abbey kay turns three & big changes ahead

   
    
    
    
    
    
 This weekend my blog turned three whole years old.  I can’t believe that I started this journey that long ago. I was just 19 years old when I decided to jump onto the fashion blogging train, and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I started out taking daily outfit pictures with just my iPhone 3, snapping pics of department store sales & posting them, & sharing tips on how I purchased my clothes for such low prices. It was hobby of mine at the time & I had no idea that it would take me somewhere (or anywhere).

Now, just three years after creating my Instagram account (@fash_byabb) and my original blog, Bow to Toes, I have come so far (like taking pictures with a real camera) & have been able to do so many amazing things in the fashion blogging community. I’ve had the opportunity to host & participate in multiple giveaways, be featured on several fashion websites & blogs, make friends with handmade shops owners all over the country, model/post for a brand that I love, collab with local artists & businesses, be recognized in my own town by followers (I get more starstruck each time!), & connect with people from all over the world. It truly has been an experience that I never knew would come into my life, but one that I’m so grateful for having lived.

Looking back at where I started & seeing that a three year old anything is no longer a baby, I came to the realization that I needed to start focusing on the future of Abbey Kay & where it is that I wanted it to go. Fashion bloggers can get a bad rep sometimes. I know that these past three years have been a trial of hard times when it comes to telling others about this part of my life. I either get ripped apart because what I’ve posted in the past may have not been considered real “fashion” because it wasn’t name brand. I’ve been made fun of because of my weight/size because it’s no surprise that I’m not a tiny person thereforepeople think I shouldn’t be “modeling” clothes, when in reality I was just passionately styling them. I’ve even gotten judgemental tones & glares that give off the vibe that people think I’m totally self consumed & material obsorbed when I tell them that I blog about clothes & make-up. I’ve read every bad comment & soaked in every negeative term used to describe me & what I loved to do. And ya know what, I pressed on. I kept at it because I loved what I was doing & who I was doing it for & the one good comment from the one person that each post reached would always, always outway all the bad ones.

Looking back I never showed people the hard times behind blogging. I never showed the days when I wanted to give up. I never showed the times my gut would twist & turn when I wouldn’t get an outfit picture for a day. I never expressed the stress behind leaving my house everyday in “blog post worthy” outfit because I had a reputation to uphold & by all means I was going to do it. I never let the people who watched my life actually see it for all that it was, real, unedited, & not through a filter.

The new Abbey Kay is where I want to lay it all out on the table. I want this blog to be a place where I can show you really cool outfits, but then admit if I layed in my sweats around the house all day in no make-up because that is just life sometimes. I want to share my fears here, my anxieties, my hopes, my dreams, & my donut recipes.  Life is better lived when it’s honest & raw. I want to share that side of me with you all because people need to see it. We need to know that other’s are going through the same kind of scary things as we are. We all need a place to come & read & share & relate with others in this messy world. Well, I’m willing to do it now, will you be?

Starting today, this blog will no longer be just about fashion, but so, so much more. Here, I will begin to post encouraging posts about when life gets tough & we just don’t want to carry on. I’ll be sharing stories of others struggles, victories, & dreams through guest posts. I’ll be whipping up some fun food & cocktail recipes to share. I’ll be showing you somes tips in life like how to save money when shopping & how to find cool local places in your town. I’ll be collabing more. I’ll be sharing more. I’ll be being me more.

I cannot thank each & everyone of my readers for joining me these past three years on my fashion blogging journey. It has been an amazing adventure & I hope you’ll all continue to stick around as we embark on this next one. I would not be doing this if I didn’t already know that this is a platform that we all desperately need, one we are all searching for. A place where we can be us, where we can be real, where we can be a community of people living life & chasing dreams together. 

What I needed most these past three years has been encouragement & I hope that with the future of this blog, I give just that.

Love you guys, & can’t wait to see where the next three years takes us!

– abbey kay

Photo Cred: Taylor Kern of @taylorkernphotography
Hat & Both Dresses/ PYLO

Sunnies/ Nasty Gal

Shoes / Forever 21

Floral Crown/ Topshop

Props/ The Nest Reno