To clarify - No, I don't want to have just a negative review blog. LOL! That would be too much work and I don't like to work in SL that much.
However, I think almost all of the fashion blogs out there now [mine included, I'm just as guilty as almost everyone else] have turned into these "I got this pretty thing from this pretty person and look how pretty I look in it!" type of blogs. And that's ok, people like to see pretty things. I know I do.
But when I see something on a blog, I [naively] trust that how it looks on a specific blog is actually how it looks. This is not always the case. There are bloggers who are using Photoshop to clean up a LOT of things to make their photos look better. I will fully admit that I use Liquify in Photoshop to take some of the sharp angles off of my body, especially on my legs. For example:
As you can see, I even slightly touched up the ankle. Is it probably not the best thing to do because people may believe that their ankle will be smooth too? If I were reviewing the shoes, of course. If I were reviewing the shoes, I wouldn't touch up the ankle at all. But in a normal photo, I do. But I do not erase bad seams or hems or fix the prims.
A point was made that many of the bloggers & designers strike up friendships so a lot of the time things are noticed before they are sold anyway. And this is true and it's a GOOD thing. If you're a designer, you owe it to yourself to get some beta testers. I have been very lucky to have been a beta tester for several designers in the past and LOVE doing it. I do not hesitate to tell them if there is something about a particular item that I think needs to be fixed for better wearability. It helps me as a shopper because I get something pretty, and it helps them as designers because they can't fix what they don't know about, right? And usually, the designers are happy to fix what needs it, or they will explain to me why it looks the way that it does. And that's pretty awesome too. :)
Now, it was also brought up that blog readers aren't reading, they're just looking at the pictures and so writing reviews wouldn't help anyway. I don't find that this is entirely true. And hey, you know what? If it IS true - write on the picture. Point stuff out! Obviously everyone has some kind of photo editing program, it's easy enough to do.
I'm not looking for drama, I'm not looking to start some huge war because maybe someone wants to do an honest review and feels they'll get crucified for it. I just think that maybe once in a while we owe it to the people who read blogs to give them a real review because hey, you know what? We probably got the item for free and someone else is going to go spend money on it.
Also, these are just my opinions. You have your own, too. :) But just to clarify once again - I did not say that I wanted to do a big ol' fashion review blog full of ugly and negative comments, so stop twisting my words around. :-p
4 comments:
Bloody well right. (I love Supertamp)
I thought your other blog was quite right, and well done, and true.
If people choose to deliberately misunderstand, and cause drama, pfft. They are nothing to me... like the annoying buzz of a fall fly, trapped in my kitchen until I find the swatter and flatten it.
I enjoy your blogging, it is honest, open, and fun. Don't change.
That is one big problem with the blogs and SL, one person will say something negative and it will snowball to so many other people. People are so incredibly catty and vindictive. That's the times where I just want to say it's just Second Life you are here to have fun get over it! Sigh.
LOL Ali, start a war!
Haha seriously I remember I choosed you to review my 2 generation skins 'cos you were the only one that said something bad about my 1st skins, I love that kind of reviews but not reviews where everything is negative.
Now getting deep in the topic, what bloggers don't think is that making reviews would be beneficial for customers due to designers will improve their designs to get better reviews. Example: let's suppose you are a famous blogger, and you put score to your reviews, then you put a 7 to a item of 1 designer, then designer B would try to make a better item to get a 8, and then designer A would try improve to get better score than designer B.
So for us is better if bloggers just post photos, less work, more sales, so I don't know why I am saying all this, I suppose I am just honest :P
Besides all this, there are also negative points. If blogs starts to make reviews, like, how many designers would start blogging to review their own items? How many bloggers could be objective with their friend designers? How many designers would have in their black list some bloggers? How a customer knows if the blogger is objective? I am sure SCD couldn't do a objective review about lelutka.
Well it's a complicate topic, but belongs to blogger's comunity discuss this now, not designers :)
I would actually love to see a fashion blog with a healthy balance of constructive criticism — but I'm not sure if anyone is brave enough. LOL — I have learned firsthand the dire consequences of publicly criticizing a designer.
But case in point, on a blog the other day I saw a really gorgeous photo of a really gorgeous 1200L gown made by a designer I was unfamiliar with. The pic was beautiful and the blogger was raving about the dress. I loved the way the dress looked, so I bought it . . . only to discover that the pattern was actually quite atrocious close-up and the seams didn't line up. I had a wild urge to write a blog linking to that one and saying, "Here's what the damn thing REALLY looks like." So I totally get the frustration with bloggers who rave about their friends' creations, because obviously that had to have been the case with that one.
This made me think about my own posts. My attempts at fashion posts are a pretty equal mix of things I've bought and loved, things that designers I don't know have given me to review, and things my designer friends have dropped on me. I am not ashamed to say, "Hey, my friend made this and I think it's cool." And I've also made some tough decisions not to blog stuff that both friends and unknown designers have dropped on me because I flat out didn't like it.
So I think I'm in good shape! Thank you for letting me share with you how ethical and balanced I am. ROFL
I like to write pointless comments that are longer than your actual posts.
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