Fashion Blogging Platforms

The lovely Kate from  Pretty Dresses in the Laundry debates the differences between Blogger, Wordpress and Tumblr for running your fashion blog...

Fashion blogging is taking the world by storm and with more and more flocking to blogging platforms each week to start one of their own, there are many left questioning which blogging platform is for them? As blogging has become such a large part of society, many platforms are cropping up each year. While there are many, some of the more popular and well known platforms, host some of the worlds best fashion bloggers. Tumblr, Wordpress and Blogger are becoming the most widely used, however there are smaller platforms are proving to be just as successful.  

Blogger, or Blogspot as it was previously known, houses or housed the worlds elite fashion bloggers, including the world famous bloggers of The Sartorialist, Fashion Toast (who have both originally used Blogger),  Face Hunter, Man Repeller, The Glamourai, Keiko Lynn, Where Did U Get That? And Natalie Off Duty. It is incredibly easy to use and is owned by Google, meaning there are many Google features readily available to bloggers. However, unlike other blogging platforms, Blogger does not update their themes very often and they are not easily customisable for users. Blogger may also shut down your blog at any time, leaving bloggers at the disadvantage and without a blog. 

Wordpress is another popular blogger platform at the moment and since its inception has proven to be a popular platform amongst fashion bloggers. WordPress is a personal publishing platform with a focus on web standards, aesthetics and usability. On WordPress, unlike Blogger, your blog cannot be deleted - bloggers have full ownership and the dashboard is easy to use. Widgets are also easily integrated which can be very beneficial to bloggers. While the platform is free, hosting incurs some costs, which other platforms to not entail. It is also necessary that bloggers are familiar with  HTML, PHP and CSS which can make fashion blogging more difficult. Many bloggers like WordPress as they have full ownership over their website and all posts, however the coding makes posting more difficult.  

Tumblr on the other hand, is considered different to the other two blogging platforms, however is hugely popular amongst fashion bloggers. The website was created in 2007 by Marco Arment and was the first platform of it's kind. Tumblr is relatively straight forward, making it  user friendly and perfect for new bloggers. It also has a large selection of easily customisable themes and allows users to quickly upload photos, text, sound, videos and quotes , allowing the bloggers to share their posts effectively. However, like all blogging platforms, Tumblr has its disadvantages.  On Tumblr, bloggers have little control over the plugins and due to reblogging sometimes the original sources are lost.  

So which blogging platform is the best for your fashion blog?

All blogging platforms have their benefits and disadvantages for avid fashion bloggers. For new bloggers, Tumblr or Blogger are the easiest to use and are fast and easy to manage, however both websites are famous for their websites regularly crashing, which highlights the advantages of WordPress where bloggers own the site and do not have this concern. Depending on a bloggers experience with coding and blogging, the platform suitable varies. Fashion bloggers have seen success on all three blogging platforms and all three have their disadvantages and advantages, therefore it is entirely up to the fashion blogger which platform suits them best.  

Check out Kate and Sam's gorgeous Tumblr blog Pretty Dresses in The Laundry for more ideas and info.