When I mentioned early this month that my Google Reader is a virtual graveyard of dormant, deleted and defunct blogs, a couple of people wanted to know more about the deceased. If you want to place a virtual pebble on a virtual grave, here’s a partial list (some are not linked because the old links go to malware, imposters or ads):
Queen of the Posh and Broke
123 Valerie
A Beautiful Dream
A Girl Brushed Red
Bobble Bee
Confessions of a Bottle Blonde
Busty Satan (Whoa! Signs of life!)
Chic Looks
Eminem's "Rot in Pieces" tattoo.
Daddy Likey
Dress Forms Pins and Needles
eBay Fashion Addict
Fabulous Girl’s Boudoir (or maybe not?)
Fashion Confession
Fashion After Forty
Fashion Butter
Fashion Disciple
Fashion Robot
Fashionable Academics
FashionAbility
Fashionably Cute
Peter Griffin confronts Death on Family Guy
Femme Rationale
Fops and Dandies
Forever in Fashion
(Formerly) Jobless but Still Jaded
Georgie Said
Gifts from a Broad
Half Accidental
I Like It. So What?
I’m Not Antisocial, Just Short-Sighted
International House of Blogcakes
Jello on Springs
Just Trying to Squeeze the Most Out of Life
Life of a Valley Girl
Lipstick at the Mailbox
Magnesium Dresses
Mahalo Fashion
Maverick Malone
Death touches Kenny on South Park.
Mrs Fashion
Mud on My Tea Dress
Munich Style
Nicola’s Vintage Boutique
Nonchalant Opulence
Observationmode
Style Child
Karen of a Certain Age
Only Shallow
Paul Pincus
Pitter Patter of Pink Piddy Paws
Post-Modern Girls and Old-Fashioned Men
Prunella de Ville
Psychotic Secretary
Ragamala
Rubble and Rock
Save Your Generation
Shoes and Your Mom
Shopaholics Anonymous
Skylark and Son
Soho Siren
Strawberry Milkshakes
Style Artisan
Style Bytes by Agathe
Style for Breakfast
Suburban Queen
Suzel’s Sass
That’s Just My Vibe, Really
The Mean Girls’ Guide to Glory
Refashionist
The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy
The Fashion Head
This Lady Says
Thumbelina Fashionista
Style Spy
Une Fille Elegante
Would Have Worn
You’ll find more examples in my 2008 post on Kate Lanphear. And now you know why I don’t put everyone who asks on my blog roll: it’s a lot of work keeping track of everyone who quits. I like to limit myself to folks I hope will stick around for a while.
UPDATED TO ADD: The most shocking blog disappearance from the entire list above was Oslo-based Agathe Molvik of Style Bytes. In 2007, she was among the first bloggers I ever met.
Agathe and her then husband, photographed by WendyB. Click for my original post.
Agathe had great flair for vintage clothing. She’d put together H&M clothes in a way that would make them look vintage too.
A Style Bytes photo, via the Coveted.
As far as I was concerned, Agathe was THE fashion blogger at the time.
A Style Bytes photo, via the Coveted.
When she stopped blogging without explanation in 2008 after a post saying she’d be going to Stockholm for the weekend, people were genuinely concerned. Today it would be comparable to bloggers Susie Bubble, Tavi and maybe the Sartorialist simultaneously vanishing into the ether. I emailed Agathe, asking if she was okay, while other people scoured Facebook for signs of life. Literally, bloggers were looking for signs over life because people were worried that she was dead. It wasn’t till 2009 that we got the full story from a Norwegian newspaper: Agathe came back from Stockholm, broke up with her whirlwind-romance husband, quit blogging, tattooed a giant Jesus on her arm and started a new life.
Jesus Christ! What did you do to your arm? Photo courtesy of DN.no. Click for source.
Agathe occasionally posts a photo here. I hope she’s doing well. Meanwhile, she serves as a helpful example for bloggers overwhelmed by the unexpected success of their online efforts (or even those who can’t handle the pressures of blogging for an audience of four family members). Now you know what to do if you want to fade back into obscurity from whence you came. Just walk away. Your blog will be a distant memory in next to no time … though you might end up as a pretty picture on a t-shirt at Forever 21.
Illustrator Danny Roberts did a blogger t-shirt line for Forever 21. Here's the Agathe shirt, courtesy of Cocoabebe. Click for source.
For every dead blog, there’s a billion new ones, and the authors are all wearing the same clunky big shoes & Mongolian fur coats.
Some of these blogs I remember following: Fops and Dandies especially. She was so adorable.
Ps.I refuse to wear Litas and furs, Sister.
Fops and dandies went to law school against my very good advice. The hunt for Style Bytes was really creepy.
It’s a real shame. Some of these blogs have very clever names!
I really miss Maholo Fashion! Nobody did awards night dress rundowns like she did 🙂
You caught me – I’m not dead, just … on UK time?
How’s married life???
I definitely hope to keep up the blog for a while! It is sad how many names I recognized off this list though. The pressure to be witty or pretty is too much sometimes I suppose.
Hi there-wow, what a list, shame to see some of them finished, but being nearly deceased twice this year, I can see why, lol!! xx
OMG, Sister Wolf’s comment totally made my morning.
I remember when Style Bytes disappeared – it was such a mystery!
Oh thank god I wasn’t on the dead list.
It’s scary how many of those I followed too! Secretly, once a blog goes out of business, I give it a while and then remove it from my blog roll. It\’s hard enough keeping track of Google Reader. And this reminds me that I have to do some culling…
I was particularly disappointed to see Observation Mode has decided to call it a day (for now). From a totally selfish place, I hope she comes back!
Oh, that naughty MRS Fashion, she was fun! And came back for a nanosecond a couple of years ago before vanishing again. hmmm, you make me think I should tidy up my blogroll…
I so remember the attempts of hearing word from Agatha, her last post and then nothing. It was a definite off the edge of a cliff exit. I still miss Mrs Fashion she was my first and she interviewed which made me start a blog – that was over three years ago. I start my fourth year of blogging next week! You were one of the first I read too because Observationmode found me and she left the first ever comment on my blog so naturally I found you, La Belette and a host of others.
I culled a load of golden oldies on the blog roll the other week! xx
I used to follow Style Bytes, and was sad that Daddy Likey dropped out. But don’t worry WendyB, I’m not going anywhere! *heavy hint dropping*
I need to do a massive blog roll overhaul actually. I follow so many that I don’t have on my side bar. It makes me feel guilty but yet I still don’t do anything about it. Why am I so rubbish?
Done! Sometimes I don’t realize I have someone in Google Reader but not on blog roll.
Sometimes we just need a little breaky-weaky is all.
Is Tavi even considered a “blogger” anymore? There used to be a commenting community in fashion blog world.
I stop reading them when they are too big to interact.
It’s boring.
A++++ to you Wendy for your goddamn consistency!
what! my spam word was my name!
oh, remember 39th and Broadway? I was bummed when she went under, same with La Femme
i missed style bytes a lot when she disappeared, but sw is right, for everyone that dies, a bunch come in its place…i don’t think it’s a bad thing though
Wow, I loved Styly Bytes. Good to see Agathe is living her truth.
Oops I meant Style Bytes. Not enough coffee yet;-)
it’s so sad to see people drop off!! I am cleaning up my blog roll now, it’s a little disturbing to see so many dead sites!
Memories… oh how I remember so many of the blogs you listed. Remember and loved. My first blog is hidden from the world but still has its original blogroll and at least 80% of those blogs are defunct. The rest seem to have become baby & home blogs.
I too remember the search for Style Bytes, and at that time told my husband that I may need to update our will to include something about my blogs so people knew what happened. Never acted on it though…
I miss Fops and Dandies, Mrs Fashion and Daddy Likey as well, but Winona is doing other writing projects on thefrisky.com. Wendy thanks for the Style Bytes update, I never had an epilogue as to why she left and now I feel as though I have partial closure!
Fops and Dandies went out to the Midwest to grad school, as Thom said- I miss her posts! And one not on your list I love, a friend of Fops, eeps ramblings, had to go private, and moved to the SW – a big NYC loss as her clothing and sample sale reviews were the BEST.
Dear, I’d be so honored to be on your blogroll. You’ve been on mine for ages;)
I’ve already got you! 🙂
I feel like I was on the same agony boat with the disappearance of Agathe, I didn’t know you had actually met her! She was one of my bloginspirations. It kind of freaks me out about the moment mine is done, how do you walk away and when?! I’m not even going to worry about it now though.
WASSUP Wendy,
DEATH TO GOOD BUT half-assed blogs. BIRTH to new good ideas…
Okay, so somehow Family Guy and tattoo’d gals make me think of this restaurant concept I was talking with Seattle-ite and chef Cameo McRoberts about last night. We all have this on the tips of our tongues… but I want to dine there already… like Rudy’s Barbershop but with food. A place where tattoo’d girls proudly show their colors, and the food is… comfort, veggie-friendly, sexy and good. Like Roxy’s in Portland, OR
Where fashionista’s can dine and work.
-Madeline
about.me/madelinep
anti=spam word – EARRINGS —
Is that a hint ?
Just so grateful for wendy’s blog. so consistent, well written and reliable. Fashionable and entertainment in a chewy package, no calories.
Tried on a pair of Burmese Pink Saphire earrings this weekend with Stu – at Bulgari.
They were gorgeous, and only 650K he balked. Not his price point. But he liked the stone on me. I can’t make a decision on earrings or a ring, it’s so early, and I’m kind of freaked out. The earrings had 12K Saphires and of course a bunch of diamonds. Of course, he would get them smaller — blah blah. But it’s crazy no ?? Shouldn’t it go for bills and stuff ?? or should it be rubies ? or a ring ?? I have no clue..
What an Anti- spam word.. It may fate.
N
I’m really sad about Daddy Likey in particular. I know Winona writes for The Frisky now, but it’s just not the same as having all of her blog posts on one blogspot.
I really miss Amy from Style Spy. I liked how she would deconstruct designers and runway shows – I always felt like I learned something reading her blog. Come back Amy, come back!
Note to self — don’t get a giant Jesus tattoo on arm while on break from blogging.
I think this is why I feel an immense guilt trip when I don’t blog for over 3 days or so.. It just feels like I’ll vanish.
To some people that might sound a bit dramatic but I feel like I will get use to slacking and just never come back. I’m happy I haven’t done that yet and I plan to keep blogging and one of my New Years Resolutions is to have a lot of growth in my blog for 2011.
Life gets in the way sometimes. it’s difficult to keep up.
That’s hilarious. I was a little worried I’d show up on this list, but phew, I did not. I know many other people have already said that, but it’s still true.
THIS MAKES ME FEEL SUPER OLD!
Agathe was The Blogger to us too! We read her before the Sartorialist and definitely before the gobs of other fashion blogs that popped up a few years later. She and Susie Bubble were our inspiration when we started blogging four years ago.
Thanks for your dormant list, WendyB. We have one too!
WHERE IS MOLVIN?
Seriously. I’m really worried about the pig.
I wrote posts on Agathe and her departure as well, it was so sad to see her go. She was in fact the blogger that inspired me to start a blog and we had exchanged a few emails. I really hope she is doing well.
Did anyone else hear Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” in their head while scrolling through this list? Just me? All right then.
Hey, I made the list! I’m not dead, but I do have an award named after me because I’m not blogging. You can find it at this link: http://theofficialsiteofgrantmiller.blogspot.com/2010/12/nominations-for-2010-drysdale-awards.html
While you’re there, why not vote for a certain stylish Blogger of the Year?
I just did a big clean up and noticed the very same thing. It IS hard to keep track…it almost makes me want to scrap the blogroll sometimes, but I don’t think that’s fair.
These days, I follow on Bloglovin’, and if a relationship develops, then I add them to my list.
♥ V
http://www.gritandglamour.com
twitter: @gritandglamour
Now I want a WendyB, Sister Wolf and Kate Makes Do t-shirt!
It’s odd to think how many of these names I recognise, and miss- Agathe, Mrs Fashion and Fops and Dandies being my top three. Also the Fashbot, who went through a round of being bullied at school because people found her blog, and actually featured Tavi’s debut in blogland. SW is right, too- we’ve lost some unique voices, and gained a ton of homogeneous ones.
I still remember the perturbed posts of 2008 when Agathe ‘disappeared’. I found her phiary a while ago, and it’s nice to see she seems happy now. She’s one of the fashion blogging greats, even if she never updates anymore I’m glad her archives are still up (some new person took over the site, but Agathe’s outfit posts of 2005-08 are still up)
Whoever took over Style Bytes seems questionable to me. There were some very spammy-sounding posts. I emailed several times asking if the move had been arranged with Agathe and never got an answer, which was exactly the result I expected.
THANK you for resolving the mystery of Agathe and Style Bytes. I had followed her and always wondered what happened. Her disappearance was so sudden. Glad to know she is still around (and hopefully okay).
I am bookmarking this post…should the day ever come that I am done in by success. This is the first I’ve heard about Agatha, but she sounds so interesting.