Back to when I started blogging in Boston at the age of 17, the world of online social relationships was not as consolidated as it is today, and there were still very few people (if not almost anyone) who made money with a blog. Not talking about making money by publishing content on social networks, which was something directly unthinkable.

Today, almost 8 years after that, Something Fashion is a reflection of the changes that have been happening in diverse aspects: my own personal growth, the change of fashion trends, the way of communicating online and offline or even the world that surrounds us with reference to almost any aspect of daily life. Therefore, when I say today that in addition to my career in architecture, I've been running long-distance race with a blog about fashion and style for quite some time and still, many people still think that maintaining a blog like this is simple, I can not do more than put all my efforts trying to explain what titanic efforts are behind the so-simple-task as keeping a fashion blog. This article is dedicated to these people, and also to all of you curious or insecure people who are thinking about starting your own blog shortly and want to delve deeper into the subject; here I offer you my perspective.

#1 Time & planning

Besides studying a career that consumes a lot of time and mental effort, thinking about new content for the blog requires an extra push that my neurons are not always willing to perform. For planning, making several drafts, writing and correcting an article like this I need an average of 1 to 2 hours, without taking into account those posts that require shooting pictures and their subsequent editing.

Having a fashion blog is time-consuming, especially if you want to keep it up to date and for your regular readers to not abandon you for lack of updating.

#2 Frustration

This point is closely related to the previous one and will also be closely related to the next one of this article on what it really means to maintain a fashion blog; that is, frustration when you do not achieve all of your goals regarding quality, or even when you do not have enough time (or ideas, or energy) to carry out all the projects you had planned in the blog or social media channels for that week, or plan all the entries you wanted to publish in a determined time.

Keeping a fashion blog is complicated because bloggers are not only dedicated to taking pictures and eating macarons at fun events. In fact, many of us do not even do the latter. A fashion blogger is a creator of both graphic and written content that also, with its physical and digital presence, is capable of influence other people (even if it does not intend to sell anything from the beginning).

#3 Lack of ideas

Many times I find myself in situations where I can not think of what else I can tell you so I do not sound boring. What can I contribute with afresh, with my 1,000th outfit if, again, I have put on the same dress with the same shoes? In what way can I reach more people without losing my essence and, at the same time, be innovative?

Because of that, I get very angry every time someone thinks that "I only write a silly fashion blog and I take photos where I can look pretty". For me, Something Fashion is my creative outlet but also, a place where I come to reflect and to which I come even when I have no ideas for other projects because here I can express freely through fashion how I feel at that moment.

#4 Going to places when you're not in the mood

Yes, this also happens to bloggers. Especially to those who do not dedicate ourselves professionally to blogging. Sometimes you end up so tired from college, or you've had a week so complicated that the last thing you want to do on a Friday afternoon is to go to an event on the other side of the city where you're going to have to socialize with other people that you may barely know. Not even for all the colorful macarons in the world!

Here I have to confess that most of the time, my unwillingness to attend an event goes away quite fast, especially if I bring some of my friends, who do not usually show interest in the world of fashion or anything related but, when we go together, I feel that they always end up very involved at it and many times they end up saying to me: "Why haven't you invited me to one of these fun things before? Can we come back together to the next event of this kind?" So, it's usually fun (like when we attended last year's Barreira school emerging designers catwalk at the Veles e Vents building in Valencia)

#5 Dealing with those who don't value your work

Unfortunately, this happens a lot to those of us who blog. I have a fashion blog because I love to communicate, I love sharing and I deeply love fashion and design. It's a hobby that, from time to time, even gives me some pocket-money (what less, with the insane amount of hours I put on it!). But anyway, it would not allow me to leave a job to devote myself full-time to just blog like, at all.

#6 Money

Going back to the previous point, sort of. No matter how budget-friendly you want to keep your fashion blog to be, if you want to take it a bit to the "next level" and anyone taking you seriously, you'll have to make a small investment, although it being quite small (and super optional), what do you expect me to say about it? You'll obviously have to pay the expenses with money that will come out of your personal savings. 

For me, keeping blogging-related expenses to a minimum means paying a small amount for the domain per year and, from time to time, paying something a little extra to buy a new template to update the design. I've been thinking about getting my own hosting since a couple of years ago and abandoning the free platform where Something Fashion has been hosted for almost 7 years, but that would make the blog even more professional, and it's a step too serious that I do not dare give.

I do not even dare counting the huge amount of money I spend on clothes, although lately, I'm trying to waste less money and get the best of clothes that I already have in my closet (although, if I did not have the blog, surely I would also keep spending a lot of money on clothes anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

#7 Emotional drain

Keeping a fashion blog is a constant roller coaster. It's as if you had a scale in your head where, on one side, there's university or your full-time job, and on the other, you're writing and creating new content for the blog. The first does not always give you joy, and it takes a lot of time and effort. The second thing is not too economically profitable, but you like it and it brings you fun moments. It also makes you dedicate many hours in front of the screen.

This sometimes makes you rethink many things in your life and ultimately, you end up mentally tired. Maintaining a blog means many things: there are people behind all those computer screens that are reading you, who think and always have something to say about what you share. Others, genuinely care about your work and ask you things that lead to super-stimulating conversations. For all this, keeping a fashion blog or any other type of blog or online presence of all sorts can be mentally exhausting at times. But, I think that nonetheless, it's worth it!