Ashley Wong
Suzanne Norman
PUB 101 D100
08 December 2020
Hopes, Dreams, and the Origins of a Fashion Blogger
Throughout the Fall 2020 semester, I have created an identity for myself, online, as The Raincity Fairy. The Raincity Fairy has been a project that has been in the making for several years. No longer is it simply a continuously brewing idea in my mind, but an actual realization that has been fleshed out and produced. My blog has officially been published and my beginnings as a fashion influencer have finally developed. PUB 101 has been the necessary push towards my goals for which I will forever be grateful.
I have always wanted to write about fashion. I have loved design and illustration and had previously wanted to be a fashion designer. I was once working in the fashion and beauty industry as a hairdresser. I also considered modelling throughout my years of school, but never imagined I would be a model of any sort until I began creating an identity for myself as The Raincity Fairy. I discuss shopping hauls, top products, favourites, fashion faux-pas, and more. I tell the story of my fashion journey. I am actively seeking a โcreative voice [that] is synonymous withโฆ[my] brand (Duffy 135)โ while staying authentic to myself and to my viewers. The Raincity Fairy is a reflection of who I truly am, who I still strive to be, and how I love to express myself through one of my greatest passions: fashion.
My publication did not begin as a blog, however. It began as an Instagram account. Although I had created the blog first and bought a domain for it, my Instagram, @theraincityfairy, was where I began posting and truly figuring out who I wanted to be online. It was mainly for me. At the start, I was unsure about whether or not I had the confidence to post publicly. People would see what I was doing, and possibly, judge me for it. That was one of the major obstacles between me and my goals for a very long time. My friends and family would see and I would, undoubtedly, be asked questions, and so, my account remained private, but because it was essential that my account was public for class, I summoned the courage to make my account public for the rest of the world to view. Though it is said that โpersonal fashion bloggers sometimes request the help of a friend to take a picture of themselves but at other times cameras, fixed on a tripod for instance, are set on a timer or used through remote control, giving bloggers operational power in their own portraiture and the full independence, creativity, and control this power enables (Rocamora 419),โ I use everyday spaces to take my photos, and often, take them myself with an old, beloved camera and a stack of books. Currently, my target audience is young women in the teens and in their twenties.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย My real audience, however, according to Monster Insights and Google Analytics, is 45.85% female and 54.15% male, but they are in the 18-34 age range, which coincides with my target audience. Most of my audience is interested in sports and computer electronics. Based on these statistics, I will need to continue altering my blog to reach my desired audience. I will be experimenting with topics and creating a wider variety of content as well as using different platforms, such as YouTube, to grow and address both my current and future audience. I have not received comments on my posts as of yet, and therefore, I am unable to gather information from them. It does provide me information, however, about what I am possibly missing from my posts that are keeping viewers from leaving comments. This is significant in the development of my blog because โpositive comments from โfamousโ blogs or strangers not only could motivateโฆbut also increaseโฆconfidence and self-esteem. The occasional positive comment posted by a stranger was satisfying and motivating, as it reminded the bloggers that a whole community of publics could be reading their blog. (Chittenden 515)โ In future blog posts, I will be encouraging comments and attempting to create a more interactive and engaging blog. Asking questions at the end of posts may be a useful prompt for increasing engagement.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย My hope for my blog is to invite women to discuss fashion, ideas, and trends. It is meant to be a place where I can share my own style with others and any tips and tricks that may be helpful to them, and in the search for authenticity on the Internet, I wish to create a space without the โaura of superficiality thatโฆ[is] pervading the world of fashion and style blogging (Duffy 112).โ The Raincity Fairy is inspired by other fashion influencers on both YouTube and Instagram. They were inspiring to me as a child and as I was growing up. Now, I hope to be an additional inspiration and source of confidence for the next generation to explore their fashion choices. It is helpful that โthe opportunity to try out different looks, and to โfailโ with minimal consequence, provides teens with opportunities to play with the impression they make and learn to use resources creatively (512).โ Although I hope to reach a larger audience in the future, my goal is to change at least one personโs day for the better, whether that is by posting a picture that inspires them, writing about one of my holy grail skincare or make up products that could potentially be a miracle product for them as well, or simply being a person on the Internet that others can relate to. Looking forward, I hope to continue writing. I will absolutely be keeping my domain and my social media. Personal fashion blogs can be an wonderful โspace of empowerment through the control it grants bloggers on their own image, as well as through the alternative visions of femininity it allows them to circulate (Rocamora 410).โ The Raincity Fairy has been of great value to me, giving me work to look forward to and boosting my confidence and self-esteem. Throughout the covid-19 pandemic, it has kept me productive and hopeful for future opportunities. It has been a source of entertainment, and possibly most importantly, been a source of joy. Regardless of whether or not my blog is successful, I can confidently state that it has been a success for me on a very personal level.
Works Cited
Chittenden, Tara.ย “Digital dressing up: modelling female teen identity in the discursive spaces of the fashion blogosphere.โ Journal of Youth Studies,ย vol. 13, no. 4,ย 2010, pp. 505-520. Accessed 06 Dec. 2020.
Duffy, Brooke Erin. โBranding the Authentic Self: The Commercial Appeal of โBeing Real.โ (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, Yale University Press, 2017, pp. 06-27. Accessed 05 Dec. 2020.
Rocamora, Agnรจs. โPersonal Fashion Blogs: Screens and Mirrors in Digital Self-Portraits.โ Fashion Theory, vol. 15, no. 4, 2015, pp. 407-424. Accessed 05 Dec. 2020.
