Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

AIBU to actually want to be Laura Fantacci?

119 replies

CambridgeBlue · 06/08/2014 08:24

She is so bloody stylish, extremely pretty, her DD is gorgeous and her life (especially the summer just spent in Italy) appears pretty damn perfect. I'm sure it's not really but she does a great job of portraying it as such.

I'm interested to know what her new project is now that she's resigned from Red.

Anyone else seriously envious of her?

OP posts:
thesaurusgirl · 06/08/2014 18:18

Santa It's not the Chanel bag I found repugnant (I could go out and buy one tonight, although I wouldn't because it would be the same as my monthly mortgage payment and I'd rather pay that off first because I'm not a financial dick like most fashionistas).

And yes, of course she ought to IG her freebies, it's the exposure those brands are paying for.

It was the juxtaposition of "Get me with my £2500 bag I'm wearing to my first day of my pretend job" and then the touting for an unpaid skivvy that didn't sit well with me.

thesaurusgirl · 06/08/2014 18:20

If we are talking idyllic Italian holidays, I love a blog called Domestic Reflections. She has stopped posting now but I still follow her IG account.

Her house and her kids are amazing, and she and her husband seem very happy and monied, but she's also very honest about her struggles with her own dysfunctional family. Again, perhaps it's maturity and real professional success rather than magazine-world pretend success that makes the difference.

lurkingaround · 06/08/2014 18:35

Oh I love a blog critique thread!

WIT has become one if my pet hates. I used to look and be mildly irritated, then I used to look and be very irritated, now I don't look at all. There seems nothing genuine about it at all. It isn't a blog. It's a daily advertorial.

temporaryusername · 06/08/2014 21:16

Hadn't heard of her, just briefly googled. I don't think she is extremely pretty at all.

These blogs are all just smoke and mirrors. Turning your personal life into a brand is the road to hell as far as I'm concerned, and you have to be a raging narcissist to produce an IG or blog like hers. Hello Gomi -ers!

If I was trying to find a dream life to swap with it would be someone who lives well without having to tell everyone about it - self-fulfilled enough not to need to and rich enough not to have to monetise your online presence. Also prettier. If you're going for dream swap might as well aim for perfection!

AmberNectarine · 06/08/2014 21:27

She annoyed me when she got pregnant and waxed lyrical about how there was no need for specialist maternity wear. Fast forward a couple of months and she was plugging Isabella Oliver...

I did enjoy the cream silk 'going home' dress fiasco though.

AnnabelleDarling · 06/08/2014 21:44

It's her job to make everything look lovely though, she's a stylist. Now she's freelance she has to turn herself into a brand.

maradesbois · 07/08/2014 08:58

Have to say I do love WIT and don't find her annoying which is unusual for me as normally have a v low irritation threshold. Think its because she's a 'real phoney' as opposed to eg Londoner who has allegedly been sporting fakes etc. Her Chanel bag actually belongs to her, who cares what it cost. She is not flaunting wealth but selling an idealised version of her own life. As a magazine fashion editor making things look good was her job and I see perusing her blog as an alternative to flicking through one of the glossies.

Small disclaimer: lol at the Argos rings, Ponte Vecchio in Florence is a haven of tourist tat. The unpaid intern thing also grates, unfortunately it is usual in fashion and the arts but think a backlash against it is building.

dexter73 · 07/08/2014 09:25

Did she definitely buy her Chanel handbag or was it given to her?

sansucre · 07/08/2014 09:33

Amber She deleted that blog post about the cream silk 'going home' dress!

QueenCardigan · 07/08/2014 09:41

I've just read this thread with interest as I thought it was just me falling out of love with WIT blog. Ever since she's quit Red her blg has (understandably) changed and instead of just giving us daily outfit posts (which I loved) she's now selling her brand/soul. She's also out of touch with reality as she remarked that paying £200 for a swimsuit was an affordable way of buying into a designer brand Hmm. There's also no way that her real life can be how it is portrayed on Instagram. With the amount of pizza/pasta/gelato that Greta eats she must get chocolate and tomato stains on her ridiculously expensive liberty outfits. I'm waiting for her to rebel and to have a tantrum demanding a peppa pig tee Grin.

Personally I think most blogs seem to change once they become popular and if the blogger wants to earn money out of it then it starts to read like an advert or they open a shop which turns me right off. I like all worn out and the work wear edit as they've stuck to their integrity and don't do the freebie/gift thing and only talk about things they genuinely wear.

WipsGlitter · 07/08/2014 09:51

To be fair, she did write a very honest piece about how hard she had found the first few months of motherhood and laughed at herself and the going home dress fiasco.

Have you seen what I bought today, how does she earn a living?? Must have a rich husband!!

dozily · 07/08/2014 10:02

I still love her, although I do agree with a lot of the criticism above. I suspect since leaving Red her wages have been mainly paid by J Crew as they seem to be featured constantly. Lovely clothes, which do fit her style well, but .

sansucre · 07/08/2014 10:14

WipsGlitter What I Bought Today is Norwegian, her parents have money. I think she's a PR for Vera Moda and a few other Scandi/Nordic brands.

WipsGlitter · 07/08/2014 10:30

I knew she did PR but there was a post a while ago about giving up work because it was all so stressful blah blah

I notice the Frugality jumped back to Red into Laura's shoes when she realised she couldn't make a living as a blogger she had the chance!!

YouGotTime · 07/08/2014 11:02

The GOMI Londoner thread is one of my favourite things on the internet. It certainly has helped clarify the view that the monetisation of a blog ultimately destroys what charm they held.

BlairWaldorfLovesShopping · 07/08/2014 11:11

That's interesting WipsGlitter I have thought before that it was bad timing for Alex to quit Red just before Laura did. So not surprised if she has gone back.

fridgepants · 07/08/2014 11:18

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the user's request.

sansucre · 07/08/2014 11:39

I suspect Red is having financial issues and why Alex left Red so soon after the hired her as staff. I think that's also why they encourage their editors to participate so heavily in the magazine itself and to blog/Instagram.
I didn't realise she'd gone back. I thought she was just doing some freelancing for them. I picked up the Sept issue of Red yesterday and it was an incredibly light (and empty) read. Quite rare for a Sept issue of a fashion mag to be so bland.

Wipsglitter - Thanks! I didn't realise What I Bought Today had quit her job! I mostly dip in and out of her blog and haven't done so for a while as it's one I find particularly irritating.

WipsGlitter · 07/08/2014 11:55

There's been loads of threads on this but... red is just getting worse and worse, I got my subscription copy the other day, flicked through it and there was hardly anything I wanted to read in it. Pages of stupidly expensive clothes. I'd love mumsnet to get their editor on for a webchat!

As far as I know Alex was freelancing but has now gone back as shopping editor (Laura's job). Possibly just temp though.

I think with so many of these blogs it seems like a great idea to do it full time but if you actually NEED to work then it would be hard to draw a proper wage, freebies galore yes. Cash, no. DoesMyBum40 has it easiest, it's a hobby essentially, she doesn't need the money, but it provides a nice bit of extra cash for her.

BlairWaldorfLovesShopping · 07/08/2014 12:04

Also, now that Alex is a "fashion editor" (Laura calls herself a former fashion editor - suppose she was, although I think that term ought to be reserved for the actual magazine editor), that's even less reason for her to be running a "frugal" blog!

YouGotTime I think there must be an awful lot of lurkers on the Londoner thread (me included - there is a Blair Waldorf on there, but it's not me, honest!) - it's great.

AnnabelleDarling · 07/08/2014 12:05

Sansucre she didn't blog about the going home dress, IIRC it was on her twitter.

The thing about blogging is that it's much more time consuming than people think, and that can be quite a drag when you are getting no monetary return. If a blog is popular and has lots of readers, it's only natural for the blogger to at least think about making money from it. From reading MN threads about blogs, it seems that readers don't like the idea if the blogger benefiting financially from the blog even if the blogger is up front about it, so they stop reading. The natural consequence of this is the blogger stops blogging and everyone - the blogger who enjoyed blogging, and the reader who enjoyed reading loses out.

If blogging is work (it requires time, effort and skills) then why shouldn't the blogger be paid for it? I suppose I'm not specifically thinking of WIT but just blogging in general. I don't think most blogs are sustainable unless the blogger is getting something out of it.

AnnabelleDarling · 07/08/2014 12:13

I should say that I am sometimes on AWO, but don't blog nearly as much as I'd like to as I just don't have time. Doing a proper post with photos and links (not sponsored ones!) takes ages especially with pesky dc interrupting all the time.

sansucre · 07/08/2014 12:24

I don't follow WIT on Twitter. I'm pretty certain she posted about it too.

Anyway, I do understand blogging takes time and why I no longer do it myself. I also understand that people want to make money from it. I have no issue with this, indeed, 2 of my friends write pretty successful blogs; one is being made into a book and the other one has edited several cookbooks on the back of her blog.

What I do find tricky is how some bloggers seems to lose sight of why they started blogging in the first place. I also think sponsored posts and freebies should be declared.

dozily · 07/08/2014 17:00

The cream going home dress was definitely on the blog as I don't use Twitter or Instagram. I found it quite sweet though - she had all these ideas about a beautiful designer dress but admitted afterwards she'd been unrealistic.Grin

MarshaBrady · 07/08/2014 17:06

I like WIT, but I just don't think to look at it often. I know that it's all lifestyle-y but I think she does that very well and the Italian part is a nice addition.

It's sweet and light, but I don't use blogs really, much more likely to use pin as inspiration. And some stuff ends up on there anyway, man repeller one and caramel blonde can never remember the name.

The only thing that really puts me off blogs is bad layout, and bad on the eyes including lots of products for sale and clunky adverts, that will put me off more than anything.

I don't have an issue with people getting freebies, it must take ages to blog. Also it must be easier if some of the content is from your job, ie in the fashion industry.