Category: fashion
The Northern Italian
Over a year ago I switched from a personal, to a business Instagram; The Northern Italian. I wanted to showcase my photography, my style, my pup, and share my struggles with my health. I never wanted to be a ‘style influencer’ because 1. I am way too lazy for all of that business and 2. I don’t like the way some influencers are all about LOOK AT ALL THIS EXPENSIVE SHIT I HAVE. It can really make you feel like a piece of shit yourself. PSSSSST….it’s mostly all fake, you guys….
I want my Instagram to stand out to those who struggle everyday; to not only get out of bed every morning, but who are single, who suffer from some type of ailment, but WHO STILL WANT TO LOOK LIKE A FUCKIN BOSS. I like to buy skin care and make-up, I like to shop til I drop, but I also need to take 10 medications per day, sometimes I don’t work out, sometimes I don’t want to see any people, because I don’t like people, and people just suck everything out of me. I also smoke a lot of weed….it’s medical, okay.
So, I want my Instagram to be real, none of this fake smile and here is all my shit, and you should buy all this shit, because all this shit will make you feel better. NO! I mean, I do shop to feel better, but it really doesn’t; it’s a coping mechanism, and DUH! Of course it’s going to make you feel better until you get home and your bank account is like YO, BITCH..WHAT THE FUCK. Then you’re all depressy and watch 10 hours of Friends.
Developing a brand is difficult and I am struggling. What should I post? How often should I post? Do I want to let strangers in to parts of my life that I don’t really want to let them into, but I should because maybe others are suffering and need to see that someone else is suffering, too.
My Instagram needs work and I am still deciding what I want to do and what my brand should be. I want my posts to be very methodical and done in way that people feel driven to visit my page, or even my blog!
Social media can be a tool to help others or it can be a tool to cause damage to your own life. Use it wisely.
Talk soon, friends.
xo,
JV
When Did Buying Fake Goods Become, Gucci?
I understand that we live in this world of I want it, and I want it now! This goes for fashion, make-up, television, food, dating…anything. Owning the latest ‘it’ item provides social clout that as given way to influencers, and bloggers boasting about their knock-offs in absurd quantities.
If someone is a fashion influencer, why the fuck are they telling people to buy cheap Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Channel., etc from Amazon or Alibaba? I am so bamboozled by this, because a lot of the influencers that I follow, often do giveaways that involve a Louis Vuitton ‘neverfull’ handbag; I question the legality of these handbags, and if these handbags are indeed, real, why are influencers promoting the sale of other fake bags? All of it is so strange to me
Gucci and others, have fought long and hard to keep their brand, luxury, so why are so many trying to take that away for fast fashion, to have the latest it piece? I get it, I really do. I shop more than most and I love the rush it gives you; waiting for that package, seeing what that piece is going to look like, what it’s going to feel like. It’s like a drug…
AND HANDBAGS! My mama raised me on Gucci and I am Italian. If you have ever been to Florence, and have visited the Gucci museum, then you know the true craftsmanship of what these brands do, not just with handbags, but with each collection and collaboration that they release.
So many of these fashion influencers talk about the meaning of body positivity and how we need to love what we have and be accepting of ourselves; yet they are constantly filling our feeds with teeth whiting, diet fads, eye lash extensions, fake self tanner, vacations every other week. Don’t get me wrong, I am very fortunate to have the life that I have, but telling people to buy illegal knock of handbags from China makes me want to cry. These kockoffs aren’t cheap, either, I mean; someone could buy a Tory Burch bag or a Coach bag for the same cost and IT IS REAL and LEGAL.
Do I want the Gucci Zumi grainy leather medium top handle bag in burgundy; which has an interlocking G horsebit and retails for $3,980?FUCK YES I DO. This bag is iconic and so fucking beautiful. It would sit so nicely with my other Gucci bags that I get when my family and I travel to Italy. This is WAY out of my price range; I am single dog mom for Pete’s Sake (who is Pete anyway?), and the Client Associate will have to pry the gorgeous bag out of my cold dead hands, and will then have to wipe the puddle from the drool and tears, because I am five and will throw a fit.
These luxury handbags are not bags that you buy, use a couple of times and toss away, these are pieces that you will have forever, and that you can pass down to your children. My mama has two Gucci bags that are nearly 30 years old and in mint condition.
It’s about integrity. The problem with fashion influencers is they care more about loving stuff than loving fashion; when they should be caring more about what goes into the vision of each of these collections these designers release.
To most Gucci and other well known luxury designer brands are just part of a billion dollar fashion industry, and if some of par take in buying a knock off one time it wont hurt their bottom line. Also, it would seem, social media normalizes buying knock offs, influencers who have a large following make it acceptable, and, well, here in lies the problem.
I love fashion. I love Gucci, clearly.
xo,
J
” E-Commerce is a growing segment of the U.S. economy and has been increasing significantly for the past several years. Consumer habits are changing as the internet allows individuals to make purchases online. These advances in economic activity have led to increasing volumes of imports of small, just-in-time packages, creating inspection challenges for CBP. E-Commerce shipments pose the same health, safety, and economic security risks as containerized shipments, but the volume is higher and continues to grow. Additionally, transnational criminal organizations are shipping illicit goods to the United States via small packages due to a perceived lower interdiction risk and less severe consequences if the package is interdicted.”
https://www.cbp.gov/FakeGoodsRealDangers
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