Thursday: Real Life Dec 20, 2012
I read recently on a forum that people are finding fashion blogs to become more and more false, more like catalogs. Perfectly airbrushed girls skipping through leaves drinking lattes and wearing Karen Walker sunglasses. Where's the outfits people really wear to the grocery store, on Casual Friday, when sick?
Well here you go folks, this is what a fashion blogger wears when she has the flu yet still has to go to work. I am drugged up, hydrated, full of vitamin C and in the office even so I feel like death. And this is what I am wearing. Comfy tee shirt (yeah, I now have 6 of these tee shirts), jeggings that are so old and soft they feel like knit leggings, flat boots, and the coziest most comforting sweater in my wardrobe. And yes, I wore this same sweater almost all day yesterday when at home, wrapped up in an afghan watching Ricki Lake and coughing my head off.
Tuesday I came to work and hardly brushed my hair or washed my face and felt and looked awful. Every time I bumped into a coworker they took a double-take, I looked so dreadful and not me. I knew I had to be at work today even though I feel worse today than Tuesday so I made some effort – I curled my hair in large sections and did my makeup. It's amazing how much better I feel knowing I don't look as horrible as I feel.
Many blogs show real life – what we wear to work, to the market, and when we are sick. Not every blog is an airbrushed faux reality, you just need to dig a little deeper into the blogosphere and you can find us women in grandma sweaters and faded black jeans, sniffling through a day at the office.
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Absolutely love that sweater.
Even when sick, you still look fab! Thanks for bringing “the real” to the blogosphere. Hope you are feeling better!!
allie, you are the best. I hope you are feeling better by now!
I love this! Thank you for sharing your “real” self. The fashion blogosphere is definitely flooded with perfectly planned looks and photoshoots that it’s become so less real and more editorial.
I don’t think I’ll ever feel your blog is a fake. Even your most fancy noutfits are wearable and something most people could pull off – and that’s why I keep reading it!
I feel like I read that same forum discussion. GOMI? (Love that site!) I really appreciate when bloggers wear more casual outfits, because casual outfits are what I wear most of the time, so they’re actually very inspiring to me.
Yes, gotta admit I love me some GOMI! 🙂
Love this post! I read a ton of different blogs fashion, beauty, others. Each one I like for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes I like to look at airbrushed perfection because it’s not ME. I enjoy all types of fashion bloggers and take away a little something from them all.
Allie, sometimes I just want to hug you right through your blog because you’re so down to earth and approachable. I hope you feel better and happy holidays 🙂
I love your blog because you always look amazing, but in a real woman way that I can aspire to. I’m so sorry you are sick and hope you feel better soon. I had the flu last year and it was so rough. Take care of yourself and get some rest.
I tend to agree, at least with a lot of the “popular” blogs, that they are just as unrealistic as magazines. I think that’s the beauty of blogs, and it’s getting lost. I want to see people that are like me. And I want to see realistic clothes that they actually wear. All day.
Hope you feel better!
Hope you feel lots better soon! Also, I’ve just had a couple of weeks sick ‘cos I kept working when I really needed to be resting so rest up as much as you can.
Great post! I agree with all the commenters and would also add: the fashion blogs I follow regularly are in part because I like to see how the bloggers change day to day and situation to situation. I love how you change up your look while always being true to your style – – even when you have the flu! This outfit just show more of your stylistic range for all the days of life – including the sick ones (that we all have) — and contains gems of helpful advice, like how those boots elevate the outfit while probably being (almost) as comfy as slippers. Feel better!
Huzzah for real life! Your post inspires me a little more to post my work-from-home pix (no makeup, slouchy clothes, but totally real). Thanks 😉
Oh, no, I hope you feel better soon!
And good for you for posting this photo even though you’re not feeling your best. I have to agree that a lot of blogs do read as false. I mean, why are you in the woods in 5″ Miu Miu heels and a fur coat? I can’t help but think it’s all staged. But, I also agree that there are a lot of us bloggers who don’t stage our shots and who are “real.” I’m happy to be one of those.
Gracey
Sigh..even when you are ill you look more put together than I do on a day when I’m really trying..hope you are better soon..love your blog!
even on a crappy sick day, you still look more chic than the majority of the women in my building. sending get-well vibes your way, lady. sometimes looking good makes you feel just that little bit better + kick-starts a recovery!
I agree with this and glad you posted it. All my posts are real life and I rarely do my hair or wear makeup lol. Most of my shots are taken at work so its what I actually wore that day. I love you for doing this!!!
Haha, I always think the same thing when seeing these amazing looking 6 foot tall skinny women in the perfect settings. Yea, not me! I often wonder what they wear on a daily basis running errands. I really don’t see many people like that in my grocery store so if I were to dress like that I think they would look at me like an alien! Your sweater looks so comfy and I love it! I hope you feel better for Christmas! I actually find the casual looks more approachable and relaxed.
Thank you. I definitely feel the same way. I’m so tired of vacuous fashion blogs.
Feel better! I know how you feel though. I was home sick last week. Something is definitely going around! I hope you are feeling back to normal before Christmas!
Ooh, I’d love to read this thread….what forum?
I’m sick too. Unfortunately, working in the beauty industry, I’ve had to put my face on, do my hair, and put on real clothes for the past, sick, week. Blurgh.
You look nice and cozy. My office is freezing! I’d love to wrap up in that sweater. Hope you feel better soon. Mucinex works wonders for us. Normally, where I would have been sick for a week last month when I was sick, it only lasted 2 days.
Musinex totally saved me when I got the flu and I was in Charleston to officiate a friend’s wedding. Right now I’m taking Alka Seltzer Day and am holding on, but I may stop by CVS on the way home for some Musinex. Thank you!
Keeping it real. 🙂 Feel better soon! <3
Hurray for real life! I must admit, I have gotten frustrated with some fashion blogs for the very reason you mentioned.
Feel better Allie. I think you still look cute, love the sweater.
Feel Better!!!
It’s true that a lot of fashion/personal style blogsters out there seem too good to be true: they have a lot of expensive clothes (how can they afford it: rich sugar daddy, huge debt,…?) and always look like in magazines (airbrushed, many skinny/starved as hell). That’s why I love your blog, you’re real and truly honest, qualities hard to find these days! Keep up the good blogging and I hope you feel better soon! (a lot of people with the flu here in Belgium as well)
Feel better soon.
I’ve read the same complaints on line. But then they find a blogger who’s dressed in an everyday look and complain its not fashionable enough, so you just can’t win!
Great post! It goes along with my motto borrowed from my freshman psych professor, “fake it till you feel it.” Feel better soon!