10 Questions with Adriane of Avant Gaudy

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
While most sites focus on vintage fashion as an artifact, Avant Gaudy adheres to Coco Chanel’s creed: “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” While we draw inspiration from trends on the runway and on the street, we portray what we see through vintage clothing. Our blog reflects this juxtaposition, and draws readers who crave sustainable, innovative style. The blog offers our writers’ opinions on the relation between film, music, pop culture trends and more in relation to fashion. Finally, the blog also provides updates about news and merchandise from Avant Gaudy, our online vintage retailer.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
It’s so hard to pick just one! We have so many talented writers with different personalities and different interests that it’s hard to pick one BEST post. However, I think this entry, Contemporary Vintage: “Log Cabin Chic”, demonstrates how Avant Gaudy strives to focus on the importance of vintage fashion at a time when vintage clothing is more relevant – and prevalent – than ever. While we have a variety of different kinds of posts on the blog, this particular posts seems to emphasize part of our purpose: pointing out runway trends that are also being worn on the streets and teaching readers how they can create the same look with more affordable vintage pieces.

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
One thing that sets us apart from other bloggers is that our blog coincides with our online vintage store, Avant Gaudy. While we often post about trends, boutiques or fashion news, we also try to update our readers about the newest merchandise available on our Web site or give readers a sneak peek at our latest photo shoots. The blog also gives us the opportunity to hear back from our readers and customers. We love comments and feedback!

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
Honestly, I personally just started blogging this summer! I started a blog with my friend where we just talked about fashion things we liked or other random things we were interested in, but we quickly ran out of time to work on it. I then started working with Avant Gaudy in June and since I’ve become incredibly involved with this blog, acting as blog manager with a team of about 14 writers. Now I want to start my own personal blog as well to discuss things I like and I’m interested in that might not fit on the Avant Gaudy blog. This is also the first time most of Avant Gaudy’s contributing writers have been blogging, too!

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
Spam. It’s incredibly annoying and we’ve been linked back to some very random sites for some reason. I’m incredibly grateful for Akismet!

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
As I had said, thank God for Akismet! And I really love checking out our stats, too. I love to know how many views we get each day, which posts are the most popular with our readers and how people are finding our blog. I love to see which search engine terms people have used and have found our blog through – it can be incredibly amusing.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
This is a tough one! It might sound cliché, but I think it would be incredible to have Coco Chanel write a guest post for us. We’ve actually written a few posts about Chanel already and her famous quote (“Fashion is in the sky, in the street…”) inspires our writers daily. If I had a second option as a guest writer, it would probably be Anna Wintour. It would be interesting to see her share her opinions in our blog.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
As the manager of the Avant Gaudy blog, I think it has definitely made me a better person in that I’ve had the opportunity to work with other talented and opinionated fashion writers. I think blogging has also made me more aware of how much is really out there already. With so many blogs available on so many topics, it’s incredibly important to be unique and relevant.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Edit, spellcheck, edit, review, edit, check grammar and edit again!. Make sure your post is PERFECT before you publish it. I’m also a journalism student and careless grammar or spelling mistakes are one of my biggest pet peeves. It’s not difficult to read over your post at least once before publishing it and making sure there are no mistakes. It will make your blog look even more professional.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?
I love reading style blogs that are written by incredibly talented, stylish and YOUNG bloggers. I find it amazing – I’ll admit, I was never that stylish or Internet-savvy when I was in junior high! Or even high school! A few of my favorites are Style Rookie, The Stylish Wanderer and Sea of Shoes.

The Blog – Urban Frugal Chic was founded to help ladies “look fabulous and chic on the cheap”.  Not only will you discover how to purchase the latest fashions on a budget, but you’ll also find beauty and diet tips, recipes, relationship advice, and celebrity gossip.  There are even a few articles for the fellas!

The Bloggers – Cynthia, Khristal, and Yolanda are beautiful women living the Urban Frugal Chic lifestyle.  They are on a mission to help you do the same!

A Post We Luv – Never again will you have to throw out a lipstick when it breaks in half.  Be sure to read Don’t Throw That Away – Broken Lipsticks and Compacts Can Be Fixed!

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a geek. And as such, I read a number of geek blogs. As great as they are, let’s face it. The majority of geek blogs are written by men, for men. So where is the techno-savvy woman to go for her daily dose of geek news?

I’ve been a member of StumbleUpon for a while now, but I had never really used it much until just a few nights ago. As I stumbled through the World Wide Web, I discovered GeekSugar, a tech blog written specifically for women! I may never leave my computer again.

GeekSugar is authored by a “dorky fabulous gal hoping to make it big in the tech industry”. She blogs about all things geeky – tech news, product reviews, tutorials, and lots more. One of my favorite regular features is Totally Geeky or Geek Chic? in which a new and unusual product is presented. Readers vote on whether the item is totally geeky or geek chic. I love the Fuze Necklace, which “combines the natural beauty of quartz crystal with the geeky beauty of glowing LEDs.”

I’d like to highlight a couple of other posts that I enjoyed.

A Real Super Mario Mushroom Found – Exciting news for Super Mario addicts.

Advice on Cleaning up Your Internet Act – Performing a Google search on yourself from time to time is highly recommended. You may be shocked at what you find, but don’t worry. You can get rid of potentially damaging material.

GeekSugar is one of a dozen blogs run by Sugar, Inc. Sugar’s vision is “to be the definitive online media company for trendsetting, passionate women ages 18-44.” Other blogs in the Sugar Network cover such topics as celebrity, fashion, shopping, beauty, entertainment, food, health, pets, and more. Sugar boasts more than five million unique visitors per month.

In order to comment on GeekSugar or any other blogs in the Sugar Network, you first must join TeamSugar. TeamSugar is a social network for women – not unlike Facebook and some of the other social networking sites that have become so popular in recent months and years. TeamSugar members have profile pages that allow them to share photos, videos, and bookmarks. Other features include a friend list and Chatter, a microblogging tool similar to Twitter.

So what are you waiting for? GeekSugar is only a click away.

When Mike suggested that I check out Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery, he certainly didn’t have to twist my arm! I am quite the girly girl. I like to look and smell nice. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t spritz on some perfume right before going out the door and starting my day. I was excited to hear about a blog that was entirely about perfumes!

Mariuca is a lovely lady from Malaysia with a very unique pastime. She collects perfume miniatures, displaying them beautifully in cases that rival those you’ll see in high-end department stores. Her mission is to have as many perfumes as possible surrounding her at all times. She wants to see, touch, and smell them.

When I first visited Mariuca’s blog, I was so impressed that I read every post. The blog is fairly new, dating back to only November 2006, but it isn’t often that I’m compelled to read every post in a blog’s archives. The majority of Mariuca’s posts profile specific perfumes from her collection. Even if you’ve never encountered these perfumes, you’ll walk away somehow knowing exactly how they smell. You’ll understand when and how they should be worn. And you’ll be oh so tempted to take a little trip to your local department store and add a perfume to your own collection.

I didn’t see my favorite perfume, Happy by Clinique, highlighted on Mariuca’s blog, but I am hopeful that it soon will be. Other favorites of mine include Pink by Victoria’s Secret and Wink by Avon.

Does perfume make you smile? Does it evoke a sense of beauty and happiness when you spray it? Can it turn an average day into a wonderful one? Yes? Well, head on over to Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery and choose your next scent.