Stylish with Substance

I didn't create this blog title thinking it only reflects moi. I believe the name describes every normal woman who loves fashion. Loving style does not subtract from our substance!

The problem is some think it does. I'd rather not even face that, but I see now it's true. Not just from my life, but from Internet trends you likely know of.

Grechen from Grechen Blogs, etc. just wrote about this, among many others on the related topics of fashionista bashing.

"(People think) if you love fashion, you’re stupid & frivolous…blah blah blah. ...  The world is made up of 2 types of people: those who love fashion and those who don’t. and those who don’t really really really don’t understand those who do."

Oh boy do I know the second half of that quote is true! But I don't understand it. I see fashion as a part of femininity, and let me tell those people: I don't understand a woman (straight or bi, let's say) who doesn't like fashion! So there.

I just wanted to let visitors know that I'm not showing a superior attitude with the blog name, I'm including my readers, most definitely, as well.

By the way, I have an important website note for readers! I will (finally) be changing the Feedburner URL. It will probably become is feeds.feedburner.com/stylishwithsubstance, but I'll update here as to whether or not the change was successful (name available with them). You must resubscribe after the change!

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Mainstream fashion journalists have held beef against the blogosphere for some time now. What I didn't know is that I may have predicted this in 2006.

I just found an old article (written in December of 2005 actually, but published January 1st, 2006) with this quote, "... the lines of fashion could be blurred as such that the next issue could be a fight between different sides of fashion and its media".

The article, titled "Fashion is the New Pink", explored how far fashion had come by the mid of the last decade.

"Editors on Bloggers" April, 2010

... more

I don't know how proud I should feel about my little bit of foresight. Heck, I don't even remember quite what I had in mind at the time of writing this article. However it does make me smile, and that counts for something.

What counts even more, I think, is that this piece was basically a big warning of the then-impending major recession we're still fighting in the new decade. As I signed off, "overdoing it is the new black", I summed up American's erroneous ways.

Bonus: the entry quotes and links to a lot of blogging friends. Overall, it may be a fun read as either new to you or forgotten ... I hope a gem.

"Do" or a Don't, It Might Matter Less. Michelle's Short Style is TEMPORARY...

Bloggers get a lot of flack for posting unfactual information, but at least we have the excuse of lacking resources and contacts. In a Google News search, I'm unsure how to weed blogs from newspapers, but if you try, you will find actual news/big media publishing commentary (hmm journalistic commentary? Oxymoron? I guess we're all just bloggers these days, some just have the luck of more respect!) on the First Lady's "cut" - no questions asked.

No interviews done.

That is, not at first. Mrs. O's stylist, Johnny Wright, has spoken "up" now, about his style-to-the-stars temporary up-do: The "Tuck Up". We don't quite understand it, but we're researching more, and will have a How-To-'Do coming up next!

The interview was given to, and news broken by, Us Weekly. Whom Best Week Ever wants to give a journalism award (yep, to a near-tabloid, chuckle). The BWE post's comedic writer basically claims he's traumatized for life by Hair Gate! Seriously amusing!

Hey, humans are human, no matter the job. So I fault none (not really) for publishing opinion and alerts on this beauty matter. But I also know even style & political icons are people as well. I actually am kind of frustrated with the ease in which we judge. That hair was cute!

Of course we still remember Barack's "Dad" Jeans ... quickly followed by Michelle's "Mom" Cut (and again, they're mature parents/professionals, not rockstars). Why so harsh on the first family when it comes to style? What - no scandals? I guess this is a blessing.

OR ... Yes, Virginia, I AM a Designaholic.

That can actually be one of the greatest things about blogging as opposed to doing some other art/design or getting one of those "respected" jobs. Yes, we live past our posts and forget to check for flaws when we improve because that's the honest timeline nature of this lovely, lovely blogging. That isn't perfect, but at least we can live saner lives and produce new work at a more regular pace.

posterity. (click)

But I suppose what's great about the art of designing, for those of us who do that, is that we not only have that aspect of our creativity put to either this job or serious hobby, but we never have to live with our baby design uneditable, sold, or whatever in a form or location where it can never be touched.

Websites are living, growing beings. (And not just monetarily when they succeed.)

If you don't design, and perhaps now envy my joy in site-improvement - first know that it means you might pay a professional with such spectacular results (and flawless SEO to boot) whereas we amature artists, although yes artists, are more flawed in this creation. Over the last few days I made changes I'd been craving so much they took precedence - I mean I wanted them there BEFORE I attracted new visitors. Silly, yes - but I'm crazy. Yet after I made these changes they weren't right for a while (because business needs do not always mean beauty), and then other established or even fairly-new-themselves elements didn't fit in! Oy. An uncool website.

Second, know that this coding and all the related work brings uber stress. So if you're living fine with your design, know it's probably less on your mind than 24-hour "all nighters" of mouse & keys labor.

Oh and you may have saved money not getting photoshop, which you perhaps somewhat put toward that professional designer.

One more thing to add is that most readers find content of utmost importance - at least the ones who read as opposed to skim judgementally - so if you put all your might to the-now figurative pen, you may be just as well off.

Back to me. Yes, I'm nuts. But appearances need to keep up when content matures or just re-blossoms. And now this is our look for a while (I know it's been evolving all week) oh except for sidebar widgety additions, but classy, uncluttered, simple things. Or if not, they'll leave afterward. Ha.

Now oh gosh what to do about the Facebook Page, another new logo? (Which means updating our FB PG badge to the right too--le sigh.) I still need to brainstorm on how to make our new header design little and square. Yes, I'm fussy.

A perfectionist's work is never done. And sometimes, work doesn't seem to get done either!

Such is a certain kind of ar-teest. C'est la vie.