Closing a door

Jan 13, 2012 By Shann in Misc chatter 42 Comments Tags: good bye

I’ve been debating about how to close out Wardrobe Review for awhile. Should I not say anything and just let it drift away? I was leaning this direction because I think, such is the life of a blog. When it stops appearing in your reader, it is out of sight- out of mind. No reason to call it back to mind just to disappear, right?

But then, I thought maybe that is inconsiderate. I know some of you have been reading my blog for a long time and maybe I had not been completely blinked out of your world yet. Maybe some one was wondering if there was a heinous accident in which I was smothered by over-priced denim and cardigans. It would be cruel to leave them in suspense.

So I am writing, hopefully not to say good-bye to all of you, but to finally let Wardrobe Review, in all its many incarnations, go.

I do not close out this blog with any bitterness. Some of you may remember me venting frustrations with blogging in the past. I don’t know that it was wise to share those thoughts, because I don’t know that I shared them clearly, and worse, I may have appeared to under appreciate you.

You can’t tell from my archives, because I have deleted a lot of old posts, but there was a time when I posted here multiple times a week for many months. It was during this time that I became frustrated with the “success” of my blog compared to others. It seemed to me that I tried very hard to write well, honestly, and share useful information. While the most adored blogs were about mass consumption, vanity, and lack of imagination.

I may repeat my mistake by bringing it up lol but I wanted to say that venting about it here on the blog, allowed me to let it go and I saw that the readers I did have were more important than mere numbers becasue we shared something. We were like minded personalities and as in real life, to me, one person who ‘gets it’ is worth more than a million superficial acquaintances. I carry that experience forward.

After that I saw the blog differently and I realized I only blogged because, 1- I love to write and 2-I enjoyed connecting with those few. I knew then I didn’t want anything to do with blog success really. I didn’t want to advertise or to meet PR people. I didn’t care or desire to participate in the ‘real’ fashion and retail industry. And so, I went on posting here only when I felt the urge.

Over the summer I gave a lot of thought about writing a book. Thanks to all who encouraged me! I was torn for a long time though on what perspective to take in the narration. From what point of view to share the information. I finally decided the most honest way to write would be to write it just as I have done here on the blog. But, I’ve already done that It’s already here. And I wrote about it while I lived it and while it was important to me. I could never rewrite the evolution better than I did the first time.

In the 3 plus years that I have been writing Wardrobe Review, I have posted on every aspect of style, fashion, and shopping that has ever interested me. To continue would be to just recycle old ideas and thoughts.

Instead I want to push myself to write something new. So, I will not be disappearing entirely. I will continue to write on my book blog, Aesop to Oz, and if you ever want to stop by and say Hi, I will be pleased to see you. Don’t hesistate to post an off topic comment or feel out of place becasue it is book talk. There, as here, it is really just me blathering on about whatever comes into my head.

If we don’t talk again, know that I deeply appreciate you reading Wardrobe Review and I hope that this long winded post gave you, and I, a satisfying ending.

If you’re having problems with your real name showing as Comment Id

Oct 24, 2011 By Shann in Misc chatter Tags: blog comments

****UPDATE- The comments appear to be working correctly for guest posters now. You should be able to enter your email address and add any Guest id you choose and have your Id display correctly ****

Hi Ladies, just a quick note about posting comments here on my blog. It’s come to my attention that when posting a comment as a Guest the beginning of the commenter’s email address is showing as their commenter ID. For example, you type in your comment, click Post As, the window pops up for you to log-in or enter your Id. You put in your email “realname@ yahoo .com” the comment system auto fills the Your Name box with “Real Name” from your email addy. Even if you change the name in the box it still displays your email address name.

First, the comment system I am using is Disqus. I changed to this because my old comment system would not allow you to subscribe to replies. Nor did it allow replying to individual comments. I emailed Disqus about this Guest commenting problem. I don’t know that this is an issue that can be fixed. If not, I may remove Disqus from my blog. But there is really not a good alternative to it, so I’m not sure. I could go back to the regular wordpress comment system but I’ll have to install a whole new template for you to be able to subscribe to replies.

Gonna do it, cleaning out the closet

Oct 21, 2011 By Shann in Misc chatter, Sales Tags: ebay

I’ve been cleaning out my closet today and realize

1: I have NOTHING to wear for winter. All my tops are thin and short sleeved *fail*

2: It is well past the time to get rid of some of this stuff!

I always mean to clean out my closet and ebay some shit, but I never do. It’s such a hassel. But I have a big pile of winter stuff to sell and I have an even larger stack of spring items. But I am wondering, is it worth off loading spring weight items now? I’m thinking it would be much better to wait until somewhere in Jan-March but I have no where to put this big stack of clothes until then! I guess I could move it to storage but I’ll have to buy a larger container to fit it all in, it’s over flowing right now.

I’m thinking Ebay instead of blog sale because I have a ton of stuff and want it all gone asap. J.Crew and Anthro mostly. Tops, skirts, jeans, shoes, jackets, and if I was really gonna get it together, jewelry.

What do you think? Ever ebay Spring clothing in Fall? Worth the time or no?

Also, I have some hemmed denim, AG, Citizens, Joes. Have you had any luck selling altered jeans?

The Fashion blogger myth

Sep 18, 2011 By Shann in Misc chatter Tags: affiliates, blog advertising, fashion blogger myth

The fashion blogger myth OR why ads and free clothes doesn’t equal clout, creditability, or trustworthiness.

I didn’t feel the need in the last few days to address the anthro-blog-apocalypse directly on my blog. Anyone who reads my blog regularly is bound to be able to predict my thoughts and I’ve also left my opinions scattered across various blogs in the comments. Although not talking about it much here, I am finding it hard not to think about. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I was surprised. Let’s be real, we all know the world is full of cheats and liars. What really disturbed me about the situation though, was that no one felt they could come forward and call her out on her behavior. I think there are multiple reasons for this and I won’t speculate on all of them. But there is one reason that I think I have the power to try and dispel, and that is the myth that a fashion blogger who has ads on their site and receives free clothing from retailers, has some sort of power.

I think some readers have the impression that many bloggers have a REAL relationship with the stores they write about and this assumed relationship gives the blogger an aura of authority, creditability, and power within blogging communities and in real life. Most blogger are not knowingly using this to their advantage but neither are most talking about.

In defense of bloggers, when they agree to an affiliate program or take on advertising in another fashion, they almost always have to agree to a confidentially clause. Which means, although every blogger is suppose to disclose who their advertisers are, they are not allowed to talk about what they are being paid.