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 along with her great articles about design, fashion history and fashion illustration.  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 Blogvs. Personal Style Blog
HeatherFonseca.compromotes my freelance fashion doll design business by displaying my portfolioof designs to potential clients.  Theblog on the site is meant to present me as a dynamic, creative designer with agreat interest in fashion illustration and doll design. 

Heather shares her love of doll design on HeatherFonseca.com

Accordingto just about everything I’ve read about blogging you should present yourselfas an expert in your field.  To dothis you write interesting, meaty articles about issues affecting yourindustry.  So last year I wrote anarticle for my design blog about a very cute new doll that had many of the samefeatures as a competitor’s product. I wondered out-loud if they might have copied the concept. Almostimmediately I received a number of e-mails from friends in the toy industrybegging me to take down the post before someone saw it. I altered the post, andnow keep my articles on the positive and fluffy side.
Theproblem with writing fluff is that it’s boring.  After my attempt at addressingimportant topics failed I found myself facing a really bad case of blogger’sblock. Although I still have a blog incorporated into my on-line portfolio Ionly post about once a month. I now focus on sharing new drawings when I havetime to work on them. (Because the work I do for my clients is confidential Icannot post any of my current projects until they arrive on shelf.) Every sooften I’ll write a light and positive article on the subject of dolls, toys orfashion illustration.Theearly part of 2011 found me grappling with a design blog that still hadn’tfound its voice. Meanwhile I was becoming more and more fascinated with fashionblogs, especially the one’s that showed off the author’s own style with outfitposts.  Pretty soon I startedposting my own outfits on my design blog. I realized that this kind of personalexpression needed it’s own home so in March of 2012 I created my first fashionblog.

"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 Irealized that I wanted to do more than just show off my wardrobe, I wanted toinspire other women to feel beautiful and sexy and glamorous too. Nowas I’m creating new posts I think about how the photos or text might inspire myreaders. My friends tell me they’re trying out clothing that they normallywould never have considered because of something they saw on my blog, soperhaps it’s working.

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

Myfavorite fashion blogs are the most personal ones.  I enjoy the glimpse into another person’s mind, closet andpersonal style. I know the author is only showing me an edited version of herlife, but the feeling that I’m seeing how a real woman dresses and lives in herclothing gives me an appreciation for her styling choices and current fashiontrends that I have never gotten out of a fashion magazine. Many fashion blogsare a lot like mainstream magazines as the models are very young women. I enjoythem regardless of the age of the blogger, but I still feel more mature womenare in the minority. My goal is to create a really beautiful, elegant blogfilled with gorgeous photography that will appeal to women of all ages. 
Thework I do in fashion doll design requires a constant stream of new apparelideas. I have to spot new trends and figure out how they can be worked into anoutfit for a doll. The Style Confessions™, on the other hand, forces me to lookat fashion as personal expression. I look at new fashion trends and wonder how these shapes and styles willlook on real women. How will we feel in this clothing? How will this style lookon me? I view fashion as a designer, as a woman AND as a blogger. Seeingfashion from these different angles expands my mind and makes me a betterdesigner. Writing a fashion blog inspires my work in a way that my design blognever did.  It truly is a creativeoutlet.
Heather's Design Blog: heatherfonseca.com
Heather's Personal Style Blog: thestyleconfessions.com