Okay, it’s been said, but really, blogs are everywhere talking about everything. With people busier than ever, we’re seeing more and more segmentation of media outlets. Many people want to stay up-to-the-minute on a given subject, but claim they don’t really have time to search through an entire newspaper or sit through even half-hour news broadcast. Specialty magazines for sports, technology, fashion, whatever… keep us updated on the information that interests us. Now blogs have taken that specialization a step further. Yes, there are blogs devoted to fashion for the woman who needs/wants to know what the latest is in that industry and doesn’t have time to wait for the Style section of the Sunday New York Times. Enter the Style File blog on style.com.
Two Dallas ‘soccer moms’ and former industry insiders decided they could narrow down fashion blogging even further by sticking to their favorite subject: handbags. Kelly Cook and Tina Craig started bagsnob.com in 2005 because they wanted to stay in the fashion industry, but after getting married and having their first children, the flexibility of blogging appealed to the fashionable friends. Three years later, bagsnob has launched five other fashion blogs and generates profits from major brands and retailers advertising on their site, and are invited to showrooms and fashion weeks with designers hoping Cook and Craig will give them a rave review on their popular site.
Cook explains, “Blogs can publish in an instant. It’s the biggest advantage over traditional media, which can take months to compile. Sometimes, by the time magazines get to it, the trend might be over," making them particularly relevant for the fashion industry.
Of course when anyone is capable of putting information on the Internet at any time, there is the added risk that the information will not be trustworthy. Cook understands this, cautioning, “Many blogs don’t fact check. There’s no standard practice for blogging as there is for traditional news media.”
The bag snobs know the importance of fact checking first-hand. The post that shot their blog to industry authority status was their expose on a site running a fake bag scam. The bagsnobs also are seen as highly credible by their readers because they do not accept freebies from designers who may be trying to win a good review from the women.
Bagsnob has is an excellent case study of how blogs are shaping our fast-paced world. By providing accurate, breaking bag news, the bag snobs provide what today’s internet-obsessed consumer with what they expect of the fashion industry.
While brands and fashion editors have been cautious about getting involved with blogs, the industry is taking notice of bloggers like Cook and Craig; with sites like theirs getting thousands of visitors per day, designers really can’t afford not to.
Photos: Bottega Veneta from bagsnob.com
Photos: Bottega Veneta from bagsnob.com
See for yourself: http://www.bagsnob.com/
Meet the Snobs on GlamLive:
Fashion insiders on blogs: http://www.bagsnob.com/images2007/chinamorningnews_crop.html
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