living, blogging, & surviving online

Tavi, Tavi, Tavi…apparently the traditional fashion media has nothing else to talk about (or this is a last-ditch attempt to attract readers and save their *sses)

All I keep hearing is editors whining about “doing their time” for years and not getting to sit in first row, then here comes Tavi the 13-yr-old wonder blogger who just glides right in without paying her “dues” and with no experience as a journalist. Give me a BREAK. Granted I know nothing about the fashion industry, but I do understand that there is probably a hierarchy (or at least there was) and like nearly any industry, you have to work your way up to join the big girls. But here’s the thing – the industry is changing. THERE IS NO HIERARCHY ANYMORE. And the editors who’ve been around for such a long time are pissed that things have changed right under their noses while they’re still stuck behind wishing for the OLD way of doing things.

If there’s anything that the last 5-10 years’ economic climate has taught us (or should have) is that in the business world, you adapt, or die – well, unless you’re a gigantic bank or car manufacturer, OY. Fashion boutiques, magazines and designers are going out of business left and right, and in my opinion, they should if they’re not making money by addressing a need. Nobody has the right to keep things the way they’ve always been & just because that’s the way you did it last year, doesn’t mean it’s going to work THIS year. I think editors & traditional magazines are scared to death because they haven’t adapted, and they’re dying.

Tavi isn’t responsible for changing the way things work in the fashion industry, neither are bloggers; we’re just the ones who noticed a need and worked hard to fill it. Sure, fashion blogging is also a continuously evolving niche, and many mistakes have been made, but it’s not going anywhere. All the whining and complaining editors are doing isn’t going to change that anytime soon. If anything, it gives bloggers the strength and power to grow and become even more important – why? because as soon as the “big girls” start to pay attention and BASH the little ones, the little ones KNOW They’re getting somewhere. As for the accusations that bloggers are bought and paid for by designers and PR firms – after all, how else could they POSSIBLY get to be at a fashion show? – I’d like to see some evidence and a reason why that actually MATTERS. Unless you are blind, you see the correlation between paid advertising and editorial in traditional fashion magazines. You’re naive if you believe that there’s not preference being given to paid advertisers in Vogue, or Lucky, but again, I’d like to know why that really matters. Yes, I get the ethical issues surrounding that practice, but we KNOW it happens, and why are we willing to blatantly overlook it from fashion magazines, and not from bloggers? And why does everyone assume that bloggers are so easily bought? and that for enough money or stuff, they’ll write whatever you want them to? If anything, bloggers are doing what they do out of LOVE, not for money which goes contrary to the idea that they’ll compromise their audience & integrity for money.

With all of these Tavi-bashing articles, the only thing I get out of them is a better understanding of how jealous and petty fashion editors & writers really are.

Really, why else would someone bring up Tavi’s education and her father’s perceived inability to make sure she’s getting one, unless they’re more than a little jealous. I thought that was the most disgusting thing I’ve read so far – what business is it of anyone’s how Tavi is doing in school? Are you so cynical to think that her parents don’t care about her responsibilities aside from blogging? That’s just rude, and shows how jealous the editors and writers are…don’t tell me they’re not. Oh. Sorry, they’re just “concerned” for her well-being, because you know, the fashion world is SO FICKLE. And what will happen to poor Tavi when designers decide she’s no longer interesting? Nothing. She’ll continue to thrive, in whatever it is she chooses to do. That’s more than I can say for all these editors and writers who have nothing better to do than to whine about Tavi…

(just as an aside, I don’t think formal education is all it’s cracked up to be anyway. Yes, I do believe everyone should finish high school, but there are a lot of ways to achieve that outside of actually attending school. Tavi’s probably learning infinitely more out there in the “real world” than she would in school…again, this is a sign of how much things have changed in recent years, an MBA doesn’t guarantee you a great lifelong job anymore, and you don’t need a college degree to have a successful business. My Master’s in Political Science is not doing me a lot of good right now…I kinda wish I had those thousands of dollars in student loan payments back.)

Anyway, traditional media editors, et al, just leave Tavi alone. It’s easy to be jealous or angry of her talent and her achievements at such a young age, but what does that do for anyone? Use the energy you would have felt being jealous or angry and channel them towards your own work – let her inspire you to do better. Obviously she’s not letting anything you’re saying bring her down; Tavi’s not the type to be bullied into shutting up.

(go Tavi!)

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