The Project

Kay Gilbert, 17, writes refined style blog, The Stiched, from her home in Cambridge. We caught up with her and asked her a few questions about staying fashionable and up-to-date despite the distractions of everyday life.

FA: What inspired you to start writing The Stitched?

KG: When I started it, I wanted to be a fashion journalist (now I want to be a news journalist), so I thought starting a fashion blog would be a good way to practice writing and researching. Another reason - which I’m sure many fashion bloggers share - is that I didn’t really have anyone who was quite as actively interested in fashion as me. Fashion blogging is a fantastic opportunity to discuss and learn from other like-minded people, and there is a huge amount of information on the internet that doesn’t reach the magazines until months later, if at all.

KG: Fashion blogging can be fairly disheartening. There are so many [blogs]nowadays that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get interest from readers who already visit about ten a day as it is. From my own experience, the three most important things are good content, frequent updates, and promoting your blog. You can attract as many readers as you like, but without interesting, original writing from your own perspective, they’re not going to come back. Also, the most successful blogs generally update daily; people get quickly fed up if there’s nothing new on your blog after a week. When I started blogging, I wasn’t really aware of how readers were gained. I think I just expected them to stumble upon The Stitched! In reality, you have to put in a lot of effort. The most effective way is by commenting on other people’s blogs. I don’t like doing this myself, as it seems very superficial, but it works for most. Some people use sites like Twitter and Facebook, and commenting in forums such as The Fashion Spot can be a good way to get people to visit your blog. When it comes to maintaining your blog, don’t delete it if you’re becoming bored or uninspired. I did this and, trust me, nothing reduces visitor numbers faster.

KG: I like the theatrical nature of the fashion world; each designer has its own character its trying to portray, and I really like that idea. On the most fundamental level, what I love about it is the clothes. The multitude and diversity never fails to amaze me, and there’s a strange kind of satisfaction to be gained by seeing a perfectly executed collection that offers you something you’ve never seen before at the same time. Unfortunately, there’s a lot about the fashion world that I really don’t like: for example, the superficiality of the relationships and standards. It can be undeniably pretentious, and there are few things more inane than ‘fashion talk’ which rarely actually means anything. I also hate how good designers can be overshadowed so easily by someone with half their talent but twice their connections. There are certain designers that are very popular at the moment, but really aren’t anything that amazing; they’ve just been endorsed by the right people.

KG: Style is definitely more important. Fashion isn’t that important to me. Whilst I love looking at the new collections, once they’re here I can’t say I look forward to more than two or three of them. It’s very easy to be detached from fashion when you’re not a part of the industry, whereas style is an aspect of everyday life for me. I don’t labour over looking the best I possibly can, but I enjoy putting together outfits and finding the perfect dress or jumper, etc. The main thing for me is that fashion should be fun, and the easiest way of getting to that point is by focusing on style more than fashion itself. It’s important not to take it too seriously.

FELICITY ALLMAN
FASHION EDITOR