Confessions of a Fashion Blogger

I'm guest posting for Robyn on What's Hanging today, sharing my favorite summer trends. Be sure to check it out!

I have been having so much fun doing these little "get-to-know-me" posts for the past few weeks, I just had to keep it going today with some confessions. Last week, I shared with you the 7 Deadly Sins of Fashion tag, and the week before was my Glamour magazine inspired "Hey, It's Okay" post. Today, I'm going to let you in on some of the silly/ridiculous/obsessive (read: necessary) things I do for the sake of my blog, or because of it.

{adapted from this meme}

1. I take my outfit pictures in bulk. Normally this happens on weekends, and the occasional weeknight. I'll pick out 4-5 outfits which I have worn recently, or plan to wear, and shoot them all at once for convenience sake. Who takes my pictures? That would be my friend Mallory. She used to have a blog of her own and we took pictures for each other, but she decided it wasn't for her. She graciously still takes my pics, though :) I also had a fabulous shoot last night with my friend Jennifer of Envision Images. You'll see those up on the blog soon!

2. I stalk other bloggers. Yep, I said it. I love to go back through my favorite bloggers' old posts to see how they started, and how they got where they are today. I love a good success story, and I also hope to learn some tips as I filter their posts.

3. I started this blog because I had a major Pinterest obsession. I was that girl who was on Pinterest for hours a day (I'm sure some of you can relate) and would make impulse purchases based on some of the pins I came across. I decided after months of being Pinterest shopping obsessed, I had to make my fashion fixation into something more productive. That's when Style Diary was born. I can't say that I'm not still a frequent pinner/online shopper, but at least I can share my finds with all of you, which is such a fun way to connect with other fashion lovers out there.

4. I follow 445 blogs on Bloglovin'. That doesn't include the ones I follow via email. Now, I don't find the time to read them all, and some I followed to enter an exceptionally awesome giveaway (we've all done it), but I try to find a little time to browse through new posts each day. My favorite thing about Bloglovin' is that you can put blogs you follow into categories (some of mine are Favorites, Nails, Food, etc.) to make them easy to sort through.

5. I am the most fashion obsessed person I know (in real life, that is). In fact, several of my closest friends don't even like shopping (GASP!!). I will be the one in a dress or skirt and heels when going out to dinner, while most of my friends are wearing tanks and jean shorts. And I don't care. I wear what I wear because I like it, not to look like everyone else.

6. I edit my photos with Gimp. What is Gimp, you ask? It's a free software that has similar features to Photoshop, because I'm too cheap to buy the real thing. Or maybe I just use most of my spending money on clothes... Anyway, I find that Gimp is fairly user friendly after you figure out what you're doing, and there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube to help when you get stuck.

7. It's hard not to be influenced to be "perfect." So this one is a little more serious instead of silly or informational, but I wanted to include it because its something I think about a lot. Reading blogs, not to mention writing one, creates a lot of pressure to have it all together. I even feel this way about parts of my life that blogging doesn't touch. To name a few, blogging makes me want to: eat healthier, work out more, grow a couple inches, redecorate my apartment, buy a new wardrobe, etc. To do those things is okay, but I really have to think about the motivation behind them. (i.e. Do I want to work out more to be healthier, or because I'm afraid my thighs look a little bigger than I'm comfortable with in my pictures?) I have to remember to just be me, do what makes me happy, and do it because it makes me happy, not because I think it's what other people want to see.

On the other side of the pressure is a community of wonderfully supportive and encouraging readers and friends who make me smile with sweet comments every day. The positive feedback I get from you guys pushes me to want to put more effort into my blog and create something I am really proud of. Thank you for that!

So there you have it, a little background on how I keep this blog up and running, and why I do it. Are there things you wonder about your favorite bloggers? What are they?

<3 Katie