Blogger Spotlight: Chi Chi

 Meet Robyn, the mastermind behind the adorable blog, Chi Chi!

Justine: What made you start blogging?

Robyn: I actually have two different answers for this one.  Stay with me!

My first blog was my health blog, “‘How are you’ and other dumb questions?”  The title is playing off the fact that there’s no socially acceptable way to talk about your health in public, but what if you’re so chronically ill that your health feels like your life?  Or at least impacts it in a huge way.  So the question, “How are you?” becomes a real stumper—be honest and make the other person uncomfortable?  Lie and make yourself uncomfortable?  Is there ground in between?

I really met with fantastic support in the chronic illness blogosphere, so after I started to feel a little better (I’m being treated now, which I wasn’t before) and gained confidence in my blogging, I wanted to move on, focus on the best that life has to offer, and write a blog about my passions.  For me, that’s fashion!  I just find it amazing how art and music and technology and culture collide to become the ever-evolving industry that is fashion.  I want to do writing, editing, and/or marketing in the fashion field after I graduate this summer, so “Chi-Chi” is kind of my virtual magazine that I send out for everyone’s enjoyment!

Got any favorite blogs you check often?

Oh my gosh, how many do you want?  Haha, I am so inspired by my fellow fashion bloggers and I love reading what they have to say.  The blog that really got me interested in fashion was Rumi’s Fashiontoast (www.fashiontoast.com), so I’ll always have special preference for her blog.  I love Marian Kihogo’s (www.mariankihogo.com) insider look at London fashion and the world of styling. Café Fashionista  and Cupcakes and Cashmere always have something sunny and lovely to say or show, so they really make my day.  And I also love Fashion Fazer and Fade to Black… they both have killer style, and they’re hella funny to boot.  Score!  Finally, I recently discovered “Pretty, Shiny, Sparkly,” and I’ve been pretty much devouring all that juicy girliness.

Karla’s Closet, Chou Chou because she’s my bloggy doppelganger, Holier than Now’s gorgeous imagery, Good morning midnight’s unflinching observations on industry issues, Saucy Glossie’s videos (she’s so cute!), and Vanessa Jackman is my favorite street style blogger.

I also check Refinery20 and Who What Wear fairly often.

What's your favorite thing about your blog?

My favorite thing about having a blog is the conversation… I love to write and express my ideas in that medium, and I REALLY love to hear what everyone else thinks about it.  A nice meaty comment will pretty much make my day!

              If you mean what sets my blog apart, it’s hard to get distance from your own work.  But I think I really think about the reader—as a writer and a journalist, this isn’t pandering to me—it’s just good writing!  I think I’m pretty entertaining, I pick topics that I think a lot of people would be interested in, and I load my posts with images so the eye  (and the brain) doesn’t tire of me going on and on and on and…  I also really try to be myself as much as possible.  The blog is about style, but I want my readers to know that it’s all being filtered through me, and that they’re more than welcome to walk away with something completely different.  If I can make someone think a little more or a little more deeply, or if I can inspire them or even just brighten their day a bit, then that’s really a successful blog post.

Who is someone is the Fashion Industry who inspires you?

Style-wise, I adore Miroslava Duma, an editor for Russian Vogue.  Every piece she wears is exquisitely cut, and she always thinks ahead of the curve.  I also like the Olsen twins and Alexa Chung; their outfits are always cute and interesting!

Career-wise, it’s definitely any fashion insider who has embraced blogging.  Marian Kihogo and Monica Rose, both stylists, have blogs now, and a lot of editors of former magazines have moved to online mediums, including one who was one of my favorite Lucky editors, Jennifer Romolini, on whom I blame my current Ebay addiction.

What's your favorite trend right now?

I’m dying over unexpected fabrics making comebacks.  The denim shirt?  Leather shorts for summer?  A lace minidress for casual wear?  Um, VELVET?  These were all pretty taboo a few years ago, but suddenly it’s all looking fresh and new again, and I’m on board!

Where have your travels taken you?

In high school, I spent a few weeks working in an orphanage in Guatemala, which is a GORGEOUS country by the way.  In college, I spent a semester abroad in Venice, Italy, and I love that city like it is my soul.  I would move back there in a heartbeat; living there feels like living in a breathtaking painting, like how Mary Poppins and the children jump into the chalk paintings in the movie?  Living there just makes you think more creatively.  While I was in Italy, I went to Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Milano, Bologna, Napoli, Pompei and Capri.  I also spent a week roaming between Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, a weekend in Paris, and a very, VERY cold week traveling from the Olympics in Torino, Italy to Amsterdam to Berlin to Prague, then back to Venice.  It was February.  Ask the German bloggers what it’s like in Germany in February.  I didn’t know I could be so cold and live.  Amazing city though!

Since then, I haven’t done much in the way of traveling, though I did spend a week in New Orleans with friends and LOVED that.  I’d really like to go back to Italy to spend some more time with the culture and the language, and I’ve always wanted to see more of Northern Europe.  Eventually I’ll expand to some other, I’m sure!

If you could work in the Fashion Industry, what job would you want?

I would be an editor for Lucky magazine and I’d write for their blog- they’re hands continents-down my favorite magazine and the only magazine-run blog I read! (Except for Vogue during Fashion Week season).  I’d also love to do marketing for Forever 21 and companies like them that have such a fun, youthful message to get out there.

Favorite Magazine?

Lucky Magazine!  I just think their magazine hits the perfect note between bubbly and edgy.  They’re fun, they’re comprehensive, and they’re practical, for goodness’ sake.  They keep budget in mind, and I love that most of the magazine is spent explaining how to style pieces instead of just telling you to go buy more pieces.  I feel like I’ve learned a lot over the years just by reading Lucky!

Where do you get inspiration from? places, blogs, magazines ect?

Hmm… can I say all of the above?  I do tend to get a lot of inspiration from fellow bloggers, and occasionally I’ll see a beautiful editorial and think, “Hmm, how can I make that wearable?”  I also just get a lot of inspiration from the different sartorial dilemmas that pop up in everyday life, and I like to try to fix those in a way that still utilizes all the fun, pretty, and dreamy elements of fashion and styling.

Are you studying/have you studied Fashion?

No, but I sometimes wish I had!  I’m an English major with a double-minor in Journalism and International Relations.

Whose fall 2010 collections did you like best?

You know, I know that the Phoebe Philo clean aesthetic is all the rage, but I kind of love interesting details.  I loved the Suno collection for its bright colors and clashing but corresponding patterns, and I loved Rag&Bone for the great knits and the interesting layering.  I have to confess though, I’m still catching up on all the shows.  I caught fashion week burnout after NEW YORK, for goodness’ sake… this does not bode well, I’m sure!

Who are your favorite designers?

Okay, don’t laugh, but…can I call Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen designers?  Whatever, I love Elizabeth and James.  I want practically every piece they produce!  As for new designers, Veronica Etro of Etro and Max Osterweis for Suno actually have similar design aesthetics, but they both consistently take my breath away.  Their use of prints, colors, and ethnic inspiration is so original!

What's your favorite thing in your closet?

My LD Tuttle black cutout booties.  They’re heels I can actually walk in, and they make everything I own look more modern and put-together!

What do you look for in other blogs?

Two main things: passion and an artistic eye.  By passion, I mean that the blogger takes pride in his/her writing and presentation—he/she works hard to produce their best quality posts!  There’s really no substitute for an artistic eye either, and this is true in design blogs, street style blogs, and personal style blogs alike.  If the blogger is right time after time about upcoming trends without compromising her voice and personal style, THAT’S really a blogger to watch!

If you could spend a day with anyone, who would it be and why?

Chelsea Handler.  Because I hear once you’ve gone to jail with someone, you’re friends for life.  (I can only assume that jail would be the product of a day of Chelsea antics).

Favorite music?

Oh boy, there’s such a reason I’m not a music blogger.  I love music, but I’m just so terrible at looking for it, I end up listening to the same stuff over and over again!  I love the Beatles and Death Cab for Cutie and Owl City and the Across the Universe Soundtrack and, most recently, the song “Hey Soul Sister” by Train.  And I work out to Britney Spears.  Gah no one will ever take me seriously again!

Where's your favorite place in the world?

Venice, Italy, hands down.  My heart hurts when I hear people rushing through it in a day or two.  Venice isn’t a city you go to see; it’s a city you go to feel.  Whenever people visited me there, they would ask, “What’s there to see?”  Venice isn’t a to-do list of important landmarks.  What’s there to see is Venice herself: eerily beautiful, agelessly romantic, elegantly aging.  She’s beautiful and inspiring and peaceful.  I love that city.

Okay, you're given $1,000. what would you spend it on?

First, I’d spend the first $500 or so on a Linea Pelle handbag, either the medium Dylan or the large bowler bag.  Their leather just feels AMAZING and I really love the stud details on the Dylan bags.  I’m undecided on color… it’s between classic black, a fresh coconut shade, and a funky deep purple.

              Next, I would drive to the nearest Zara store and immediately purchase these bad boys here.  I’m so in love with Zara’s clothes this season, but the Zara nearest me is 30 whole minutes away, and I know that’s lame to let that stop me, but why so far, Zara?  And why in the middle of DC, where I hate to drive?

              Finally, I would probably spend any cash left over after my Zara binge at the nearest Madewell store.  They don’t sell online, unfortunately, except for occasionally when JCrew stocks their stuff  here. I'm in complete bliss over this huge, chunky rhinestone necklace  here, and they also make the absolute perfect bleached denim shirt that I wish I owned.

Oh wait!  One more thing!  Assuming I have money left (I have so not been doing the math), I’m heading to JCrew to pick up the FENTON/FALLON for JCrew Carrington Chain Bracelet (link: here).  Have you noticed my penchant for jewelry that would serve me well in a dark alley?  If it doesn’t look dangerous, I’ll be having none of it!

I LOVE Robyn's blog! It's crammed with useful links and inspirational pictures. Her posts have great variety, from stunning pictures, to adorable quotes. Her blog covers everything from trends to great shopping deals.  I definatly recommend you check out her blog!

Check out her blog here.