On 13th November last year, I put roguesandbrogues on standby. While I didn’t delete my site or content, I walked away from something I had worked on, loved (and hated) for over 5 years. I had lost the spark. I didn’t know if I would ever return, but at the time, I was relieved and happy with the decision.
The world of blogging has changed since I started. Change is inevitable, but for some, myself included, it is difficult to adapt to. I started roguesandbrogues out of my love of writing, but the written blog is on the edge of extinction. Content consumers want fast, visual and audible. They want to be told your story, not read it.
Instagram stories became the daily diary, replacing a roundup post. YouTube posts replaced a lengthy written description of a trip or a product review. While I have the utmost respect for a properly edited and presented video, it’s something I have no clue about and something I doubt I will ever be comfortable in producing.
So my blog had became an obligation rather than a outlet. I was struggling with inspiration and self image. I wasn’t the man I was when I started. How could I continue to write about fashion if I no longer liked the current fashions?
My lifestyle had changed, I balked at the thought of fast fashion and the high street held no appeal or interest.
I came to the slow and painful realisation that I’m in that stage of my style journey where I am too old for these 90s/00s trends (I literally owned 80% of the styles currently doing the rounds)
As a 37 year old man, I had first hand experience of each of these styles, 20-odd years ago!
It’s somewhat refreshing to know that I might have been trendy back in my day but now I’m struggling to find something to wear that isn’t emblazoned with massive 90s era logos (Tommy Hilfiger must have sacrificed a LOT of chickens praying for this trend to come back), have racing stripes down EVERY sleeve or trouser leg or ugly big trainers that look your PE teacher made you wear something from the lost property box when you forgot your kit.
On the flip side, I’m struggling to find inspiration from the minimalist utility menswear movement. Part of me loves it but there’s also part of me that wants to barf if I see another pair of Comm’s Des Garçons Converse on an Ikea Frosta stool in someone’s beige and white IG feed.
Put a short chubby man such as myself in utility wear and people will just assume I’m there to empty the bins.
So for the past 9 months, I’ve avoided the high street; I’ve avoided shopping in general.
For a blog named after shoes, I’ve not bought any footwear in over a year. My opinion of fast fashion and the sheer consumption of it all has evolved. While I’m not going down the road of full eco-fashion, I’m more aware of the impact the industry is having and how frivolous I have been with clothes. I’m still quite mean when it comes to spending money on clothes, so instead of buying cheap, i just haven’t really bought.
What direction this means for the blog, I don’t know. But I felt the need to put down what happened, not to justify or make excuses, but for my own authenticity.
I’m excited as it’s almost as though I’m starting my blog journey all over again. I’m a blank slate. My existing content and posts will remain, but I’m an unknown entity in many ways as I’ve been so out of the loop for so long, I can reintroduce myself and start afresh. So is this day one or just one day?
