Blogs Still Blogging

Aren’t we due for a blogging comeback? Has anyone else been feeling this?

In a world where our media is mostly now 7-30 second long videos, sometimes you just want to sink your teeth into something a little deeper. Sometimes you want to read about real people doing things in their real lives, and have the human connection.

I think it’s amazing what friends of mine have done with their social media accounts on places like Facebook and Instagram. They’ve made it work, grown their following, and heck- maybe even gotten a few paid gigs! So this is in no way to disparage their hard work.

It’s just to say, in a world that says there’s more variety and many options of things that work for many different people, can we have a blogging comeback, please?

Why Should Blogging Make a Comeback?

One of the main concerns all along that I had when adopting Instagram and Facebook was that the content is not easily searchable, and it is locked behind account creation.

For example, when you want to find out a pattern review, are researching a particular decade, looking for a certain sewing technique- social media platforms aren’t the first to pop up in an online search. What we still get are blog results, YouTube, and other information not locked behind “you must create an account”. In fact, of all the magazines I’ve been in, almost all of them have mentioned that they found me through this blog! I think it’s remarkable that I was even in *anything*, but it’s so great to know the hard work and research I put into this little thing was actually being read and enjoyed.

I don’t take this mention to revert back to our original platforms in passing fancy. I did work hard to make up my Facebook and Instagram postings and found a lot of new followers on there. For years and years! I loved that I could play with photography, which I have always loved. I loved experimenting with short video editing. But what worries me is how I saw how quickly all those years and content can be stripped away- by hackers, folks pretending to be you, by getting locked out of accounts or having accounts disabled without warning (I hear it’s very hard to get them back and isn’t always successful). And the notification that AI was being trained off of our content was sort of the nail in the coffin. So, that is to say, that having a high follower count is lovely, and I’m thankful folks found me (I think adopting early was the trick, as I hear it’s harder these days), but it’s ok to reconsider if a certain platform is the right fit *for you*. Everyone wants something different for themselves and *that’s ok*.

I’m not saying I’m going to completely abandon social media. But it’s made me think a lot about media, the content we generate that’s owned by those platforms, and wonder if fast media is really entirely healthy for my brain to be seeing all the time. My concern is that our voices are getting lost in the algorithm, they generate ad revenue based on how much time we spend on there (and our postings contribute at our own time and expense), my content is not easily publicly accessible or searchable, and my ongoing concern over how social media affects mental health.

That’s not to say it needs to be abandoned. It doesn’t mean blogs didn’t (or don’t) give people a sense of FOMO, or bullying didn’t exist (it did). But it is to say that there’s something really nice about sitting down with a cup of tea and having a good ol’ read. It’s kind of like the letters of the digital world. It’s ok if some people love it, other’s not so much, and some just so-so. We have lots of choices and there’s no one right answer.

But why should blogging make a comeback? In my opinion, it’s for slow, simple pleasures. For in-depth research. For connecting with other humans. For nourishing our creative spirits. For sharing our art and creations. Many reasons! And I think many have forgotten it’s an option! Blogs don’t get the comments and shares and “likes”, as social media postings do, but if you’re doing it for your own fulfilment, happiness can outweigh that.

Who’s Still Blogging?

I asked a few friends recently who they know that still blogs. Luckily, they came to my rescue with their own blogs, or blogs they suggested to follow, and through comments I have added more. Let it be known that the above feelings are my own, and each of the following blogs probably has their own opinions, as they are their personal blogs. I’m just glad to see some still exist!

Here’s just a few of those mentioned, in no particular order.

Emily’s Vintage Visions- Emily is another one of my old-timey blog chums. She not only does amazing WWII impressions and beautiful vintage reproductions- she also now owns the Sign of the Golden Scissors! So she’s got some amazing 18th century goodness she does as well.

The Vintage Nerd Sews- Alexia has an eye for detail and combines her ensembles so amazingly authentically. She does 18th century through vintage. And she makes amazing vintage recreations!

ClusterFrock- Megan makes incredible costumes, all the way from Elizabethan, Regency, Victorian, and more! Make sure you check the “Patterns” tab for lots of incredible free patterns for Victorian undies!

The Cup That Cheers- Elizabeth is a fabulous blog, especially for tea connoisseurs that double as costumers! She also *actually makes* vintage recipes, which is super exciting to see!

Time Traveling in Costume- Val is a long time costuming buddy that’s local-ish to me. She has been so good about documenting all her projects for a long time, and has been very active in local costuming circles. She also is in charge of the popular Facebook group for Historical 1700-1919 Pattern Reviews.

Dolly Creates- Esther has a fun blog where she documents her projects- from antiquing, to homemaking, to sewing. Adorable 1940s style, here, and fun vintage sewing!

The Dreamstress- A mainstay in the blogging world, Leimomi is still so good about updating her blog! From the popular “Rate the Dress”, to Scroop Patterns goodness, to her personal projects and travelogues, it’s one you need to add to your reading list if you don’t have it on there already.

LaraCorsets- If you’ve been costuming for a long while, you might remember Lara. Lara was with us even back in the Belle Alley and Livejournal days and has an incredible antique corset and antique pattern collection.

Tasha Could Make That- If Tasha looks familiar, it’s because she’s recently rebranded from By Gum By Golly blog, one of my all time favorites to follow. She’s still making amazing projects, and now has a whole slew of helpful vintage sewing videos as well! I love the colorful projects she makes, and how accessible she makes vintage sewing.

The Artyologist- Nicole has such a beautiful blog, and this is one you really just want to sit down with a good cup of tea and enjoy. She’s an artist who makes lovely visual art and also lots of sewing and crafting. The photos on her blog are perfectly lovely!

Lilacs and Lace- Laura Mae makes absolutely beautiful clothing, with such lovely inside finishes. It renews my faith in the big pattern companies, as many of hers made are current releases and reproductions by the “Big 4”. Hers is another long-time blog from back when blogging was big, and I’m so happy she’s kept it up.

New Vintage Lady- Shelley and I used to both be co-moderators on The Fedora Lounge, and not only is she still on there, but she still blogs! Her “Catalog Sunday” posts are pretty much an institution in the blogging world. She also makes the New Vintage Lady patterns, which you can get on Etsy.

The Vintage Traveler- Fuzzylizzie is another one of us Fedora Lounge gals, and her blog is packed full of incredible information. I especially love the posts about vintage sportswear and ephemera. An antique McCall’s patterns postcard she sent me is still amongst my prized possessions!

Witness2Fashion- If you’re a vintage pattern nerd, BOY is this blog for you! I absolutely love this one, and it’s one of my go-to’s for dating vintage Butterick patterns. This blog is packed full of interesting costume history through primary sources.

Sew Historically- I love this blog for the amazing everyday projects, like making things from scratch and getting back to sustainability. But there’s also LOADs of Edwardian sewing projects and fun recreations of past ways of life, including self-embroidered accents, candlemaking, cooking, and beauty.

The Sewing Goatherd- I love the down-to-earth vibe and beautiful sewing on this blog! Alyssa makes really great costume projects, using a lot of historical sources for inspiration. From 18th century through modern, there’s lots of sewing here. I would love to have a good sit down and chit-chat with her someday!

A Frolic Through Time- Natalie makes incredible costumes, and the close-up images of vintage garments are so great for diving into the nitty-gritty details of historical dress. There’s fashion history, crafts, sewing, and CATS! What’s not to love?

Sewing Last Century– Kenna makes such amazingly beautiful historical costumes, and so impeccibly fitted! Kenna also has been making historical sewing patterns based off of plus size original garments, which is such a cool thing to do!

Mrs Depew Vintage- Anna posts really beautiful and enlightening posts about the history of vintage sewing patterns. I especially love the deep dives into original period patterns. Plus, her repro patterns are fantastic!

Atomic Redhead– Another long-time blog, Janey is a fellow vintage-loving Californian. This blog is a fun mix of vintage, fan worlds and theme parks, local Southern California landmarks, and quirky history. This is a super fun blog that fills me with all sorts of nostalgia for the stories my family passed down of local spots that were part of our collective memory.

The Fashionable Past- (AKA Koshka the Cat) is top of my list of those who’s blogs and websites are a mainstay in the historical costume world. Katherine puts such extreme care into her garments- from amazing vintage knitting (seriously, the 1920s/30s swimsuits are remarkable), to hand embroidery, to historically authentic gowns, to screen costume adaptions. I love that we both have an affinity for the odd fashion outlier fads, and the transitional periods of fashion. If you don’t already know this source, you need to. Make sure you check out her website, too, for past dress diaries, free patterns from period original garments, and how-to’s.

Au Temple des Modes- A lovely follower on social media mentioned her blog, which I’m thrilled to include here. The text is all in French, but even if you do not speak it, you will easily be able to appreciate the beautiful historical fashion images shared from Elisabeth’s collection. Make sure you check out her absolutely stunning costume recreations, as well. And if you’d like to translate to your own language, you can plug in the blog address here for a rough French-to-English (or whatever your tongue is) Google translation.

Coreyartusimagry- An artist who was mentioned to me by a fellow ex-theatre friend. This artist is also ex-theatre. She mentioned that Corey has been growing a newsletter subscription also, and talks about leaving social media in the newsletter.

In the Long Run Designs- I absolutely love Gloria. I consider her to be such a positive force in the costuming and cosplay world! From amazing jewelry, to beautiful portraits and photography, to stunning regency dress recreations, to perfect cosplays, be sure to check out her blog. I hope to someday get my picture taken by her and her husband- I’ve already missed two opportunities and am so bummed about it (one, my dress wasn’t finished, and one I had to cancel my trip). Someday it will happen!

Mimic of Modes– Cassidy is a dress historian and her blog is full of fabulous fashion plates, recreations, film costume reviews, and I’ve just discovered her weekly roundup of other interesting blogs! So go pop on over there to find even more blog goodness to follow. Cassidy is also the author of the book Regency Women’s Dress: Techniques and Patterns, 1800-1830(Batsford, 2015), and has just posted we have another book to look forward to- this time on the 18th century!

Costumekullan– Johanna’s blog is a wonderful look at historical costumes (look that the Renaissance goodness!) Star Wars, and wonderful fashion history. Check out the medieval fashions, too! I love that she makes costumes that I don’t see represented as often in my blog rotation, so we see a lot of wonderful historical methods and looks!

I haven’t been following blogs in a long time, and haven’t looked over each suggestion in entirety, but hopefully you’ll find some that resonate with you.

Quick update- I have downloaded Feedly and I find that much better for blog reading! Though not all photos show in previews and you need to click through to comment, I found the interface is better and all the blogs load correctly (whereas not all would even add to Bloglovin)