Kendi has gotten a few side eye snarky posts from GOMI in the past, but I’ve got nothing but admiration for her at this particular time. Why? Well, she’s stopped the asinine 30 x 30 thing, for one. She also opened a retail store, bloom. Despite little to no information being available about it on her blog or on the store’s website, it looks like a cute space that reflects her style. I’m also pretty sure legions of her fans will make the trek to bloom to buy something from Kendi herself and to wallow in her good fortune.
Kendi’s had a couple of missteps (read: 30 x 30) and has a writing style that you’ll either love or hate, but you can’t deny that she’s basically Jessica Quirk 2.0 and is a living primer on What Jessica Quirk Should Have Done At The Peak Of Her Internet Fame. Kendi has most of Messy’s old sponsors, responds intelligently to comments on her blog and seems to put a lot of effort into what she wears. The fact that she’s spun all of this fame into a retail space seems like she’s got a decent head for business on her shoulders and I wish her well in this new endeavor. Hell, if I ever fly to Texas, I’d shop in her store.
(But please stop doing 30 x 30.)
*nose in air*
so busy so fat so first
Good luck to her. Starting a business is touch. Running a retail store is also tough. Hope it all goes well!
I was thinking the same thing. It seems like a risky move to open a retail store right now, but I think she’s got enough personal notoriety to carry it for a while.
This. A girl I went to college with who has amazing style and is an expert thrifter decided to turn her moderately-successful Etsy shop into a brick and mortar real shop. She gave it a go for a little over a year but, even though she lived in a college town and worked her ass off, she had to shut down about 14 months in because she had no more money to pour into the place.
I don’t mean to be a downer and sincerely wish Kendi the best — I’m sure having such a well-established blog will be a huge help as well.
Speaking of, I’m surprised Messica never partnered up with any of the thrift stores in Broomcloset. She’s always “Woot Indy!” and one of the reasons I love reading bloggers who live in smaller cities is because it’s refreshing to see style outside the NYC/LA/London circle jerk.
Partnering up would require energy and like, work, and she has to devote at least 5 hours a day to email, so that would really never work out.
this is basically my story, 100%. hey, are we friends IRL?
I’ve owned a B&M vintage shop since May 2010 and I think Kendi and I are similar in that we’re both young women that have the help of a second household income, no kids, and we didn’t leave jobs that were heath insurance having, high paying career type jobs…. so while it’s obviously still risky, it’s not as risky as it could have been, you know? For me anyway, it was a sort of “now or never” thing.
It seems like she’s thought this through and from the little that we’ve seen of the shop it looks like a well-branded, cohesive shop that screams Kendi’s aesthetic. Also, I LOVE the metal Bloom sign she’s got behind her cash wrap. Totes jelly of that one.
i’ve wanted to open a bookshop for years, but am too scurred (also i have a load of grad school debt and don’t want to drag my man down with me even further). i give props to all ladies who embark on suck risky endeavors!
So Do I. I’ve never been a Kendi reader because her type of blog doesn’t appeal to me; nothing personal. it’s obvious, though, that she puts more effort into it. I applaude women run small business and hope it works out for her.
I’ve always liked Kendi, she’s an SOMI for me, and I’ve heard from people who have met her that she’s super-sweet. Good luck to her.
I used to read her blog daily, but I’m not really into OOTD blogs anymore, TBH. She’s sweet, smart and not a fame whore. I approve and hope she does well.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was her goal all along, and having a successful blog helped her achieve/network to that end. now she has a following, some of which are willing to travel xx miles just to meet her in person/be cool/buy kendi-approved wares. I think she majored in econ (or marketing?) so presumably she has some biz sense. savvy move, and I do enjoy thinking that her rise makes Messi fume.
hmm, what is she selling? modcrap-type labels like bb dakota and tulle? i’ve seen several boutiques that sell stuff like that, with a small vintage section. could be something along those lines.
My guess is it’s got the same lines that ShopRuche, Modcloth, Lulus, etc., carry. (bb dakota, etc.) She hasn’t really said what her inventory is yet, I don’t think.
Now there’s a trend Messica can’t say she started – fashion bloggers using a strong work ethic and resourcefulness to start successful businesses.
Ugh. All of those stores just remind me of wannabe Anthropologies. They just feel like a knock off (of a knock off, natch).
But congrats to Kendi for doing something other than running around taking pictures of herself. I hope her shop does well.
yeah I hope she does well. I don’t like her blog writing so I never read it but her outfits are cute and she dresses well for her body.
and in O/T news: as much as I cannot stomach LLL, gurrrl has good decorating tastes.
Back to my basement.
Her house is super cute (in the two posts she’s done so far) but I can’t picture any male with his testicles still intact wanting to live there. Love love love the white kitchen, though.
Really? I don’t think it’s too feminine. A little precious, sure, but not overdone? IDK.
Wait n/m. I just saw the kitchen, total girly girl city. I like her taste but seems like it’s a reflection of her tastes not his as well.
I don’t get it, where are you guys seeing her house?
http://www.lovelifelace.com/2011/09/our-home-kitchen.html
Men have survived for hundreds of years in girly houses. Think of all the flowered wallpaper and china figurines. You know men didn’t invent that shit.
I love watching movies set in the Regency period, with men balancing on little flouncy chairs drinking out of tiny tea cups. So funny.
I am surprised to learn that William Morris and Charles Noke were women.
*nose in air*
An internet to you, good sir.
I love her house, too, and I think the quality of her blog (at least photo and layout wise) has improved vastly over the last couple of months.
I have to say, though, hearing her go on about how it’s taken since JUNE to decorate their house and listing Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters like they are bargain brands really annoys the shit out of me. I’m jealous that, with my full-time job and other gigs, I don’t have the time to redo my apartment in three months and make it cute with hundreds of dollars of shit c/o my parents. Like, seriously jealous. I’ll just sit here and wallow in that, along with my fat and layers of cat hair.
I’ve been in my house for almost two years and it’s nowhere close to being put together. If I had the fundage I wouldn’t need as much time, because finding cute stuff on the cheap is like a second part time job.
no I totally get that. I was like, HOW DID SHE (unemployed, correct?) afford a friggin’ marble counter top in her kitchen? I recently bought a broken arm chair from IKEA’s “as is” sale that cat friend had to fix because that’s how I decorate my cat box and I am employed. grr
Well I spend $45 on materials for an Ikea hack and thought I was splurging. No Anthrocushions for me!
It’s the in-laws’ vacation house; they may have paid for the lasting improvements like the counters and the new tub and so forth.
I’m sure the marble was there before, yes she re-did the kitchen and it looks great but they never had to buy that house, it was handed to them, there is no reason to be jealous of that, it makes me feel sorry for her more than anything.
Yeah, LLL’s little cabin looks really cute.
I like it too–I think it’s quite sophisticated and doesn’t look like she hocked a kidney to do it.
I’ll admit it too. The house looks great.
How someone can have an eye for interior decorating and no sense of style is beyond me. I feel like (for MAHSELF at least) the two go hand-in-hand.
I mean, nothing about her decor screams… well…
If she’d wipe off the jam stains and shuck off the dead wuffle she’d look cute here.
I think she’s gained weight and maybe doesn’t know how to dress her new body.
I’m in that position and it’s tough. I have responded to it by wearing only basics, looking dull, etc. She seems to deal with it by being really trend-aggro. I can’t say that I don’t envy her confidence/delusional thinking on some level, but that fur vest is pretty laughable. It’s so Mr. Burns “see my vest, see my vest, made from real gorilla chest”.
BRB dead now.
LOL @ trend aggro!! <3
She looks pretty cute without the bad bun hairdo and RED RED lipstick.
I agree!! She has pretty hair when she does something with it.
Yes, and the fake eyeglasses! Now the blush has to go and she’ll be cute!
i must say, her hair looks really pretty here. though it kind of looks like extensions.
HOW THE FUCK did they afford black granite countertops, two $160 girly ass Urban Outfitters light fixtures, a $200 sink faucet, etc. plus an entire bathroom remodel on their single income teacher budget? If I could afford that, and was also unemployed so I could devote full days to painting, etc. my house would look awesome too. The parents had to help them out, right?
I still think her goodwill couch looks uncomfortable and gross.
YES!! Finally a blogger uses their blog attention to launch an actual business!! Granted retail is risky, but I can not believe the sheer volume of bloggers who left careers to be full-time bloggers and then just flit about.
When the blog bubble bursts (And in my opinion it is bursting from blogger greediness) what will those people put on their resumes? “Posted pretty pictures of self”?
I’ve always wondered why more successful full-time bloggers don’t take their freedom from a 9-5 and go to school or launch businesses outside of depending on Corporate sponsors to hand them their crumbs.
I think the best example of a blogger doing what you’re talking about is the Glamourai. She still maintains her blog but has a TON of other projects going on all at once. Jewelry designing, a gang of styling jobs, interior designing jobs….she’s ALWAYS doing something and going somewhere and has developed real, lasting relationships with a lot of different brands and design houses. She’s one with staying power for sure.
Yeah that’s what I don’t understand about Messy (or many others) doing this “full-time”. Full-time for how long? Until it gets old and people get over you? Not a good way to go out. Then you have a big gap in your work history and lack any relevant experience. I guess thinking about daily fashuns precludes thinking about the future and how all this frivolity might pan out. Sense: it makes none.
skills (other than photoshop, natch): social media! seriously, i am so sick of people listing “new media expert” or whatever on their resumes, just because they have a twitter account. tweeting personal conversations and checking in with foursquare is not hard or impressive.
Agreed! Yes it was a nice hook at first when it was brand new and older people were intimidated by it. But, now even my 64 year old boss has a handle on FB, twitter and all that. Its should just be an assumption now that in a job you can handle those things, like email and Microsoft Office.
“for how long?” is something I always think about with these full-time bloggers. The blogs of stylish 20-somethings are inspiring and all, but how many successful 40+ OOTD bloggers are out there? How long does Messi plan to ride the wave? One day it will crash (soon, I predict) and the only job she’ll be able to find will be working retail; luckily, she has the experience for that (getting dressed to go nowhere every day).
(Not that there’s anything wrong with working retail, but it’s not a very glamorous fashun job).
Isn’t that the point of her other shill site? To give her a new “career” when style blogging dies out? She’ll just shill for home products and kitchen gadgets. She already has thatsquirky.com set up.
Are you also That Girl R? And, if so, why are you linking to a rando person’s blog?
that was a joke.
Not to mention for me–the moment someone quits their full-time career to blog full-time, I lose all interest in them. People get new ideas when they work out in the real world, have to balance their time and interact with different sorts of people. When all you can offer is writing about being a blogger, blogger meet-ups, suck-up links to other bloggers and corporate sponsored posts, its no longer good reading.
That is why I think the full-time blogger (as the sole form of income) is on its way out. The appeal of advertising on blogs used to be the genuine vouching for products. Now I see an ad and immediately know the blogger is just schilling for $. Its no different than any other kind of advertising.
I totally agree about losing interest when a blogger is “full-time”. If new ideas come from dialogue, so do new ideas about fashion come from being out there in the world, mixing with people in real people ways! I think that’s part of why Messi is at a standstill.
Also, there is nothing relatable about a person who doesn’t have/need a real job. Alienates half of your audience!
The ironic thing is these bloggers who leave their full-time careers act as though it is some great liberation, allowing them to make their own schedule. Really, instead of being loyal to one corporation or business, they now must basically shape their blog to please multiple companies and businesses.
I just know nobody ever gets something for nothing–it’s going to all burst like the dot-com burst.
When I lost my job a couple years ago, I had a few ads on my site that I hoped would bring in just a little bit of spare income. Then, as the months went on, I realized my ads were making me feel…blech. Like a sellout or something. And that I didn’t like how I felt having ads on my sidebar and products that I was shilling in actual blog posts. I was writing a lifestyle blog — why on earth was I trying to make money by gabbing about my life?
After the expiration date for all the ads came up, I deleted them all. I stopped accepting sponsored posts and links and yadda yadda, and I feel so much better about this decision.
Part of what drew me to blogging and reading blogs in the first place was the realness of it. Having sponsored posts and the same ads on every freaking blog takes away most of the authenticity that I originally loved seeing.
I totally admire that you did that! I mean–I think people can accomplish a sort of balance. But, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my favorite blogs have no ads or just sidebar ads.
I used to notice bloggers getting c/o’s and posting about certain products but it took me awhile before I started to actually realize how much of it goes on. Once I notice a blogger shilling, I can’t really read about anything they’re posting without feeling like the blogger has some tie in. I think if you were getting products from companies to give fair reviews that would be one thing but its kind of annoying to feel sold to all the time. There is nothing spontaneous about those bloggers even though they are trying to hard to make their lives seem a bundle of surprises.
Yeah. I second all the positive things about Kendi. She seems like the kind of person you’d want to hang out with.
I third it all. I’ve always loved Kendi. She seems like a super sweet person though her humor/writing sometimes gives me the side-eye. I absolutely love her style and she just seems really down to earth, and super appreciative of the opportunities given to her, unlike Messi.
I find her really, truly adorable. Funny, cute, approachable and just lovely! And pretty too. AND she has a job now! Go her!
Good for her! I wish her success.
Good for her, looks like a really cute space. I saw her at the big citywide garage sale in Austin a couple of months ago, i wonder if she was picking up vintage items for the store?
I’ll likely check it out next time I’m in Dallas. Kendi can SOMI; I briefly spoke to her at the garage sale and she seemed very friendly.
Her husband just started a photography business in the past few months and they both documented that on Makeunder My Life, but I don’t remember any mention of a retail store.
I think they started it together as The Photographers Skeen…I wonder if she’s still doing that? They were targeting the wedding market, which is mostly a weekend gig, shooting-wise, but there are so many hours of editing involved. If she’s doing the blog, the store, and photographing with her husband then DAMN…girlfriend works hard. Are you paying attention, Messi? Take a few notes…
Does anyone know whether her husband is working a 9-5? I assumed they moved because of his job, but then when her shop announcement came out, I realize they probably moved so Kendi could open up her shop.
Being a photographer is hard work, so I’d be surprised if they relied on that for income. I’m guessing that her husband is helping out with the business side of things for her shop, but that can’t be paying too well when they’re just starting out. Either way, it’s hard work and I commend them for taking such a huge leap.
I have no idea! I know from MML that they started the photography business in the last few months as a business, and not like a freelance kind of a thing, but I don’t know if he’s working another job, too.
didn’t he used to work at some camp?
OMG OT but MareMare is bring back her nut bag!
http://maryrambin.tumblr.com/post/10730671042/its-official-im-bringing-back-the-click
$140?! For that?
I agree. $140 is OUTRAGEOUS!!!
If she was really smart about parlaying her internet notoriety into merchandizing, each of those bags would come with two Ben Wa balls included inside.
That is exactly what I just came here to comment on. Oh lordy.
They’re cute and I bet she’ll sell a ton of them.
?!?
Why would you buy the dog nutsack bag when for the same price you could get a cute wristlet?
Mary’s nutsack bags cost more than the most expensive Coach wristlet (not that I love the Coach wristlets so much, but).
Because people with tons of money spend it in crazy ways?
*ahem*MissoniforTargetonEbay*ahem*
I wonder if you guys will think less of me for buying some snotty shoes on ebay. *cough*manolos*cough*
Sorry just I heard they are super comfy…and if my one pair is any indication, they are. #JUDGEMETHEY WERE 50 DOLLARS
Shut up PP. Show the pic of the $50 Manolos or it didn’t happen.
Shoe hoar.
ok one sec
Not bragging at all. Because really, can you brag about something from ebay?
1) Score, and so cheap!
2) I would have bought them just for the shoe bag.
3) Do they make Manolos especially for broken feet ; )
4) Fuck yeah, ebay brag, that’s where one get all the best stuff in the world. Who wants to brag about paying full price, that’s just for suckers. I buy bread on ebay.
$50 on ebay and they’re cute and comfortable? Brag!
PP, that’s really the ultimate instance to brag about an eBay purchase:)
I was mentioning the complete opposite, which is the madness that was Missoni for Target, where people lost their brains, stripped most stores within the hour and immediately hawked the shit on eBay. I’m talking a $40 throw selling for $300, and several of the $300 bikes selling for 1k+. And people ARE ACTUALLY PAYING FOR THEM. Nutso.
haha she didn’t before. This is her second go around being a “designer” last time she was giving them away, which is why Julia Alison has one in almost every color.
Yes, exactly. Why would she suddenly develop competence in marketing the nutsack bags?
Also, it is exactly the wrong time for them, as the trend right now is clutch clutch clutch clutch and boxy 1960s shapes. They didn’t work the last time when little drawstring numbers were hot, so why would they work now at a higher price point when they’re not even close to being on trend?
And 200 is a weird quantity to order of something like a bag (presumably that’s all someone was willing to bankroll for her). It’s too few to get distro into stores, and too many to sell easily in venues like Etsy or ArtFire.
tl; dr: that’s $10,000 she (or whoever paid for the order) will never see again.
I don’t even think copycat, “Donna Karen” is making them anymore
Julia Allison sold hers in her terribly sad online auction, along with her 3 year old smelly juicy sweatsuit. Honestly if I were desperate enough to buy either of these things from a Julia Allison online auction, I would fucking kill myself.
The Nutsack: Hold Your Own.
You’re welcome Mary.
…are people really willing to pay for this shit…? it’s basically a rip off of this:
http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v7354-products-2040.php?page_id=181
save yourselves some money…
Her mom works at Tootsies as like a salesgirl or something. I think she probably used that connection to sell them there. Good for her. At least she’s trying to scrape together an income with bags, teaching spin, etc. however pathetic it may be.