On Being Yourself & Personal Style

I finally got around to fixing the sizing issue re: the photos on this blog and I just realized hey, I've been doing this for over a year now (the whole personal style blog thing). It's taken me a while to figure out what I want to do with this blog; it's true what they say about having to figure out who you aren't to figure out who you are. And so these are some of the things I've figured out, re: personal style and being yourself (not that you have a choice).

(1) Forget "trendy". I understand that SEO and marketing are important things re: monetizing your blog but also, it shuts you off from being yourself a lot of the time because it creates pressure to fit in. And if you're going to be like everyone else, then why on earth would anyone want to read your blog?

It's also harder and harder to find people's style interesting: I feel like no one does anything un-safe or "normal" anymore. Everyone's wearing things they think will make them look "fashionable" instead of things that reflect their style (the very point of personal style, I think). Throw away the heels if you don't really wear them out, ditch the maxi skirt that dips in the rain--unless that's what you want to wear. Wear what you actually wear.

(2) Forget freebies. I can name a billion people (including myself) who had free stuff on the mind when they started taking photos of themselves and what they wore. And I must admit, I got pretty crazy at the beginning when I started getting stuff from online stores and passes to bazaars--you can just imagine how I felt when I got asked by Zalora to be one of their brand ambassadors--but things get lost in the hullaballoo of what to wear and what to post about and will I actually wear this and before you know it, you're forgetting that there's life outside what you wear and which sponsors you've gotten. This is why I stopped doing this: it went against the very reason that I like blogging and why the blogosphere is so interesting to me. Each blog is a glimpse into a life and I don't want mine to be just "hey, look at the cool stuff I got". 

(3) Forget "fame". I'm not saying that I don't want followers or readers--no one can blame you for that. Part of the reason why we write is because we'd like for what we write to be read. But also, since the advent of the bloggerebrity (someone famous for no real reason other than owning an awesome blog), I feel like so many blogs have come out that don't have an ounce of originality to them. People forget that blog-fame is a byproduct of a good blog (good writing, interesting content) and not vice versa.

 So many blogs that want to be famous are terribly written and offer no real insight into the person's life. This is why I love blogs like AlessiLikesIt and ArtsyFartsyAva: even if they inevitably talk about fashion and food and style, they also tell you about themselves and offer a real point of view on whatever it is they're blogging about. 

(4) Forget formula. Part of me wants to go back to my subdomain (winawonders.blogspot.com) because the formula nowadays seems to be (1) get clothes that will get you mistaken for someone famous (2) buy an SLR (3) take photos of you wearing said clothes (4) buy a domain (5) get followers. It's all so boring. And no one smiles in any of these damn pictures. I also have renounced follower-trading (I'll follow you if you follow me) because it's all such crap: most of the time people just want the big numbers popping up in their stats and don't actually read any of the blogs they've "followed back". It's ridiculous.

(5)  Don't Forget Fun. It should be fun. Or at least soothing. Otherwise, click Delete.

Q & A Tuesday!

Hi, everyone! I've been getting a lot of e-mails over at gmd.puangco@winawonders.com lately and I thought I'd share a couple of them with you--I"ll be doing this every Tuesday so don't hesitate to send me an e-mail. I've decided to post up the answers here in case other people have the same question. :) Also, if you don't want your name mentioned, please let me know!

Don't forget to leave the city you belong to (if you're in Metro Manila, I may just send you something) and your blog/website (if you have one).

*names have been changed per request of person

Q1 from Anna Banana*, Pasig City: Hi, Ms. Wina. Question lang po--sorry if it's a little personal pero are you rich? Your website looks nice po kasi and I'm trying to make my own blog pero it's difficult kasi wala po ako money. Thanks. And sorry po ulit.

A: No, I'm not rich. My parents are pretty well-off; they've made names for themselves but I myself am not rich. At the moment (and usually) I have like 2,000 bucks to my name, total. Most of my money has been hard-earned by selling vintage clothing and the bit I get from my parents goes into survival. 

But I suppose what you're asking is do you really need money to make your blog beautiful? Kung wala kang pera wala ka na bang magagawa? My answer to that is hell no. See, where money ends, begins the need for street smarts. Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying it'll be easy; mas madali talaga pag may pera kasi hindi ka tatanggihan pero kung gusto mo talaga, makakahanap ka ng paraan. 

Here are a couple of tips for fashion blogging on a budget:

How To | Blogging "Alone"

So, there might be a little confusion as to what I mean when I say Blogging "Alone" since no one really blogs in a vacuum; we all have an audience and we all have peers. What I mean by Blogging "Alone" is being on your own when it comes to the logistics of blogging--taking photos, post-processing and (of course) choosing the content of your blog.

A lot of people I know want to start a blog--whether about fashion or otherwise--but are hesitant to because they are unsure about how to do it: who will take their photos, who will design the site, etc. And while I'm far from being a blogging success, I've learned so much these past few months and I thought I'd share 5 of these tips with everyone. :D

1. Invest on a Tripod

Tripods are super, duper handy when shooting outfit of the day photos. :) They're also great for doing hauls (if say, you're putting up a beauty blog) and/or doing make-up, film or book review videos. Because this is more or less a personal style blog, I'll go into the outfit of the day thing the most: I know a lot of people who are shy but who would like to put up their own personal style blogs. A tripod allows you to get rid of that shyness, I think because it gives you room to experiment: you can see which angles work on you and which don't without feeling embarrassed since you're shooting with yourself. It also allows you to develop your photography mojo and gives you the freedom to shoot whenever you want, wherever you want. :)