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Can we chat about fashion Instagrammers/influencers..

971 replies

Cherrypie32 · 28/12/2018 10:44

..because I don’t have anyone in real life to carp about it to. So, I follow a few, am addicted to the stories/feeds of some but don’t always know why. The ‘high end’ ones, The Frugality, Dress Like A Mum, Emma Hill etc pop up but quite designer and high end for me. I like the ramblings of Does My Bum but I’m nothing like her body shape so don’t wear her clothes. There are a few more ‘high street’ ones I follow, Steal My Style, What Kathy Did, Forty not Frumpy and more but they tend to be repetitive. Is this because they are so heavily sponsored to flog something? At the moment they are all banging on bout All Saints leather bikers and maxi skirts. And they all copy each other so there’s not much new to look at. There are a few I follow with nowhere near the amount of followers that seem more creative and have different body shapes so I presume that they have more liberty to do this as aren’t under afflilate deals.
I don’t need advice to ‘unfollow’, I enjoy looking at it all, just interested in how it all works really.

OP posts:
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YouWereRight · 28/01/2019 14:18

Yes, I understand that it's good practice, but I wondering if for instance if an influencer wore a Gucci disco bag,with the huge GG logo, but this was gifted, everybody knows where that bag is from. But if it's not tagged as Gucci, and therefore not #ad, is not disclosing this technically within the rules?

Does that make sense? I'm wondering if there will suddenly be an influx of huge logos and no tags.

HTKS · 28/01/2019 14:24

Was that CS onemouse? I really like her and was surprised to see a really petulant “I’ve done so much for small businesses I’ve pretty much made their living for them and now my content will all be crap and ruined so I’m not posting anymore and now watch and see all the small businesses go bust SO THERE” statement from her.

Templehead · 28/01/2019 14:28

I think when the trust goes then something breaks in the influencer/follower relationship. The backlash against the need to disclose ads/gifts/payments is very unedifying. In my line of work there are very strict professional rules about accepting corporate gifts/hospitality that have to be followed to the letter. Why should it be any different for them?
I'm finding all the sarcasm and pointed listing of items (eg. a bag their child got from a friend) a bit infantile. They make a good living out of it so just own it and grow up - take a leaf out of DMBL40's book.
This morning I saw one reference to "new Prada shades 'courtesy of' [tagged store]". So is that a gift? I would presume so otherwise why tag 🙄

MaryPoppinjay · 28/01/2019 14:30

@HTKS I thought it was LS (less of an Instamum and more runs a magazine type blog - which is very good and I really like so giving her another chance as my feed will be bare soon...). If CS is who I think it is I stopped following her ages ago as I found her a bit aggro but can well imagine this coming from her.

StateofIndependance · 28/01/2019 14:45

Gifts are definitely taxable and for this reason you have to decide whether to accept them or not. My dp's company got taken over and they were all given a 'gift' of an expensive product that the new company made. Only later (not being accustomed to getting gifts at work) did they realise that it was classed as a taxable benefit and ended up costing them rather a lot of money.

AtHomeInFrance · 28/01/2019 14:50

Who are CS & LS?

MaryPoppinjay · 28/01/2019 14:55

@YouWereRight honestly don’t know. But then again it’s not my job to know. If my income depended on it I’d soon find out and play on the right side of the regs just in case.

Let’s hope everytime they have received a gift they have put a little aside to pay for it’s tax. Emma Hill said on post yesterday she sends back unwanted gifts as she is aware she has to pay tax on them so only keeps stuff she wants.
Ignorance is no defence unfortunately when it comes to HMRC

HTKS · 28/01/2019 15:19

CS is Cara Sutherland. I like her, dark humour. Not sure about LS

Bloominglovely · 28/01/2019 15:50

AlexinLondon - who is the youngest by far that I follow and the ONLY one other than DMBL40 who is not being petulant and entitled about declaring.. Today she stated she is proud of what she has set up. It’s a pity I am so NOT in her aimed audience demographic but she has a cheery disposition and a great eye for styling clothes. She really shows up the ones who are older than her and old enough to know better.

JessicaPeach · 28/01/2019 16:24

It wasn't cara Sutherland, she hasn't tagged a H&M gift. I find her quite funny but she is another who often moans at her followers about her followers

SplatPancake · 28/01/2019 16:32

It would be interesting if early adopters of transparency like DMBL40 and A Life to Style wrote something about how (if at all) things changed for them when they went full disclosure. I have continued to read and enjoy their content, not bothered (if surprised) by the sheer amount of gifts. At least you know what’s what with them. No sniping at readership and/or the law required...

JessicaPeach · 28/01/2019 16:36

Yes splat it would be. Kat was very resistant at first (which she'd be the first to admit) It would be interesting to know from her perspective why she didn't disclose, why she changed her mind and what the impact was. I thought I'd seen her say somewhere that she was a bit miffed that people were resisting so her take on it would be interesting.

PleaseDoNotBend · 28/01/2019 16:49

Yes I would like to see that too. Kat got a lot of stick but she adapted to the calls for transparency and I can't see it has done anything other than strengthen her personal brand because she seems trustworthy. It must have annoyed her (unless she is a saint) to see people working on the same campaigns and with the same brands not disclosing their deals while she was. I mean, I'm very happy that some of them have now adopted a more transparent approach, but fucking hell, does it really take the threat of going to prison to make people do the right thing? It's embarrassing.

SuperstarDJ · 28/01/2019 16:55

Cara Sutherland has deleted some stories and stated that she’s sorry if they caused any offence. Anyone know what that’s about?

PleaseDoNotBend · 28/01/2019 16:57

Also for all the interiors bloggers putting [AD - gifted items in the photo] and thinking it is enough. It's not. Grow up.

JessicaPeach · 28/01/2019 16:58

It was that she'd been looking at some houses near broadmoor and she'd like to stay a podcast interviewing some of the 'nutters' in there. Got some messages pointing out the my were patients etc so did a half apology but said the patients there weren't high on her list of people she was worried about offending. Then deleted them

Bloominglovely · 28/01/2019 17:05

the patients weren’t high on her list

Bloody hell. After all the work that is trying to raise the profile of mental health. The influencers have to be accountable or they are dangerous!

AtHomeInFrance · 28/01/2019 17:05

Some of them really are doing themselves no favours - slapping down any criticism, however polite, and then only engaging with the fan girls. Another reminder that it's not a place for critical thinking or conversation - just a shop window.

PleaseDoNotBend · 28/01/2019 17:10

I've actually noticed recently that on a lot of the accounts there is very little engagement in terms of comments from real people. It's mainly other bloggers slapping them on the back. I think people are getting bored with instagram now. Only going to get worse when people realise how much is AD. If I was a blogger I would be eying up my next career move.

JSSB · 28/01/2019 17:21

I've recently discovered styled by susie. She's a personal shopper and has lots of high street suggestions. I've actually bought a couple of things she's featured. I also really like mutha.hood. She seems lovely.

MaryPoppinjay · 28/01/2019 17:24

The whole liking and commenting on each other’s posts to show engagement smacks of a social media Ponzi scheme. Nearly as bad as stories begging for likes on an ad post - if it’s not organic then they are misleading their advertisers as well.
Hopefully once they all start declaring then it will be a more even playing field for the ones with a genuine talent for creating content that people want to consume. They are out there and should be rewarded accordingly.

PleaseDoNotBend · 28/01/2019 17:28

I follow some marketing people on twitter and they think influencer fraud is the next thing coming. Fake likes, fake followers, follow-unfollow to gain more followers, fake comments, fake views on youtube. The industry is riddled with shady practices. Undisclosed advertising is only a part of it.

MaryPoppinjay · 28/01/2019 17:35

@PleaseDoNotBend can you imagine if brands started asking for their money back from people who have bought followers and so misrepresented their offering?
Interiors bloggers are AWFUL at declaring. Getting a free lip gloss is one thing, getting your house largely furnished for free from brands then using said house to grow your following further...

hopeishere · 28/01/2019 17:49

I think the thing about Kat is that she is more than the clothes. So the in car wittering is what I like to hear and her general chatter. For the ones like MrsM who's usp is printing stuff that's going to be harder.

PleaseDoNotBend · 28/01/2019 17:53

The bloggers like to complain magazines are treated more leniently than them, but at least magazine circulation figures are subject to verification. If you place an AD in Elle, you have a good idea of the size and demographic of the audience you may reach. I'm sure the brands have no idea with bloggers half the time because they don't bother to check. Half their followers could be bots generated out of India (sometimes they look like they are). Better regulation is required.

Agree re the interiors bloggers. I've seen some of them moaning that they will have to mark their whole house as an AD now and not see the problem with that Hmm