10
Last month KOS turned 10 years old
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When KOS began, there was only a small handful of blogs around at the time. I don't even remember which ones. Style Bubble preceded us by 3 months but basically when we began no blogs catered for our tastes at all. We wanted to focus not only on fashion but also lifestyle, design, music and all the things that interested us. But mostly we were sick of being spoon-fed paid for advertising featured in magazines. Nothing felt authentic to us any more. How can you open the pages of a magazine, where every page equals dollars, and believe what is written? If I read a mascara review, I couldn't be sure their glowing review was because it was true or because they got paid to say it. It was definitely time for a change. And the handful of us blogging originators decided to make that happen. We would write honest opinions about collections, whether this or that new product sucked, call out shops for ripping off independent designers - all the things magazines couldn't, and wouldn't do, we did. Queen Marie and I were particularly fearless!
10 years down the line and I like to think Queen Marie and I are still fearless. The blogging landscape has changed dramatically though. Somethings are better, some things are way worse. Mostly, though blogging has just become what magazine were, and still are, and what we were kicking against to begin with. But back then, it was a hobby for everyone. No-one ever thought it would make you money.
There have been many times I've thought about giving it up. Many times. Honestly, I generally dislike what blogging has become but it does sometimes feel like a case of harmonise or die. But also, for a long time, I wasn't getting anything creative out of blogging. I wanted to create nice layouts and actually design my posts but the limitations of Typepad were huge. The a few years ago we changed over to another blogging platform and for me personally, being a creative, it completely reinvigorated my passion for blogging, since I could now create better layouts. I'm still learning about the possibilities of the platform even now, 2 years later.
Ye olden days outfit post, back when we only had 400 pixels to play with!
Back in 2006 it was quite different for us in other ways too. We posted twice a day, every day and had a very active community of readers. We wrote things for them and they gave back to us in the form of comments and discussion. It was exciting hearing from all these people we didn't know, all across the world, who shared a common interest with us. Now of course we don't have that interaction and I do sometimes think "what's the point of putting in all this effort to get naff all back in return?". But the fact is, whether our readers decide to interact or not, I get a thrill laying out an outfit feature, or sourcing new designers for you, or sharing things I've bought or made.
Yes, we will give up blogging one day, but in the meantime we will still continue to fight the power, fight the corporate machine and fight the Monday blues with outfits that will hopefully put a smile on your faces.
Here's to another 10.
