HOW DID I GET HERE?

For quite some time now, I’ve been thinking about the direction of my blog. I’ve been blogging for a while but I’ve never really stopped to think of what I wanted it to be. Up until today, it’s just been a hodgepodge of the random things I went through in life. I actually started out reblogging posts I like on Tumblr then I eventually started creating original posts. The more posts I created, the more empowered I felt to just keep on writing. I didn’t even care if anyone read it or not, I just wanted to post stuff I was interested in.

I started out with just a few page views per week to consistent page views per day. I eventually got messages from my readers–questions, positive comments, and negative comments. These messages (no matter what they were) made me appreciate my readers even more which pushed me to create content that I felt they would like. I eventually started getting sponsorship offers which I honestly had no idea what to do with. Once I figured it out, this pushed me to create content that I felt my sponsors would like. These posts driven by this idea of pleasing my readers and sponsors just kept on coming but, at the same time, I was unknowingly drifting away from blogging regularly. I chalked it all up to just me prioritizing my school work over my blog–I even went on hiatus so many times. When I finally got back to posting regularly again, everything just felt so different to me. I had no idea why but I was determined to figure it out.

I always knew I wanted my blog to be about fashion so I started checking out other fashion blogs. I ended up in this downward spiral of comparing my blog with other people’s blogs and I just ended up feeling like mine was never good enough. I tried so hard to create posts like theirs and it was a hit or miss. My competitive side came out and I just focused on trying to be better than them that I morphed into every other fashion blogger out there. This went on for months, without me noticing. When I finally realized what was happening to me and to my blog, I just felt more lost than ever. I didn’t know how to recover from that so I just walked away…reluctantly.

I stayed away for so long that I actually found myself missing it. I decided to do a little soul searching and I realized I needed a big change. My blog needed a complete overhaul so I came up with a new concept. It took me a while but, with the help of my friends, I was able to put things in perspective. I started by figuring out what I actually wanted to write about. I wanted to come up with something different that would actually help people. I landed on this whole idea of not having to spend a fortune to look fashionable. The funny thing is, I’m not even the one who thought of it. I was out one day with friends and they really liked the blazer I was wearing so I told them I got it for Php 50.00 at an Ukay-Ukay and they were all just so amazed–they couldn’t believe how cheap it was. So I went on and on about how I’m such a bargain shopper until one of my friends said, “you should put this on your blog.” This was exactly what I was looking for. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself. It’s so brilliant because I naturally gravitate towards money-saving solutions. My blog would be the best way to put this random talent of mine to good use.

The next step was to rebrand everything. I played around with various blog names until I landed on “Fashion Sensibilities.” When my concept was solidified, I made the brave decision to shift from Tumblr to WordPress. I was skeptical at first but now I know I made the best decision of my life. Tumblr may have the pretty user-friendly backend but WordPress is simply the more practical choice. I am very hands-on with everything I do so I did my own branding, website layout, and whatever else I could do myself. I got help though with my domain and hosting–I mean, seriously, who has those skills in their back pocket? I also imported some of my Tumblr posts from my old site to this new one and it made the quality of those images pretty bad but I tried my best to make it work, anyway. I haven’t formally launched my site but I’v been posting new content regularly to ease my transition to this new backend and blog concept so bare with me. There might be times that I slip back into my old ways of blogging but I will surely bounce back from it. I am embracing a whole new perspective and I am excited for this new phase of my blogging life.

What is this new blog concept all about, you may ask? Well, it’s all about being real–being me. To be completely honest, I’ve been going about this all wrong. Somewhere along the way, I lost the true meaning of what blogging is all about. Blogs are for unfiltered free expression and I haven’t been fully abiding to that. To some extent, things just weren’t as real and as raw as they could’ve been and I want to change that.

The primary focus of my new blog is still fashion but I will also be posting about anything of relevance that comes to mind–like life lessons, career advice, and the like. I will be posting what I want, when I want to, and however I want it to be. I will no longer allow other factors to control what I blog about. From here on out, it’s all about having no rules, no filter, and just flat out honesty. I also have a lot of exciting surprises in store for my all my lovely readers so stay tuned for that.

My new blog is an homage to the endless pursuit of more sensible fashion choices. You don’t have to spend a fortune to look fashionable, you just need to know where to shop and how to maximize your fashion pieces. I want my blog to be a platform that inspires people to make more sensible choices in fashion and in life.  I know it may sound a bit impossible right now and it really will take time for this concept to be fully realized but I’m taking it one post at a time.

RALPH LAUREN Polo

Photography by Matthew Azada