Heather Fonseca: Doll Designer vs Personal Style Blogger

 It was sometime last year that I first became aware of Heather Fonseca. She was doll designer from Los Angeles, and had a design blog but began frequenting and commenting on many of my favorite personal style blogs. Her blog was mostly about design, but soon she started posting street style pics and outfit posts.  Originally her self named blog was exclusively about design, particularly doll design but as she fell into the world of personal style bloggers she started sharing her own passion for fashion, and her own personal style. Last April, Heather decided to spin-off these interests into a blog of its own, and The Style Confessions was born. It started out strong with a clean blog design, and thoughtful, well written posts. The Style Confessions is most definitely on my must read list.

Heather and I posing together when we met for the first time last summer.

Since she has been a keen supporter of me in my endeavors, and is now one of my sponsors, I asked Heather to share the differences of her doll design website and blog, and her personal style blog. Since we all blog for different reasons, I was curious to hear about the motivations a blogger has when writing more than one blog. Heather explains the differences between her professional and her personal style blog:

Design Blog vs. Personal Style Blog

HeatherFonseca.com promotes my freelance fashion doll design business by displaying my portfolio of designs to potential clients.  The blog on the site is meant to present me as a dynamic, creative designer with a great interest in fashion illustration and doll design. 

Heather shares her love of doll design on HeatherFonseca.com

According to just about everything I’ve read about blogging you should present yourself as an expert in your field.  To do this you write interesting, meaty articles about issues affecting your industry.  So last year I wrote an article for my design blog about a very cute new doll that had many of the same features as a competitor’s product.  I wondered out-loud if they might have copied the concept. Almost immediately I received a number of e-mails from friends in the toy industry begging me to take down the post before someone saw it. I altered the post, and now keep my articles on the positive and fluffy side.

The problem with writing fluff is that it’s boring.  After my attempt at addressing important topics failed I found myself facing a really bad case of blogger’s block. Although I still have a blog incorporated into my on-line portfolio I only post about once a month. I now focus on sharing new drawings when I have time to work on them. (Because the work I do for my clients is confidential I cannot post any of my current projects until they arrive on shelf.) Every so often I’ll write a light and positive article on the subject of dolls, toys or fashion illustration.

The early part of 2011 found me grappling with a design blog that still hadn’t found its voice. Meanwhile I was becoming more and more fascinated with fashion blogs, especially the one’s that showed off the author’s own style with outfit posts.  Pretty soon I started posting my own outfits on my design blog. I realized that this kind of personal expression needed it’s own home so in March of 2012 I created my first fashion blog.

"I view fashion as a designer, as a woman AND as a blogger." 

TheStyle Confessions™ started as a way for me to express my personal style, creativity and interest in fashion. But as I posted photographs of my outfits I realized that I wanted to do more than just show off my wardrobe, I wanted to inspire other women to feel beautiful and sexy and glamorous too.

Now as I’m creating new posts I think about how the photos or text might inspire my readers. My friends tell me they’re trying out clothing that they normally would never have considered because of something they saw on my blog, so perhaps it’s working.

Heather in an early Film Noir inspired outfit post from The Style Confessions

My favorite fashion blogs are the most personal ones.  I enjoy the glimpse into another person’s mind, closet and personal style. I know the author is only showing me an edited version of her life, but the feeling that I’m seeing how a real woman dresses and lives in her clothing gives me an appreciation for her styling choices and current fashion trends that I have never gotten out of a fashion magazine. Many fashion blogs are a lot like mainstream magazines as the models are very young women. I enjoy them regardless of the age of the blogger, but I still feel more mature women are in the minority. My goal is to create a really beautiful, elegant blog filled with gorgeous photography that will appeal to women of all ages. 

The work I do in fashion doll design requires a constant stream of new apparel ideas. I have to spot new trends and figure out how they can be worked into an outfit for a doll. The Style Confessions™, on the other hand, forces me to look at fashion as personal expression.  I look at new fashion trends and wonder how these shapes and styles will look on real women. How will we feel in this clothing? How will this style look on me? I view fashion as a designer, as a woman AND as a blogger. Seeing fashion from these different angles expands my mind and makes me a better designer. Writing a fashion blog inspires my work in a way that my design blog never did.  It truly is a creative outlet.

Heather's Design Blog: heatherfonseca.com
Heather's Personal Style Blog: thestyleconfessions.com