Interning with IFB

I've introduced myself previously, but it's been awhile so here's a lil' recap for ya'all. My name is Hillary. I'm going on my third year at Shimer. I was born and raised in Oregon and chose Shimer due to a great love for books, an attraction to its small size, and a desire to explore the world outside lil' ole Oregon. Thus far, the experience has been even better than I expected. I'm learning a ton, making incredible new friends, growing as a person, and becoming an expert on the CTA. Shimer completely rules. Also completely ruling: my recent internship with the Independent Fashion Bloggers.

I've been keeping my own little fashion blog since I was about 16. The fashion industry intrigues me to an absurd degree. It's full of creative, eccentric people (not unlike Shimer) and the things that it produces are both beautiful and functional. Fashion becomes history. From Marie Antoinette's wigs to the flapper dresses and flats of the 1920's, what we're wearing is a reflection of our society and our clothes can have a major effect on the way we interact with the world around us. I'm not exactly a trendy person. Trends don't work with my personality. I go for the classics more than anything else- little black dresses,  pencil skirts, well-fitted jeans - but I like to keep my finger on the pulse of fashion currents just the same. When I found that there was a community that sought to unite all of us pedestrian fashion journalists, I applied immediately. And that is how my relationship with the Independent Fashion Bloggers began.

There's Vogue and there's Harper's Bazaar. There's Elle Magazine, and some beautiful lesser known fashion publications like Lulu and Flaunt. Up until a few years ago, magazines were just about the sole fashion resource (there are several incredible books on the topic out there, too). But with the dawn of social networking and sites like Blogger and Wordpress, anyone who cares about fashion is now allowed a say on the matter. A lot of people seem to think that the internet is where a bunch of hooligans just let their mouths run about things they haven't truly a clue about, but in the case of fashion blogging this is rarely the case. 85% of the time, fashion blogs are informative, well-researched, and beautifully written. The writers behind them are bold, creative, and inquiring. When the big shots in the industry realized this, fashion bloggers became an integral part of the way designers, models, agents, editors, and the other important fashion folks function. Now you'll see bloggers sitting front row at fashion shows, being the inspiration behind a collection, designing their own line of shoes, getting a cover story with a fashion magazine. Independent Fashion Bloggers is where all these up-and-comers organize and discuss how to improve their work, ethical blogging dilemmas, and interactions with the big names in the fashion world. I am so proud to be a member, and even more proud to be one of three interns for the site.

Thanks the the Shimer Internship program, I am able to spend the majority of my summer keeping the site looking its best. My main purpose on the Independent Fashion Bloggers is to build community. I go over applications, welcome new members, moderate discussions, and roam the internet in pursuit of new recruits. Thus far, all of this has been done from the comfort of my laptop in my home in Oregon - hardly a fashion capital. But when I get back to Chicago in two weeks, the really fun stuff begins. Under the watchful eye of Jennine Tamm, the supervisor of my internship and CEO of IFB, I will be learning how to increase traffic to my blog, basic fashion writing skills, and cool tricks with html. I am really looking forward to being back in Chicago. I've found an overwhelming number of bloggers call the city home.  I can't wait to take advantage of that with blogger meet-ups and I plan to build a strong community of IFB members there. It's already promising to be an interesting, busy summer and I can't wait for the rest of it to take off. 

Comments

[Netiya Shiner]

Hi there... I'm hoping to go to Shimer next year, and I'm a huge fashion enthusiast as well. I like your blog a lot, and I want to follow it through Blogger, but I can't figure out how. In fact, this was the only way I could figure out how to contact you.
Uh, my point is, is there a way I can follow your blog?
Tia