Does blogging encourage bad financial behaviour?

OK, OK, so I realise that there is something almost blasphemous about suggesting that fashion blogging has a potentially negative impact on its readers using the medium of, er, a fashion blog, but I implore you to hear me out on this one.  After all, self-scrutiny is as important to growth and development as self-celebration, right?  It helps me that Amy has already covered a bit of ground in this area with her feature earlier this month, but I wanted to look at it in a little more detail.  The problem is, I look at the above question from two sides; first, as a fashion writer who dedicates at least part of her life to keeping up wtih what people are wearing and why (if that is at all possible) and second, as someone who works in financial services who has a professional interest in understanding why people do what they do with their hard-earned cash.

In case you’ve had your head in a box for the last, oooh, four years or so, I’d just like to point out that the UK is in the grip of economic hardship to rival the Great Depression.  There are a lot of reasons for this, and resulting implications, but the key outcome here is: THERE’S NO MONEY!  The cost of living has skyrocketed, and whatever cash people have left is being used to pay debts down or save money for a rainy day.  Yet right across the interent, bloggers seem to be spending like it’s going out of fashion, and showcasing their latest purchases for all to see.  And if they’re not displaying their latest acquisitions with arty digital photosets, then they’re having a ‘blog sale’, selling off items purchased too hastily that will not longer fit in their overstuffed wardrobes.

What impact does this have on an average blog reader, with an average disposable income?  Sure, it’s part aspiration, part inspiration, but there’s a darker side too.    The use of expensive personal lending, such as payday loans is on the up, with nearly three million Britons turning to these high-cost loans, especially in the run-up to Christmas.  At a time when the UK may again slip into recession, is it really socially responsible for bloggers to be focussing so sharply on consumerism?  I believe that blogs are becoming the new fashion magazines, carrying a far greater influence than their printed counterparts simply because they are produced by people just like you and me.  That Mary Katrantzou gown hanging off that rail-thin model that costs six months of your salary in the latest issue of Vougue?  Can’t afford it, don’t have an A-list event to wear it to.  But that ASOS swing dress with those awesome Topshop ankle boots worn by your favourite, average-sized, hardworking blogger?  So affordable, so me!

But hang on a minute – should we do the maths here?  That dress is the best part of fifty quid, and the shoes cost twice that.  Add in the nail polish that she swatched last week that you cannot wait to get your hands on and the necklace from that cool Etsy designer she spotlighted just yesterday, and you’ve just kissed goodbye to a quarter of your rent for the month.  Ah.

I’m not suggesting that these girls are intentionally a bad influence.  So many bloggers I know have great relationships with PR companies, and also spend their hard-earned cash on items to generate content in the same way you might spend money on your own hobby, like following a sports team, or playing videogames.  There are also a strong contingent of bloggers who use thrift as their USP, providing valuable insight into the wonderful world of style on a budget – Gem Fatale and Jen of A Little Bird Told Me are two excellent examples.  But in the same way talking about what people earn is still a taboo in the UK, talking about the hard numbers on a fashion blog is highly unlikely to vastly increase readership; I am the first to admit that finance isn’t the sexiest of topics, and I say that as someone who makes my living out of helping people out with their money!

All being well, this economic storm will blow over in the short to medium term, times will become a little less lean for all of us and we’ll have learned some important financial lessons.  Which, in turn, could mean that we all have that little bit of extra cash for that blogger-inspired bag or frock.  Well, as long as they haven’t moved onto the Mary Katrantzou…