Are Style bloggers wealthy as a result of their blogs or do only wealthy women actually blog in the first place?

[ClearlyUnlikeable]

Just wondering really as every single style blog I come across is written by someone who appears to have pots of cash and thinks an item reduced to £200 from £300 is a 'bargain'?

I seriously can't get over the amount most of them seem to spend on clothes!

Has a klaxon suddenly gone off?

Ha ha no, I just like her. I found the dress I wore to my mums funeral in her blog - it was a plain black dress from Finerry

Just looked at her M&S review- some of its quite nice. I like the gold skirt and the black side twist dress and also the swimwear

I like her trying on reviews. They remind me of when I used to go through catalogues picking one thing I would wear from every page (still do that sometimes!)

The problem with doing sponsored blog posts is that I don't believe the blogger really like the clothes.

There was a blog recently featuring a pair of shoes. They were very very flat. Somebody asked if they were comfortable. The blogger fell over backwards to say they were. The shoes were pretty, very pretty, and when I saw them in the shop I picked them up and tried them at home.?The shoes were lighter than slippers!!!!! They were impossible to wear outside. I brought them back and the sales assistant at the returns counter even commented at how unsubstantial they were. To me that defeats having real bloggers trial clothes.

This morning I saw the perfect example of why the sponsored content annoys me, screenshot of the Instagram in question attached (am I allowed to do this?). I don't believe that she would wear these shorts if she wasn't being paid, they are absolutely hideous destined for the clearance rail, and they are nothing like anything else she wears and I can't see her followers the majority of which I assume are in their teens and twenties wearing them either. I have met this blogger a few times at London shop openings, she is lovely and I have been following her for the best part of a decade and always enjoyed her posts and have bought a few things I have seen on her over the years which have been great. But the sponsored content coupled with the constant holidays means now the clothes aren't anything that I would wear or have need to buy and I am on the cusp of unfollowing despite having been there when she only had a few thousand followers.

homebythesea do get over yourself.

Yes, I absolutely would tell her, to her face, that I find her 'style' waaay too classic/frumpy for me. I have been reading her blog since before Xmas, and recently she commented herself that she recognised her personal taste can easily tip over into being 'frumpy' if she's not careful....and it's for that reason she wore that blue jumpsuit to the blogging awards.

Well, her most recent post is proof that she has tipped over into being 'too frumpy' this time.

I think the reason I don't follow her is that she seems to embody a certain middle-aged timidity that I absolutely don't get from DoesMyBum - a sort of apologetic, mustn't frighten the horses ethos. There's an absence of the playfulness and fun which is what I love about clothes and look for in blogs.

I agree. I think she writes very well, but her style is very safe/tame and more suited for the 60+ market, maybe?

I'm definitely not 'out there' when it comes to fashion, but I like clothes to have a freshness to them.

Once again, can I ask you to stop trying to fob off all the clothes you don't like on us older women.

Having had a quick look at Midlife, I'd say she seems a very rare example of a blogger who manages to toe the line between authentic and commercial. It may not be my style but at least it's clearly her own style. And she has the courtesy to proofread her posts too.

What I like to see in bloggers (or used to until I gave up on them) are opinions. OK photos too but only if it's the blogger herself - and ideally her mates - wearing the clothes so you can see them on real people, head to toe. Lose either and you're just another fashion catalogue, and I get plenty of them already.

I love that styleguile blog and dont think Ive seen it before but the site is a nightmare to navigate and when you touch the screen in any older posts it takes you to the latest post. Aahh! So annoying when trying to click on links.

I like bum40's blog but cant relate as I'm not a size 8 petite brunette sadly

I like sludgebrown as she looks very similar to me and is funny and down to earth and doesnt do designer. She's very 'Cheshire' though which I know a lot of you find uncool.

All in all I like the bloggers as long as they dont become like the Eccleston sisters in their lifestyle. Theyre in business after all. Only a fool would think all these blogs are 100% genuine and not 'managed.'

Flo I'm not for a moment saying that these are clothes for older women, but that they accord with a particular stereotype of how older women 'should' dress which I completely repudiate.
I absolutely reject the notion that a woman should factor her age into her wardrobe choices.

Aspasia No worries, it's not your comment, it's the ones that go along the lines of, 'Eww that's hideous but it'll do for someone older.'
You see them all the time and I always wonder (and occasionally ask) why they think it's good enough for me if it's hideous.

Thanks!

I apologise flo. It's not that I think that older women should be content with frumpy stuff. Lord knows my Mum would definitely take umbrage at that!

To be more specific, I think there is a social convention that older women should stick to safe and comfortable clothes.

I feel very mean now. I don't really read blogs I do just look at the pictures.

No problem Ma I agree with both you and Aspasia that the social conventions can be very limiting.

Anyway better get back to blogging before someone comes along and tells me off. It seems to me that, when they turn themselves into a business, they're selling the one thing that makes them interesting. That's why I don't see much of a future for them long term. They'll just become another branch of PR and therefore not worth reading.

I just find it fantastically odd that people make disparaging comments about the style of people who do style blogs. If it's not your bag, then find something that is. There's no need to make potentially hurtful comments that might well be read by the person involved (midlifechic had commented before that she gets a spike of views when she is mentioned here). And she actually changed her strapline so as not to be age limited because younger readers apparently felt excluded! I totally agree there's no such thing as age related dressing, it's just down to individual choice regardless.

My current favourite blog is Wears My Money. Her style and figure are very similar to mine, and the blog is new enough not to be full of sponsored content, although she does use affiliate links. I read Midlife Chic and enjoy her writing, although the clothes (particularly the collaborative posts) are mainly not to my taste. I actually really like those jungle print wide-leg trews, funnily enough - I could imagine wearing them with trainers and a denim jacket and them looking un-frumpy.

I don't think anyone has been particualru hurtful thesea (though I haven't gone back through the thread to check). It's OK not to like a blog and to explain the reasons why. I could just say that 'I don't like the MLC blog' but considering this is a thread that people have stated what blogs they do and don't like it's better for me to say 'I don't like MLC blog because it's not a style or look that I relate to at all and the clothes are comething I would never wear'.

Being cruel and personal about a bloggers appearance for example is very unnecessary and hurtful but I don't think anyone has done that about any blogger?

I don't want to seem like I'm singling out MLC. There are numerous blogs I don't like purely because I can't relate to them. Fashion Me Now has been recommended a few times on MN but it's not for me at all. It's too aspirational for me and not realistic to my lifestyle as I don't have endless holidays abroad or £££ to spend on items. It doesn't mean that it's a bad blog it's just a case of different strokes for different folks I guess.

I like Wears My Money too Jude. I used to like the Fashion Lift (formerly called something else - think it was school run mum). But it's changed and become very PR orientated now.

Have any of them reviewed the M&S pink dress yet? Because any fashion blogger worth her salt should be having a field day with that. Or are they all too scared?

I think most bloggers/Youtubers were in the right place at the right time. Nowadays it is much harder to be successful in it.

What bothers me is when they will upload a Youtube video or blogpost without saying its an ad in the title; this is also against the law (i think) they will leave it up for an hour or so when most people will click on to watch/read it and then will include the ad in the title.

Sneaky things like when they get sent clothes/makeup and make a post/video about it....couple of weeks later they're selling in on their depop.

I think I would find terms such as "frumpy" and "middle aged timidity" and "suitable for 60+" very hurtful and I think not terms anyone would use to anyone else to their face. I get that people who choose to put themselves "out there" must have to accept they are not going to get plaudits at every turn bit we as consumers of their content can choose not to read if it doesn't suit. I just think it's unkind to make comments like these

I finally tracked down a pair of those Topshop shoes today and tried them on. I'm afraid I hated them. They were weirdly long and so flat that I couldn't imagine walking even half a mile in them. Disappointing, as I've been looking for red ballet shoes for ages, since my old pair died. :(

Remus those TS red shoes are horrendous. They look plastic and very cheap. Unless you have Avery dainty tanned narrow foot, I can't imagine them looking well. I'm a size six and they were utterly awful as well as a very poor fit. DMB40 wears them well but she is the only one imo.