As a fashion student, you always
want to consider all your options within the fashion industry.
Recent
Ryerson University graduate Amanda Stines has been in the position most of us
are in now. She currently has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Arts and
Contemporary Studies with a Honours diploma in Fashion Business Industry from
George Brown College. She has gained experience within the Fashion Industry by
having internships with Holt Renfrew, Seventeen
Magazine, LOULOU and the digital
magazine, The Kit. I was also an
online fashion contributor for the GUESS Watches fashion blog, GUESS Access and currently run my own
fashion blog, Amanda's Fashion Spot, “she
says. With these opportunities Stines was able to have a career and basically
live out her dreams. Through the Fashion Business Industry program, especially
the Fashion Journalism elective, she was able to utilize the skills and use the
information given to her to start her own blog and be successful at what she
does.
Being a fashion blogger, you obviously
have to know about fashion. The ins and outs. What's trending at the moment,
what's coming back into style. “Fashion is the something that I have always
loved. When I was younger, I always expressing myself and fashion a way for me
to do that,” says Stines. “I used to enjoy spending time with my mother and
aunts who loved fashion, shopping and reading magazines so their interests
rubbed off on me, “ she adds. There is more to being a blogger than what meets
the eye. A fashion blog can be about many different things such as: different
types of clothing and accessory pieces, celebrity fashion statements and urban
fashion trends. Most fashion blogs cover fashion from the biggest designer
brands to an average person walking down the street.
Amanda started her blog almost six
years ago. She is still shocked how much time has passed. “I started Amanda's Fashion Spot because I really wanted to obtain an
internship, and I struggled to find one, so I decided to start my blog,” she
says. “I felt empowered when I started
my blog because I felt as if I had my own special place in fashion.” Starting something that you feel strongly
about can give you a sense of entitlement. When putting your all into
everything there is an element of risk-taking. With Stines blog she's simply
sharing her interests with other individuals. While having true personality.
Everyone who knows the fashion
industry well enough knows that there are perqs to being a fashion blogger,
such as “having your own voice and creative freedom to write about and feature
whatever you choose,” she says. As a fashion blogger she has been able to
preview select fashion collections before anyone else. “I have received free
products and it is always flattering when companies reach out to me and ask me
to blog about them,“ she says. Being a fashion blogger also helped her get
chosen as one of the Canadian finalists for GUESS Watches One To Watch worldwide
contest.
Stines gives credit to George Brown
College and acknowledges that particular courses that were mandatory to the
program helped her for the long run in the career and more importantly helped
her with her career as a blogger. In fact, it was the Fashion Journalism course
that awakened her passion for fashion journalism and inspired her to write
about fashion. “I actually started my blog while I was taking the Fashion
Journalism course! Being at George Brown College, I was able to learn to so
much about the fashion industry and that made me want to have my own voice in
the fashion industry, which my blog allowed.”
Her advice for someone who wants to
be a successful fashion blogger is firstly to determine what your intentions
are. What do you want to do? Do you want to share your favorite outfits?
Discuss fashion news? Write about the latest trends? Of course do what you want
to do, but be sure to have a main idea. Having a clear focus and staying
consistent is the best way to have success as a blogger. “If a young fashion
student would like to start a blog, I think that they should go ahead and do
it! Right now, is a great and easy time to start a blog. With the popularity of
social media, there are so many ways that someone can start a blog and express
their fashion point of view.” she says. “Instagram is a great way to show your
daily outfits or daily outfit inspirations, and Twitter can also be used to
write about you're fashion point of view,” she adds. “Most importantly, no
matter what profession you're in, make sure that you're always having fun and
staying true to yourself. Be who you are! Accept yourself as you really are,
not as someone else thinks you should be. Do not take action or pretend to be
someone else for the sake of gaining acceptance. “
