Dressful

I often talk about fashion blogging with people who once heard about bloggers who receive expensive clothes for free, launch their own lines and collaborations, fly business class, get paid €5000 per appearance and make millions in ad revenues (OK, I made that one up). While I love discussing fashion blogging, I don't love it when people think this kind of success is what every fashion blogger is aspiring to. Telling them I don't subscribe to the same blogging rationale leaves them in shock. They think something is wrong with me because surely I should be aiming to become a Famous Fashion Blogger, bathing in designer goods between paid flights to glamorous events all over the world.

There are as many reasons for having a fashion blog as there are fashion bloggers. The degree of monetization that allows the blogger a comfortable lifestyle (I'm vary of "luxurious" over "comfortable"; a blog is not an accurate representation of the blogger's life because it only shows what the blogger wants you to see) is widely regarded as the peak of fashion blogger success. However tempting it sounds, there are bloggers who would actually not be interested in dropping everything on the spot to become the next Famous Fashion Blogger for reasons such as being in school, having kids, enjoying their current job etc.

Why do I blog?

My motive for starting this blog was essentially what I've accomplished in the past year: 1. establishing myself as a relevant blogger and writer attending major fashion weeks and 2. being accepted to London College of Fashion to study fashion journalism. It was through blogging that I realized I want a career in international fashion. In order to land the kind of jobs and projects I'm interested in, I need to be physically present in one of the four fashion capitals. I have a blog, but nobody is going to hand me a career, let alone my dream job, over the internet because thousands of others have tried harder, moved to New York or London and relentlessly started working their way up the fashion ladder. In this industry trying harder often pays off better than being talented.

Though the purpose of this blog has been partly fulfilled with my acceptance to London College of Fashion, quitting blogging is not on my agenda. In fact, one of my dreams for Dressful has always been to publish exclusively original content (photos and writing). I think that's the number one thing a quality blog should have. I don't post outfit or street style photos, so creating original content that fits the theme of this blog constantly is only possible in a city with a huge fashion scene and many events. Therefore the fulfilled blogging purpose opened the door to a new purpose. Let's hope London will be everything it's cracked up to be and more.

I've put together a list of my 10 best posts of 2011. Some of them were chosen by popularity, others by personal preference. Excluded are fashion week posts (photos and reviews of shows and presentations), which you can find in the show directory. Enjoy the wrap-up!

Elegance in Exile exhibition in Venice, Italy

It's not what you wear, it's how you wear it
I like it when clothes from H&M, Asos or Zara look like Dior. It pokes fun at high fashion's exorbitant cost and proves that the impression given by clothes depends entirely on the wearer.

Prada Men's Spring 2012 collection: Golf parody
Leave it to me to fall in love with Prada Men's Spring/Summer 2012, a collection decidedly out of touch with masculinity in favor of parody.

The battle of ultra-thin models and our sanity
The problem with skinny models/women/anyone lies in the subjectiveness of "thin". What is thin? Where do you draw the line?

Elegance in Exile exhibition: Russian expat fashion
The exhibition portrays the influence of Russian émigrés on fashion, displaying costumes of Ballets Russes (The Russian Ballets) as well as dresses worn by aristocrat Russian women who fled to Europe after the October Revolution in 1917.
See the exhibition at Palazzo Mocenigo, Venice, Italy, until February 29, 2012.

Do fashion bloggers care about anything else but clothes?
Bloggers often face prejudices because there are still many fashion people who believe we, mostly lacking formal fashion education and industry experience, don't know enough about fashion to comment on it, that we get too much attention for the "fluff" and narcissism we share with the world.

Hats off to summer!
Heat is the only thing Ljubljana and seaside have in common in summer, and in heat what a girl needs is a good dress and a good hat.

20 sarcastic tips to become a popular fashion blogger
1. Wear Jeffrey Campbell Lita boots (this is a MUST).
The most popular post of 2011 according to the number of views and your Facebook likes!

Notes before New York Fashion Week
I'm not sure I could live in one city all my life, but I would like to spend at least a few years in NYC, preferably before I am very old. Interestingly enough, one of my many "visions of future" is a very old black-clad myself, going to the Met (the opera, not the museum) and Carnegie Hall every evening.

Sens(n)ation Maison Martin Margiela exhibition
The Sens(n)ation exhibition at Ljubljana's Galerija Jakopič showed a retrospective of Maison Martin Margiela's first line (défilé) collection from 1989 to 2011, as well as garments and accessories by renowned Slovenian designers.

Vogue India racism: Only light skin is beautiful!
I was shocked to discover that like the Western media, Vogue India too promotes an extremely narrow standard of female beauty.

Read my 2011 fashion blogging recap here.

2011 was an exciting and fruitful year for me as a fashion blogger.

In February I attended my first major runway show, Emporio Armani F/W 11/12 at Milan Fashion Week. Envisioning myself working in fashion before I started blogging, I thought I would have to spend years interning and assisting at magazines before my boss granted me a privilege to attend shows and write about them. I am my own boss at Dressful so nobody showers me with benefits, but thanks to the "democratization of fashion" we bloggers have become regulars at fashion weeks, be it catching street style photographers' attention with eccentric outfits or reporting from shows.

Concept Korea Spring 2012 presentation at New York Fashion Week.

In September I attended New York Fashion Week, which turned out to be a much bigger deal than I had expected. It's the collections shown in Paris and Milan that get the most international attention, but New York is the most blogger-friendly fashion week (Reuters claims that 40% of the press at NYFW are bloggers) and a great place for networking. As opposed to Milan and Paris, all shows take place under one roof in New York, which means you can hang out with people in-between events instead of wasting your time getting stuck in insane traffic jams.

When I started going to fashion weeks, I quickly realized there would be no way back, i.e. if I attend, I have to return next season to see more shows, meet more people and do better work. Due to unexpected health problems I didn't create as much content as I wanted to at NYFW in September. I will be attending NYFW again in February and I'm tickled pink to have a chance to improve. I haven't seen wintry New York in three years.

Invitation to the Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 2012 show
Celebrating Halloween with a Chanel pumpkin carved by my dad

Dressful has gained many new readers in 2011. I receive charming, encouraging emails from those of you who find it inspiring and I wish such perceptive and intelligent readers will accompany me in 2012 too. Constantly working on ways to reach more fashion enthusiasts, I'm satisfied with the direction Dressful is developing in. I've discovered that in my case, sharing original and quality content is the way to go. People like words and images they won't find elsewhere and I feel good expressing myself in different creative ways.

In 2011 I rejected various proposals that would have brought me money but didn't align with Dressful. I've been hesitant with monetization because I find some methods largely inefficient and because this blog is my personal space where I only recommend what I absolutely love and know well.

I have seen bloggers rush into monetization without thinking it through; in the end, they were not compensated fairly, the brand or product they promoted didn't fit their blog, the banner ads looked out of place … If done wrong, such deals can do more harm than good to the blogger, despite the money they earned. That being said, there are several types of collaborations I am interested in; I will soon create a separate page to outline them more precisely.

Sens(n)ation Maison Martin Margiela exhibition in Ljubljana.

I would like to thank everyone who takes time to comment on my posts; your comments are not of the "nice shoes check out my blog" variety; rather, they contribute valuably to the post and discussion. I truly appreciate it when you share my posts on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms – this is the easiest way to help me reach more people. Next to providing quality content, expanding my audience is my number one goal for 2012.

Though the world is far from perfect, the opportunities I've had in 2011 make me grateful to live here and now. Five years ago it would have been impossible to jumpstart my fashion career with a blog.

The blog is just the beginning.

I wish you happy holidays and lots of health, love, creativity and success in 2012.

I wanted an ordinary, but not too ordinary pair of black suede pumps for December festivities to go with my two outfits. These Guess suede pumps have earned the nickname "dino shoes" because the studs on the counter resemble dinosaur spikes. They're not as dangerous as the spike on the "license to kill" Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2011/12 wedges, but they could hurt if I tried.

This fall I started wearing my mom's old veiled hat. The only piece that aligns with my signature mood of simultaneously wanting to hide and to stand out (the eternal struggle expanding far beyond fashion), it moulds my personality to feel at ease anywhere. I'm protected by the veil, but I'm not the same as everyone else. All I ever wanted from fashion.