Many years ago, I remember the feeling of getting my first few fashion week invites and backstage access passes. It was a feeling of validation, and pure happiness. I'd finally made it as a blogger (I thought). When I had the money, I would travel up to NY, buy new outfits, get my hair done and be ready to walk in to get the beauty news. When I didn’t have the money, I’d go up and back on the Megabus for the day, tote bag, laptop, and notebooks in hand, still ready to get the beauty news. I can't imagine how much time and money I spent covering the backstage aspect of the shows.
Then as the years went by, the invites still continued to come in, and I’d go up to cover fashion week less and less. It’s been about three years since I went last, and I highly doubt I’ll be going again. Do you know why?
Because my readers just didn’t care.
I'd post the info on each show--the photos, videos, quotes--anything that I obtained backstage, and those posts received minimal clicks. There just wasn't much enthusiasm on the topic. Let’s be real, what percentage of people are so hungry for new products that they are dying to run to my blog to get the details six months ahead of time? And even if they’re interested, it’s a bigger win for me to wait on the official press release or share social media updates directly from the company. Naturally, different blogs have different types of audiences. Maybe if I had a fashion blog, things would be a bit different. Mine is definitely more excited about tutorials, swatches and tips they can apply now.
Don't get me wrong, If you’re a bright eyed, bushy tailed blogger who’s getting their first invites, I highly suggest you go. There was a serious thrill at “the tents” (or what used to be the tents) for me. I truly enjoyed the experiences at the time. It was definitely intimidating, I mean, I was crowding around actual magazine editors to get the scoop. I could barely pay attention as I studied their makeup, outfits, the questions they were asking, anything that I could grasp. But even though I was freaking out in excitement and nervousness, I was over the moon to have the experience.
EDIT: Here's one of the videos that I created back when NY Fashion Week used to be at Bryant Park, when I received the honor of working with Billy B. (still one of the most epic moments of my life) at The Blonds show (I punked out, but got some awesome footage!):