I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog and what it means to me. It all started waaaay back in 2011 when I was just a wee freshman in high school. I was drawn to the big name prep blogs that were huge back in the day (and still have traction now!) like Classy Girls Wear Pearls, The College Prepster, and Design Darling, and I tried to mold my style around what these women wore — except, it didn’t feel right. Then, I found “higher fashion” blogs, like Cupcakes & Cashmere and WeWoreWhat. This style didn’t really feel right to me either (and it was fairly unattainable, considering the prices these women pay for their clothing/the brands that gift them the clothes), so I was at an impasse: if I couldn’t be preppy, and I couldn’t be “high fashion,” what could I be?
This is where style really became a passion for me. In this moment, while I was dangling in the terrible personal style in-between where one doesn’t really know what to wear, I had an epiphany. What if, just what if, style wasn’t just replicating what other people wore? What if there was such a thing as a personal style that doesn’t fit into a defined box? It was then that I realized that I could wear whatever I wanted, and it would be my fashion. This was the first time Lichtenstyle really changed from a website with occasional outfit photos to something that I considered tied to my future as a fashion journalist; this was junior year of high school.
At this point, I bought a domain and moved everything I had written from Blogger to WordPress. I figured that if I wanted my blog to be a professional investment, it needed to look the part. I tried consistently to keep the website up, but the monotony of trend pieces and random outfit pictures made updating Lichtenstyle more of a chore than something I enjoyed doing. This cycle kept going until about three weeks ago
You see, my passion has always been fashion journalism, but it’s always been less about what to wear and how to wear it and more about the problems of the industry. As a young, plus-size woman preparing to enter into the fashion industry, I felt a bit backed into a corner. Back in 2011 when I started this blog, plus-size collections were still fairly taboo, and a plus-size model on the cover of any magazine was basically unheard of. The style world made it very clear it wanted nothing to do with people my size, and I took my anger and used it to fuel my writing.
Having been able to write for Inkredibly, an amazing site that fosters passion in writers by allowing them to freely discuss whatever they feel most strongly about, I really developed my love of calling out the fashion industry on its BS. Classism, size discrimination, and cultural appropriation were all on my radar; however, my time with the publication eventually came to an end, and my need to write such meaty content was left trapped inside me, waiting to get out.
So, when I realized that Lichtenstyle was in need of a makeover (a real one), I knew that my first order of business would be to include more of that social justice style of writing. Enter Fast Takes Friday, my new monthly feature that allows me to highlight different aspects of the style industry that need to be discussed. Sort of like hot takes, I’ll be analyzing an issue that I think needs to be called out and giving my own opinions. You are welcome to disagree with me on any topics, because creating a public forum for agreement/disagreement is what makes truly great journalism.
Other changes to the website include different kinds of content, like slideshows and listicles, not just outfit posts. Don’t fret, though, outfit posts are still a thing! New content will be coming your way on Mondays, Thursdays, & (monhtly) Fridays starting now, so watch out for them. Or, better yet, sign-up for the mailing list in the sidebar and never miss a post!
Thank you for making Lichtenstyle what it currently is, and thank you for continuing this journey with me. Lichtenstyle is ever growing and changing, and all I can ask for is some company on this wild ride.