I experienced a strong bout of blushing when I scrambled to read the latest issue of Purple Fashion as soon as I got my hands on it, tearing away the plastic and flicking ferociously.  No, it wasn't the copious amounts of tits, genitalia and bush.  That's basically a given with Purple and in any case, it's all highly 'artistic'.  It was the latter half of the interview with Benjamin Cho conducted by the great Olivier Zahm where Zahm probes Cho about what he thinsk about trends in general and Cho then says...

"Something happens and everyone joins the trend.  I think it's because there are so many cheesy blogs.  It's the blind leading the blind.  People think they're experts because they research things ont heir computers at home, where they're safe.  Now people can see everything, but maybe that will create a little more individualism.  I hope so."

When asked whether the New York 'scene' is getting more interesting again, Cho says...

"Now a girl who wants to be stylish goes online to see what other people are doing, instead of just walking around.  She come across a Nikki-like thing (a reference to model Nikki Uberti) and go, "Wow!  That girl's got killer style!"  And then try and imitate it."

It's very strange to read someone that you admire be so cynical about what you do and for some reason whilst I was reading it, I got very flushed, as if someone random just came up to me and said 'You have a spot on your face!'.  So here lies a 'cheesy blog' that potentially could be contributing to this dilution of style.  What I saw as a healthy globalisation and sharing of fashion through the dialogue of blogs, websites, communities etc is viewed by others as an unexciting, unoriginal style homogenisation.  The odd thing is I sort of agree in a way even if I am guilty of what he accuses of blogs doing.  It ties in a little with what Style Salvage Steve observed about 'global hipsterisation'.  Whilst people are seeking for individuality and watching style 'happen' online, the result is that being inspired en masse can lead to something uniform or 'exactitudinal'.  Just as I was about to write a very long post about the fact that things are no longer 'in' or 'out' and that trends can be interpreted in whatever way you want, with the internet being a contributing factor, a positive uplifting message I think in fashion, comes this reminder from Cho, that the very dialogue that I love so much; the weird and wonderful world of online is bit of a sham and not 'real'. 

On a case by case basis, I'm not, contrary to popular belief chained to my laptop, due to the city that I live in and what it throws up in terms of inspiration but then are other people heavily reliant on peering online and treating it as an authority?  I've always maintained that blogs like mine cannot possibly be authorities.  It is just little me, doing a lot of browsing, Google work without the resources of a team of staff.  I don't feel I have the capabilities to inform but rather I'd hope that people take what they see here with a pinch of salt.  Let whatever drivel I'm spouting off wash over people's heads in a light hazy way but let it not dictate.  I certainly look at my Bloglines in that way because a blog by nature is so vert throwaway, swift and available.  A harsh statement perhaps but in a world where there's less time, it is precisely that throwaway quality that makes it easier to consume, hence it's popularity.

This I guess all leads up to whether blogs are in fact sustainable and whether more people from the 'been there done that' generation are rolling their eyes and labelling blogs as 'just another fad.'  If and when that time comes, I do hope I'm not around. 

FYI, Despite the blushing paragraphs, I did still agree with most of what Cho had to say in the interview and it does make me look forward to how this New York 'scene' veteran develops... a move to Paris perhaps?