Ogilvy Youth

There’s a fantastic, thoughtful article by Carina Chocano in the NYTimes today addressing the love-hate phenomenon we have with fashion and lifestyle blogs.  As a tech-savvy Millennial, these blogs and Pinterest boards have replaced magazines for me.  The New Yorker and Vanity Fair are the two subscriptions that I actually pay for (and yes, I realize that makes me about 50 years old).  In the place of Vogue smugness that comes once a month, I can get The Sartorialist smugness that comes whenever he uploads a picture.

In addition to Ms. Chocano’s excellent analysis of why we flock to “curated” content on blog and Pinterest, I’d like to add one more point.  Yes, it’s a way to establish who we want to be and present that image to the world.  But why do we look at others’ virtual dreamboxes?  I mean, we’re all complicit in hardcore “lifestyle pornography”.   These bloggers or “curators” - they have no authority on the topics they cover besides a civilian interest.  Rumi, Emily, Leandra - none of the top fashion bloggers were fashion insiders when they started.  And this is a good thing.  The fact that these are ordinary people, sharing that element of “sameness” or approachability, is perhaps more powerful than actual authority.  We want to follow people we relate to, who feel like our coolest friend.  The fact that these bloggers aren’t part of the scene, that they’re one of us, is just as powerful as our own yearning to create and express.  Millennials discover, grow, and dream with these bloggers, we don’t take mandates from them.

Ms. Chocano’s piece is one of the most articulate and intelligent pieces I’ve read on this topic.  Well done, and thank you for giving us something to think about.

- Felicia