KEY POINTS:
These days there are more people than ever telling you what to wear. They're judging, criticising and assessing your wardrobe. They're continuously coming up with must-haves, It bags, hot-or-nots and the most important trends for spring, summer and autumn. And most of them are publishing these opinions in cyberspace.
A recent article in American fashion industry bible, Women's Wear Daily, reports there are now over 2 million weblogs about fashion cluttering up the internet. And another survey reports that women are spending more time than ever online and that includes reading about, and shopping for, clothes.
Locally, this year at Air New Zealand Fashion Week there seemed to be more internet-based fashion reviewers than ever before. Anyone even vaguely connected to the event wanted to have their say about the clothes online. One has to wonder: what the hell do they know? And should you be listening to all these self-professed experts and their flurry of internet advice?
One of the major reasons why fashion blogs are more popular than ever is because most of the people interested in fashion don't get to go to shows - fashion weeks are industry-only events. Which is why the blogs are great. They allow everyone who wants one an insider's look at what's going on. They're also faster than most other media at getting comments, reviews, gossip and pictures out to the general public.
The other cool thing about fashion blogs is that, in many ways, they're a form of fashion democracy. Once upon a time you would have had your sartorial opinions served to you by a select group of reporters. Now you get specialist sites like Too Fat For Fashion, Beauty Addict and Bag Snob that talk about fashion from their own point of view - in those cases, catering to plus-sizes, cosmetics junkies and accessory fans.
In many ways you also get what some might call a more truthful view of the fashion industry. With the popularity of weblogs you get sites like those run by the Fug Girls, who make mean but hilarious jokes about what celebrities wear in the front row. All of which means that everyone gets to have a say, whether they were there in person or not.
Now here's a funny thing - interestingly, that's also the biggest problem with the preponderance of fashion blogs.
As one recently interviewed American blogger said, "blogging is ridiculously easy to do. My cat could do it. Ninety nine per cent of it is crap."
And with fashion blogs there are so many of the jolly things out there that it's hard to know which (make up the decent 1 per cent, especially when it comes to reviews).
Was some bitchy Pakuranga 12-year-old, with particularly good English skills, writing those opinions after seeing a few seconds of a fashion show on the evening news? Or was it a veteran fashion editor who's been in the business for years and who went to every single runway show in person? To be honest, it probably doesn't really matter.
Sure, it would be great if you got your fashion opinions from someone who knew what they were talking about, who based their opinions on a long-term knowledge of design, who cited historical references and who could tell the difference between a midi, maxi and a mini. Because this is commonly known as an informed opinion.
It would also be good if the opinion came from someone who was actually there, watching the clothes come down the runway, possibly even getting an opportunity to see them up close so they could check the quality of the garments on your behalf.
And it's probably also best if the person writing the review doesn't have some sort of hidden agenda - as in, they're independent and not beholden to a sponsor or advertiser to write reviews in a certain way.
Then again, maybe none of that matters. You might hate what the person with the informed opinion has to say, you might not care whether they were there in person or not. In fact, you might completely agree with the Pakuranga 12-year-old and next season, you'll go and spend your money on the clothes they like best.
So basically what it comes down to is the same thing it comes down to with any kind of review of popular culture, be that art, film, music, literature or television. There's no such thing as a completely objective review.
The best advice this former blogger can give you is to read around and find the fashion reviewer that suits you best. Just like style itself, the fashion blog you subscribe to is totally personal.
