Before I write about my New York Fashion Week adventures, I’m going to tell you what I think came out of my ethics panel at Monday’s Independent Fashion Bloggers Evolving Influence conference.
Conference attendees, from left to right: Bloggers “Delightfully Tacky,” Rebecca of The Clothes Horse and Erin of Calivintage.
I don’t believe there’s a single code of ethics that can cover all fashion blogs right now. The issues a fashion-news blog faces are very different from the opinion-oriented content of a personal style blog. Nor can the ethics of a large media organization with its separate editorial and sales staff be applied to an individual’s blog where, by necessity, a single person is responsible for producing content and monetizing it.
Jessica of What I Wore and Imran of Business of Fashion at the ethics panel. Photo from Sammy Davis.
I do believe that bloggers should make a conscious decision about their policies and disclose those policies to their readers. Don’t drift into a new behavior and expect your readers to instinctively understand and approve of your actions. Here’s a hypothetical situation: Let’s say you start out as a personal style blogger, documenting what’s already in your closet as well as your new purchases. You get a lot of traffic and, as a result, get advertisers. If you start getting a significant percentage of your wardrobe for free from one of those advertisers — let’s pretend that’s ModCloth— maybe you should openly state that you are now a brand ambassador for ModCloth. Now you’re no longer simply documenting what’s in your closet or the new purchases you make, right? You’ve changed. You’re documenting what a company gives you for free. The company is not giving it to you because you’re nice. The company sees you as an influential person who can generate sales. Just be honest. Say, “A great opportunity has come along and I’m proud to officially represent ModCloth.” Then everyone knows exactly what to expect and your readers won’t leave comments saying, “You’ve changed.” You should be the first to acknowledge a change, not the second, third or the last. (I think Tavi’s involvement with Rodarte is crystal clear.)
Conference attendee Lenya Jones and I showing off our Wendy Brandes swear rings. She bought hers. I made mine.
Realize that you can insist that gifts you get don’t influence your writing but that people won’t necessarily believe you. When I was a journalist, I was frequently told that it wasn’t just impropriety that mattered, but the appearance of impropriety. I started off the panel by talking about a story that made a big impression on me at the beginning of my career, though I did not name names till this, at which point I caused various people unnecessary grief by relying on memory and not re-checking all the facts. Please note that I initially rewrote this paragraph to correct and enlarge upon the story and the very fact I had to do so should be a convincing reason not to act like a dumbass — in other words, like me. Eight months after originally posting this, after people had time to read the correction, I deleted the content in question to prevent the initial version from being picked up and repeated by others without the correction. The story was about gift-givers with agendas.
This picture of Susie Bubble at the conference has absolutely nothing to do with the neighboring content. I just wanted to break up the text. Isn’t she cute?
In my opinion, the monetary value of a gift does matter, though panelist Diane Pernet disagrees with me. Even the strictest newspapers allow token gifts — maybe up to $25. A $10 bottle of shampoo is a much different gift than a $1,500 Prada bag. No one will think that you can be bought for $10, unless you’re a crackhead hooker. Plus, to review a shampoo, you have to use it. I hate to break it to you, but you can review a Prada bag without owning it. If you’re an independent blogger and you want to take the bag, go ahead and take the bag. No one can fire you from your own blog. But consider how that enhances or detracts from the image you want to have with your readers.
Speaking of shampoo, beauty bloggers are a good example of the one-policy-doesn’t-fit-all issue. They need to sample the products. It would be absurd to send a half-used lotion or lipstick back to the company after the review. Beauty bloggers don’t need to be defensive about that. But they shouldn’t be rapacious either. If you act greedy and start aggressively asking for more than you can personally use, you might get a reputation that publicists or fellow bloggers could use to disparage you someday. Just think about it. To paraphrase panelist Clark Hoyt of the New York Times, you don’t want to be the one who causes the scandal that becomes other bloggers’ cautionary tale. Panelist Gina Garrubbo of BlogHer told one of those tales, about a blogger who told the Crocs people that if she didn’t get free Crocs, she’d write bad things about the brand.
As I said in my previous post on the panel, I regret that we couldn’t get a magazine editor there. Bloggers — even those whose experience of magazines doesn’t extend past viewing The Devil Wears Prada — love to say that magazine editors accept gifts. And panelist Imran of The Business of Fashion made an excellent point when he argued that disclosure should be an issue for all forms of fashion media, not just blogs. That said, I’m tired of bloggers justifying their behavior by mewling, “But magazines do it.” Didn’t your mother ever say to you, “If your friend jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you do it?” If she didn’t, she should have. Give me her number and I’ll call her and tell her that she was remiss as a parent. My point is you need to take responsibility for your own actions. Stop putting the blame Anna Wintour. Accept a new Prada bag every month if you like, but tell us you’re tight with Miuccia instead of telling us that other people do it too.
I took this picture of Anna Wintour at a Marc Jacobs show in 2007.
As for me, the name of my blog is Wendy Brandes Jewelry. I started this blog to promote my jewelry line. I think it’s boring to read nothing but press releases — and it’s certainly boring to write them — so I write about other topics too. Because I write about other topics, I often wonder if the name of the blog should be just “Wendy Brandes.” Maybe, I think, that would be less confusing to readers who come here and find that not every post is about jewelry. But then I become convinced that the opposite is true. It would be easier to change the name to “Wendy Brandes” if I only wrote about the jewelry. People would then understand it was a brand blog, just like they would know that blogs named Bergdorf Goodman or Marc Jacobs would be promoting a brand. (I personally wrote a brand blog for another designer for six months and I think the commercial intent of that blog was quite clear. ) So, as strange as it seems, it is because of the non-jewelry content that I am leaving the word “Jewelry” in the blog name for now, just to remind people that there is a business here. You can read more about the content of this blog here.
Click the picture to buy this necklace.
If I write about my friends, I’ll tell you they’re my friends. Designer Zang Toi is one of my dear friends. But I still buy nearly all my Zang Toi clothes. (He gave me a skirt as a birthday present in December and once threw in a pair of pants when I was buying a lot of other pieces.) If a company sends me a lot of shampoo or Minx gives me a free manicure as payment for using my photo in their publicity kit (ooh! bartering!), I’ll let you know. If a Prada bag shows up in the mail, believe me, I’ll let you know because I’ll be so fucking excited. I’ll keep it too. I’m not a journalist anymore. I can do what I want. Though maybe I’m just talking big, because I recently turned down product that was owed to me as compensation for work that I had performed. That situation helped convince me that people should only work for cash — not product, experience, contacts or anything else that could be incorrectly interpreted as a gift or a favor rather than payment for services rendered. In this instance, I decided I would rather feel underpaid than indebted.
Anyway, on the blog, I do aim to get all my facts straight and attribute everything properly. If I get a fact wrong, I’ll fix it as I did with this very post. I won’t apologize for my opinions unless you convince me that they’re deeply wrong. I won’t apologize for my sense of humor or my language. If you don’t like those, don’t come here. If you want to leave me an obnoxious comment, I might delete it and I won’t apologize for that either. I’ve been known to say, “I’m being a big hypocrite” in real life, so if I realize I’m being a big hypocrite on the blog, I’ll probably say so.
As for my jewelry itself, I often point out that I am inspired by antique and vintage looks, though I like to think I interpret that inspiration in a unique way. I don’t point out every single source of antique or vintage inspiration. I deliberately don’t study current jewelry designers’ work as much as I should (the reason to do it is to stay abreast of trends). I do the bare minimum so that I’m not totally out of the loop on what looks and price ranges are selling. I have abandoned ideas and works-in-progress that I felt were too similar to a competitor’s, even if I didn’t know about the competitor’s work when I started the piece. If one of my finished pieces bears a vague resemblance to a contemporary’s, I can honestly say that it’s a case of great minds think alike, on my part at least. I’ve been to jewelry trade shows and have seen that there’s next-to-nothing new under the sun, so I concede it’s hard to come up with an original idea. That said, if I think it is obvious that someone has copied me, I will call that bitch out. So stay away from my swear rings!
That’s enough about me. What about you?
UPDATED TO ADD: Jesse.anne.o has a good post on the issue from a reader’s perspective.
You’re so well-spoken and articulate, and you pretty much sum up my approach to life. 😉
I agree with what you have written. I think that you shouldn’t have to always explain yourself and people do change over the years as they write blogs. If they didn’t, I would wonder about them.
Me, I usually write about what I like and things that I have used when it comes to make-up/products. Most of these things I have bought with my own money though occasionally I am gifted thinsg from my Avon selling mother. I always mention where I got things and will keep doing that in the future.
Though I have never been gifted by a company, I will probably practice the same thing I am doing now when my mum gifts me Avon (the telling how and where I got it from) when I write about it. It is my personal blog after all and not connected to any other site. If it ever became connected, I may rethink my ethics but, as long as it is my personal blog, I don’t see the reason to having to go into extreme detail about the “where/how’ of the things i write about in review.
A billion times, thank you. I feel like I’ve been going completely insane and have questioned my motives for having the same reaction to various blogs doing this recently – I made a post about it last week here –
http://jesseanneo.blogspot.com/2010/02/now-ive-got-it.html
(which mentions your blog)
And I can’t tell you how frickin’ happy I am to see this content on your blog.
Wendy, I love what you’ve written. I was at the conference, I have a bachelor’s in journalism a master’s degree in digital publishing and I was a media adviser at several universities and I tried to teach my students about ethics. The thing that kills me about some bloggers that clearly have made it big is that the more free things they get, the more defensive they seem about the disclosure policy. If you were a personal style blogger talking about things you bought and then suddenly every outfit you wear is by a “sponsor” your code has changed and your readers are aware of it. Every blog is different, I do beauty and accessories and I mainly get beauty products to try for the blog but whenever I get something I tell my audience because I want them to know and I want them to ask me even more questions about it. I also don’t have a fear of saying if I don’t like something because no company is perfect. And yes, everyone should stop saying if magazines can do it so can we. Sigh…
Oh and your money dress was quite phenomenal.
Well said, as usual. I’m most intrigued by your comments on personal style bloggers, as that’s the category into which I fall. I think this exact situation is what the FTC was hinting about in the disclose-what’s-free ruling– it’s one thing to post a banner ad for a company on your site, but it becomes dangerous and sometimes misleading when the corporation’s products are integrated into the editorial copy. While many readers understand that this is the case when a blogger acknowledges sponsor gifts, I like the idea of a “brand ambassador” and recognition of a changed focus. It’s just like those advertising sections in magazines that are formatted as part of the editorial well but are clearly labeled as “special advertising section” (or something like that.)
i have a cold that is causing snot to run down my face, so all i’ll say is this: amen, sister.
Spot on as usual.
This is a much better review than mine. I edited my post to include a link to your post with that exact sentiment. Thank you for being a reliable and bright voice in the blogosphere!
http://prissypoodle.blogspot.com/2010/02/nyfw-ifb-conferencebandwagon-style.html
Wendy, what I love about you is your honesty and raw-ness. You just say it how it is and how you feel. Since I am known to be very open and honest myself, I can really appreciate this in others, so THANK YOU. 🙂
I think I know who these stealthy, brand-sneakers are…
It doesn’t really bother me that much. It’s not like the advertising industry has a long history of transparency and ethics. Why is it my business where somebody gets their shit from?
And hey, if I click on that link because I like what a blogger is wearing and buy it, that is my problem.
I don’t need to be told when I am subltly being manipulated, I just know it!
You’ve already manipulated me into believing that I need one of your rings and be damned if I don’t like the most expensive one. Aghhhhhhhhhhhh.
I’m buying a lottery ticket tonite…….
Seriously! Yes please!
People can SEE sponsored posts by the way they’re written. I think it gets tricky when there are offshoot companies – if you’re sponsored by one (read: freebies), and buy something from the offshoot to review, it’s probably a good idea to point out your affiliations anyhow. I make sure to point out when I’ve bought something, or received something as a gift. It’s amazing how many bloggers tout what they do as journalism, and amazing how few “journalists” (traditional print and online media/blogs) adhere to ethics.
Well done Miss Wendy, very well done. As someone who shares almost identical circumstances to yours (journalistic career, personal blog for promoting business that’s now 90% ‘other’ content) I have to say ‘Thank You’ for the time, attention and energy given to the topic. You know how discouraged I was by the entire Ann-Taylor-Loft-gift-cards-for-reviews situation, the topic is near and dear to my heart.
One additional thing a print magazine could illuminate? Their level of involvement with designers and their collections; how often do editors look at the collections in progress and make suggestions on them, provide advice about elements to add or subtract, colors, lines, etc.
Smiles at you, and thank you again for your focus on this!
tp
I’m loving hearing so many different perspectives on this issue. I do accept sponsors on my blog, but I always make sure to disclose, and I never accept payment for reviews.
Also, slightly unrelated, but I love the fact that you stuck a picture of Susie Bubble in the post to break up text just because she’s cute. Her outfit really is adorable.
Beautifully written Wendy, and obviously very well timed.
I think the dangers of accepting gifts should be considered no matter what your job is, or where you work. If you work for a corporation, government office, etc. there probably are a set of ethics you had better adhere to carefully. A corporation I once worked for only allowed gifts of up to $25 to be accepted from our vendors. The season tickets to sporting events, “teaching” vacations were,however, never rejected in one department and strictly verboten in another. It was a difficult situation; if one refused to partake of the perks you risked insulting your own co-workers, or so it seemed to them. And yes, the vendors who gave the perks usually got the contract.
When I was getting married, one of my father’s overseas counterparts in another bank, sent a gorgeous diamond and pearl necklace to me as a wedding present. My father, after properly accepting the gift, and,taking a picture of me in it, called the owner of the company and asked HOW it should be returned and to whom. The gentleman who sent the gift made it very clear it was a personal gift to me and that he and his bank and country would be upset if it was returned. So it never was. It now sits in a vault of the government. I always thought my father showed incredible integrity in the situation.
Of course, I would have sold it and bought a house. Kidding! 🙂
My point is that all of us will face these situations and they will always catch up to you, so to speak. I transferred out of the “perks” department; an number of them were later fired for accepting too high a value of gifts. They were all good people, but when layoffs happened they were easy targets.
I feel so horribly inarticulate in my reply but the jist of it is you really said what I was thinking better than I ever could.
Nothing irks me more than veiled advertising. Just call a spade a spade. I will respect you more for it. I also don’t mind if bloggers get free stuff, as you said how else can you talk about it if you haven’t tried it. But don’t be coy about it.
I have received one free thing to review and I said “I got this for free and they asked me to review it” and you know what NO ONE MINDED because they knew the game.
Basically I think you are magnificent and I love your honesty. Honesty is key in my mind. I don’t care if you are the brand ambassador BUT DON’T LIE ABOUT IT!
Just wanted to let you know that I think this is fantastic post, very well written. I think you make some great points and a great argument. Thanks for holding yourself accountable when it comes to these issues. You’re a great example for all bloggers out there.
Miss J thinks ethics are important. That said, she is not a fashion blogger (well, occasionally she’ll post a pic of a new pair of shoes or some fabulous WendyB necklace) and she WILL take any free stuff people want to send. She will acknowledge it on her blog and send a personal thank you note. Its how she rolls, bitches.
Lites OUT!
Bravo for this post! I also appreciate your honesty and your knowledge about ethics in journalism and I wholeheartedly agree with you.
I was an aspiring journalist and studied journalism in college a long, long time ago. Anyway, while I wholly realize that my blog does not classify me as a journalist, I do try to be as transparent as possible. Why? Because why not? Many of the items I review are items that I’ve bought with my own money, but I have no problem whatsoever telling people if a company sent a product over for free and disclosing that to readers. Otherwise, I think that I would feel that I’ve been bought off for my opinion and that’s where the issue of bias would enter. Too much of a slippery slope, I think.
I agree 100%. I have received a few things for free but I always say it right up front when I’m talking about it. I try to focus on positives and give constructive info too. I don’t actively ask for stuff to review or test unless the company has approached me first about reaching out to my readers.
If they are asking for links or mentions I usually say I don’t do that but if they want to discuss a marketing/advertising plan or a product review I’m open to it. As long as I’m clear to my readers, I think that is pretty fair.
Such a great post! I’ve always been fascinated by the advertising/editoral “synergy” and how different the rules are from company to company…and now from blog to blog.
Now I am beginning to wonder if it was inappropriate of me to have accepted those bottles of wine and boxes of chocolates from photographers during the holidays…I accept in the spirit of the season and most items are not particularly expensive. And I can’t think of a time when I thought about hiring someone and then decided not to because they didn’t send me a holiday gift. I also can’t think of a time when I received a gift at any other point during the year!
With regard to my food blog, I can’t imagine a company sending me anything, but if they did, I would happily disclose it because coming home to a 10 pound box of bacon (or whatever…hint hint) would make for a good blog entry!
Another great work Wendy! Great thoughts, advice, and examples to really bring your point home. And my fav is the sassy approach! Go on Girl! :)gina
Thank you for linking me!
Great post Wendy, I have to agree I would much prefer to know when bloggers are promoting a brand. I dont know why anyone would hide it, I never do.
unfortunately i don’t make a single cent blogging. if when the money starts rolling in (HAR HAR), i’d be sure to disclose some more information! until then, it is a free for all at my blog! anything goes! it’s all about me! hahahahahah
what an articulate post…but you could have written sh*it, and I wouldn’t have noticed because i’m entranced by your money dress! how fabulous!
Yes! I agree with every word you’ve written here.
Except that for me it was “Golden Gate Bridge” instead of “Brooklyn Bridge”.
I’ve only ever received a) a book and b) body wash to review, so if you find out how to get on that Prada distribution list, I’m all ears. 😉 I totally agree about disclosure. Show your readers enough respect to give them all of the facts and let them decide for themselves whether your recommendation is sincere.
you make a good point… you don’t need to own a prada bag to review it. considering i review a lot of collections, it is a good thing i don’t need to own all of their clothes! i’d be even more in the poor house than i am now!
and i agree, there can not possibly be one code of ethics for everyone.
This is really well summed up! You say it all. Nicely done.
P.S.
Love your jewelry!
Utterly boringly, I agree with everything you’ve said – particularly the part about disclosing “sponsorship” out of excitement – and because it’s appropriate. Oh, the part about calling the shots on one’s own blog. It’s my world. I don’t apologize for drafting the legislation – or for bringing the law into force!
What I love about your blog, other than the fact that you are hilarious, interesting, knowledgeable, life-experienced and articulate (did I say well dressed?) is that you don’t coddle your readers. You tell it like it is. Two posts that really resonate for me are the ones about manufacturing practices and the ones about Poland and WW2 / holocaust. Not that I have any direct experience of either, but you made them relevant. That’s what great writing is all about.
So, so true. One ethical code does not fit all. And getting freebies does influence writing. It’s not that you wouldn’t write about something before you got the sample, but now you do write about it. And bloggers change, blogs change, and people change. Hopefully blogreaders can change too, or stop reading! 😉
TOTALLY agree about “making it known” that a, or b is a sponsorship. I can not tell you how many blogs I’m put off by their REVIEWS, each review, they mention so and so send them a sample.. and THEY almost always have something great to say.
If it is just OKAY .. I just wish there was more honesty. I began blogging as a “brag” about me, a place to vent, a place for raw and real honesty which has become and has saved me $$$ in therapy.
gosh how I would have loved to come to something like this.
as a blogger, who wouldnt want free stuff. Especially most of us who come from non fashion or press backgrounds where we\’re not used to getting anything free. It starts out simply I think, and easy to get away with. But readers catch on and it feels contrived. I\’m kind of glad this law has passed. After the first two times of reviewing things a long time ago, I stopped accepting any inquiries for freebies. Because usually what they want to send is crap then I have to write about something I have no interest whatsoever in. So I think it\’s important that this issue was addressed. Hopefully we\’ll see some ethics in the PR departments offering all this stuff to us too.
Great post! I’m glad that you don’t just blog about your jewelry. Your jewelry is beautiful, but it’s great getting to know the artist behind them, gives them depth and quality.
Someday I will afford your jewelry, but mean while I am enjoying your blog.
Oh, yeah, btw, I am so jealous you live in the city of Fashion Week.
Fabulous rundown. It can be such a slippery slope for us bloggers.
Amen Wendy!
I soooooo hope you get a Prada bag out of this!!!!!!! As always, really well said and no matter if you started getting entire wardrobe’s from Zang or Prada I feel sure that that you would remain a VERY high integrity blogger and of course you would let us know. That would be too exciting not to blog about.
BRAVO!!! I’m bookmarking this baby – and I hope fashion bloggers do the same.
WOW wendy, now i understand everything. You explained it to me like am 5. hahahha.
But seriously, very well written. Fashion bloggers have come a long way. And it’s really a good thing. But there are complications that comes with it. Readers are smart and they can tell so bloggers should be very honest about gifts and sponsorships.
But then again, to each his own.
I am Denise Katipunera
Is “rapacious” the word for this week??
You did a superb job here of presenting a touchy issue, and making excellent points about it. I agree that bloggers should just be honest about the facts involved in their blog policies, posts, and featured items. It ruins their credibility if they don’t.
I also like how you highlighted taking responsibility for being accurate.
Great post, Wendy!
I’m definitely sharing this with others because of all the panels, I had the strongest reaction to yours. I agree with you 100% on the “well magazines do it all the time” front. If you want to accept gifts that’s your decision to make but don’t say that you’re doing it just because it’s some sort of fashion tradition. You’re doing it because you want free things! And this is a capitalist society so that urge is natural. Just be upfront about it. But know that there is certainly a difference between needing to try out a mascara or lipstick and needing to “test” a Prada bag. That’s why make-up counters give away samples to anyone walking by their counters and Prada will be sure to want something in exchange – preferably cash or credit.
I was really shocked by how defensive some people were in regard to this discussion. It seemed to me that we were really just being encouraged to think about what code of ethics works best for us, individually, for the scope of our blogs, and for our relationships with our readers. Additionally, for those of us who want to have or already have careers in fashion – or anything else really – it’s in our best interest to determine our code of ethics now. What we do online reflects who we are in real life; I would never want a career opportunity to be lost because I seem untrustworthy or greedy in regards to freebies!
As a non-fashion-y reader of your blog what I what I appreciate about it the most is your versatility and also your integrity. You are always true to yourself and when you are talking about industry related things you are candid and honest about your dealings with others.
Obviously very interesting post, although I couldn’t really get much further than the bloggers who get a Prada handbag a month. Who are they and how do I hack them??? 😉 xxx
I never get anything! Dammit to hell!!
Wow, I love how cut throat you are. You are the kind that will curse bullies out and stick up for the underdog:)
With respect to receiving gifts for advertisement, I think undisclosed freebies confuses readers and put one’s reputation at risk not to mention that freedom of expression is lost. I think people should think long term before accepting gifts.
On a side note, I want to know if I could add you to my blogroll. Thank you.
Tawa Moonbloode
Fabulous post and totally agree with you 100% by being upfront with your readers as soon as it happens. We’re all adults – we understand what’s REALLY going on.
Compliments from strangers are the best kind 😉 Since you obviously read what I had to say on the lovely Ms Jesse’s blog, I’ll simply add to the list of atta girl!’s that everyone else has left.
100% wonderful post which I agree 100% with.
But blackmailing for free Crocs? Seriously? you couldnt PAY me to wear those things. Well, maybe a million bucks…
Definately a million bucks. haha
This isn’t a subject I feel strongly about, but I just wanted to say I really enjoy reading your blog and your posts are truly thought-provoking, which I really appreciate. Especially when they are on subjects that don’t usually cross my mind. Awesome possum.