Will I alienate people who could potentially be interested in working with me?
A self-inflicted ban from shows at fashion weeks?
(critical and sharp as in "well-meant and argumented criticism"; I'm not interested in other kinds.)

... do i want to be perceived as critical and sharp ... ?
... am i critical and sharp ... ?

You take criticism in no way related to you as a threat I'll criticize you in the future.

ATTACK IMMEDIATELY!

"SHE IS A RIVAL! SHE MUST BE DEGRADED!"

when we could collaborate and complement each other instead.

Pity.

I know this is about your frustration,
not whatever inferiority you accuse me of because I'm a blogger.
This way it only damages you, not me.

3. fashion-wise ;

2. What catches my attention?
1. What deserves my time?

a future fashion journalism postgraduate student should answer this off the top of her head
to excel in motivation letters and interviews
display a brilliant, refined taste and knowledge

New York Fashion Week will be an exercise on setting priorities.

... will i be able to answer these questions then?

I've been obsessed with red all winter, not kitschy Christmas ornaments red paired with the impotent green of dying trees, but luxurious, deep, expensive red. I found it an alluring alternative to black because when rich enough, red is just as serious and more than a little enigmatic.

A color reserved for the upper echelons of beauty.

These looks from Oscar de la Renta's Pre-Fall 2012 collection carry the same poem of red as urban glamorous opulence. How perfectly would they fit in at dimly-lit dinner parties in icy Paris and New York? Occasions where you can never be overdressed, where it's only natural to bury yourself neck-deep in diamonds. While it might seem I'm getting carried away by my romantic imagination, de la Renta's clothes are a dream standing firmly on the ground. Perhaps they know better than me.

Audience at the Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 2012 show

You know the awkward moment when people who don't have anything to do with fashion shows feel entitled to dictate who has the right to sit front row and who doesn't? Usually the sole purpose of their relevant, well-informed remarks is to downgrade one of the groups of people who – much to their chagrin – frequently do find themselves sitting front row no matter what anyone thinks. Editors and bloggers still seem to be favorite targets, though I think it's high time for people to realize it's pointless to keep adding fuel to the "bloggers vs. editors" debate. You don't compare apples to oranges either, do you? (Much to my chagrin, people do not realize.)

The thing with individual opinions on who should (not) sit front row is that unless you actually have an impact on how the seating chart will be arranged, nobody cares.

A view I encounter ever so often is that bloggers should be banned from front rows by default because unlike editors, journalists and buyers, they don't do any "real" work. I think it's rather cheeky to act like you know better than the person responsible for the seating chart. Essentially, you assume fashion houses are incapable of picking appropriate guests. Fashion houses aren't stupid. Every person attending the show is there for reasons beneficial to the brand. When they seat Rumi and Bryanboy in front row, it's because they'll tweet and post photos from the show on their blogs, transmitting the brand's message and aesthetic to an audience of hundreds of thousands. The same goes for non-major bloggers like yours truly, except our audiences are smaller.

Bloggers do the same as editors, buyers and journalists: promote brands. This is why we don't exactly have to point guns at PR people's heads to be invited to shows. It's a reciprocal situation, and it's up to each fashion house who they decide to put in their front row. There's no "should" that applies to all of them. It only depends on how interested they are in global online coverage and promotion.

(I mentioned editors as "targets" in the first paragraph because I've heard ambitious bloggers say front rows should be bloggers-only, which is ... not how this industry can work.
The other side of the coin and all, though more harmless than the one I discussed.)