I’ve spent some recent days on Tumblr wandering around the various style and fashion blogs.  It’s occurred to me how narrowly people define style and fashion inspirations.  More often than not it’s just someone re-blogging an image.  Always from a major fashion magazine, rarely anything but the latest clothes, sometimes the accessories are showcased.

It saddens me, really.  Creating style – your own or for others – comes from any number of areas.  The art of great design reaches far beyond the latest collection on the runway.  Great design uses prompts and inspiration from art, music, humor, literature, cuisine, cinema, travel, technology and history.  Great style does as well. 

These young girls that focus on the runway models seem to be missing this.  The models are living clothes hangers.  Beautiful hangers, but that is all. 

The most stylish and interesting people in the world have more to talk about over dinner than just the latest editorial.  If you were granted a seat at a dinner party with Karl Lagerfeld or Mario Testino or Michael Kors or Oscar de la Renta or Anna Wintour… could you talk about more than just the clothes?

Style blogging is narcissism at its finest moment.  But it’s also a study in creating personal collections that reflect your grander view point.  I’d like to see more of that because I’d like to know more of YOU.  I can buy a magazine – but the story behind why you pick the images you do is infinitely more interesting.

And, oh, how desperately I want you to be interesting.