LoveBrownSugar Chic: Sunbeams in Soho

 At the conclusion to NYFW last month, I had the pleasure of meeting up with the lovely Christina of ProfreshStyle to have lunch and blogger chat in downtown Soho.

Photo via ProfreshStyle.com

 Before we sat down for Thai deliciousness at Peep Soho, this lovely lady snapped a few shots of me. Isn't she gorge? I was super happy she suggested we take street shots. It was a gorgeous day...

Kickin' It: IFB Conference Fall 2011

 Hey folks! Phew, what a whirlwind week and it's not even over yet! While I'm running around like a madwoman for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, I've had absolutely no time to fill you guys in on my whereabouts but I promise the neglect will soon cease! By Thursday, things will have slowed down and I'll be posting away about all my expeditions this season. In the meantime, here's a brief recap of my FAB time at the IFB Conference:

 This was my third season attending the Independent Fashion Blogger's conference and I had a blast. It's such a great time to meet people in the blogosphere that you communicate with regularly online but never get to see face to face! 

Karen of WhereDidUGetThat & I

I had the opportunity of bumping into Karen of WhereDidUGetThat while at the conference. She's such a sweetheart, and I absolutely adore her street style! Check out her blog, it does NOT disappoint.

I also had the chance to catch up with the lovely Gabi Gregg of Young, Fat & Fabulous. We had a ball at the conference. Gabi is also MTV's first-ever Twitter Jockey and she tweets for them over at @MTVTJ so make sure to keep up with her celebrity sightings and pop culture gab on Twitter. I also have the pleasure of FINALLY meeting Vahni of Grit & Glamour. Love her posts but we'd never met! And I also bumped into my namesake Christina, of Profreshstyle. As soon as I find a pic of her outfit, I will post. She looked amazing.

Pic snapped for Shopbop's Best Dressed Blogger contest.

 This year's conference, held at Milk Studios NY was extremely informative for new, and even established bloggers who wanted to learn and get feedback about how to make their blogs better. Sponsors included Shopbop, who hosted a really cool "Best Dressed Blogger" contest at their booth. TheFind, who provided the amazing goodie bags, and so many more! Special thanks to Jennine of The Coveted and Jess of Bits of Banter over at IFB for allowing me the opportunity to work behind the scenes during the conference. I got a chance to take video interviews of amazing bloggers for a video recap that the folks at IFB are working on. Can't wait to see what it looks like!

If you're a fashion blogger and you haven't signed up yet, head over to the IFB Website and register to join the community. It has helped me IMMENSELY not just with information, but also with networking opportunities. Anyone looking to grow their blog and make it better should be part of the community.

Catch up with you guys later! Follow LoveBrownSugar on Twitter for hour-by-hour updates of my fashion week experience.

 

Sick Sites Spotlight: Responses to "Curvy Girl's Ode..."

Christina of Profreshstyle highlights her experience on Lookbook.nu

 This week's "Sick Site Spotlight" is dedicated to the overwhelming response I've received to my Curvy Girl's Ode to Outfit Posts. I am so incredibly humbled and inspired by all the post comments, emails (including one from Gabi of Young, Fat & Fabulous) and subsequent blog posts that have gone up as a result of me addresssing this topic! It warms my heart to know that there are other people who felt the same way I did. Just a disclaimer: I didn't write the post to deter anyone from enjoying sites like Chictopia or Lookbook.nu as I personally still think they're great places to find inspiration. I simply wanted to address an issue that I felt wasn't being discussed. All that to say, you guys rock! Thanks for your support. Below are some amazing posts by some fabulous bloggers, in response to my Curvy Girl's Ode. For your reading pleasure...

Vahni of Grit & Glamour discusses the alarming statistics behind some of these street style forums & the demographic of the true "winners" in her post Why I'm Not on Weardrobe, Chictopia, Lookbook, or Hypeed.

Screenshot of stats from Grit & Glamour report.

Christina of  Profreshstyle (pictured above) talks about her lack of "hype" on Loobook as a curvy mixed chick, and the lack of substantial traffic the sites bring to user's blogs. Check it out HERE.

Beautifully Invisible explains her disgust for the "plus-size" classification of blogging and terms like "fatshion" in Can't We All Just Be Fashionistas?

Evie Kemp of One More actually posted last Wednesday about the divide between the "plus size" blogger and the "others". Read her post "Getting Serious: That Weighty Issue".

 So grab a cup of coffee and indulge! And feel free to keep the conversation going. Post links if you've been compelled to discuss the issue on your blogs or you've seen something on topic. Looking forward to it!

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