This week’s Blogger Spotlight, selected by us at IFB is Vahni from Grit and Glamour. Aside from her lovely and wearable style, beautiful photos, great life and style tips and pop culture, she’s also contributed great posts to IFB. We love her enthusiasm, knowledge and belief in the community.
Why did you start blogging?
Since I am a writer whose medium is the Web, blogging felt like a natural progression. Initially, I just wanted to play around, have a place to empty the contents of my head. I am insanely curious. My blog gave me a place to explore or expose the thoughts in my head, with no categorical limitations. I had no idea where I was going with it, and almost chucked it all in a few times. But it felt good to write. So the only expectation I placed on myself was to be true to my voice. That is my outlook on life. Be true to you.
Four years, three blogging platforms, and roughly three cameras later, the full scope of what I want Grit and Glamour to be is beginning to materialize. I just kept telling myself, if you build it, they will come.
What is most inspirational for you when blogging?
I am inspired by the connections made through blogging, by the conversations we are having, by the way this medium has forever altered the way fashion companies do business. That blogging is dynamic and multi-faceted is so inspirational. It is the perfect medium for me as a techno-geek writer, because it allows me to meld my love of the written word, imagery, technology, and interactivity—and I am the commander of the ship. I have full editorial control, and it is a body of work I look at and am proud of. Also, because I am attention-challenged, knowing there is always fresh content waiting to be written and read feeds and stimulates me on a visual and intellectual level.
I want to circle back to what I said above, for just a minute. I, like so many bloggers, I enjoy interacting with readers. On Grit and Glamour, you get access to me and my thoughts, and I want to interact with you. After all, I published them on the Internet. I made them—and myself—public. If you are not going to interact with your supporters in this medium, really, what’s the point?
Describe the type of man or woman who would love Grit and Glamour…
The G&G reader is a lover of fashion and well-crafted stories, whether they are funny, investigative, or heartfelt. My reader appreciates a strong, independent, female persona that is genuine, self-deprecating, stylish, and sometimes provocative. Though provocation for the sake of it is not my intention. Sometimes it happens because I don’t kiss ass, and I don’t sugar-coat, so I have inadvertently offended some in the past.
I thought very carefully about my blog name when I created it years ago. Grit and Glamour is me, it is an accurate description of who I am and what you can expect on my blog: one part eccentric style arbiter; one part moody, intellectual artist; one part real-world, no-holds-barred storyteller. Beneath the designer shoes and bags is a real woman, not some blogger deity. I eat at IHOP. I have days that I don’t want to be in front of a camera. I have stresses, struggles, and bills like everyone else. I am a writer who also happens to spend a lot of time contemplating clothing and shoes, and I make no apologies for that. I don’t fit into one box. And I don’t try to. Grit and Glamour is a record of my journey; it is a testament of self-acceptance as much as as it is public proclamation.
Visit Vahni at Grit and Glamour.com
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