Real Life Versus Blog Life

We have deer that just hang out in our yard. They were out today. I love them.

Do you ever find that, reading back through blog posts or looking at pictures, your blog life seems much more beautiful than your real life? I read on one of those forums I mentioned earlier (GOMI, if you’re curious, which provides some great insight, a lot of laughter (for me), and maybe some hurt if you’re one to take offense easily) that several people have seen fashion bloggers “in the wild” and they dress nothing like their blogging selves, or act nothing like their online persona.

On one hand, I want to semi-defend bloggers, since the two times I met someone who reads my blog or follows my Instagram, it was a last-minute errand at the end of the day and I had already changed into my yoga pants for the evening. (One instance, I put on jeans and a nerdy tee; the other instance, I was in yoga pants, boots, hadn’t washed my makeup after an emotional episode, and badly needed to wash my hair. Ahem.). Really, especially with the “fancier” blogs, those people probably don’t dress that way every single day. I don’t post outfits I hate, and sometimes I post lazy jeans-and-tees, but only rarely because in a way my style is aspirational to myself. I blog how I want to look all the time.

On the other hand, though, I try hard to post what I’m actually wearing on a daily basis, with the occasional dream outfits just for fun, because… that’s what this is. I definitely don’t understand consistently wearing clothes for a blog that you wouldn’t wear in real life, unless you’ve stated that you’re blogging purely for the costumery.

As for personality on the blog versus real life, well… I hope I come across the same way in either situation (I am probably chattier and laugh more in real life, which is something harder to convey in blogging…). I do get curious, though, whether people envision my life as it really is, because I have no qualms bringing up anything in my life whether it’s good or bad, or if it’s some softer, dreamier version of how I live.

In my blog life, if you haven’t read far back enough, it looks like I have an endless closet (true), I live in a gorgeous area (I do), I have no issues finding clothes during pregnancy (well…), and life is pretty good (it’s not bad.) In real life, we live in my parents’ unfinished basement (we do pay rent) because my husband’s work can’t (or won’t…?) pay him quite enough for us to survive on our own, most of my clothes no longer fit, and many non-blog days are spent in yoga pants because I don’t have a car and can’t go anywhere anyway.

Put bluntly, life isn’t quite enchanting, but it’s not bad. There are new opportunities for my husband at work that will hopefully give us the bump we need to find our own space again, I get to start a garden here and reap the benefits of home-grown foods, and my parents are really wonderful people. I would love to have my own house right now, especially with the second baby on the way and nesting kicking in, but work is not an option for me, so here we are. 

Dress, ASOS maternity | cardigan, Target | boots, Kohl’s | belt, from this skirt

Do you find that your blog life unintentionally seems dreamier than real life (or, if you’re not a blogger, do you ever find your perception of a blogger’s life changes when they reveal more about themselves?) I think even sharing on Facebook amongst friends can become an “edited” version of real life.

What sticks out to me the most, though, is that lately I’ve noticed many bloggers (usually more popular ones) who stage so. many. shots on Instagram, or who have an overall color scheme (when you scroll through an Instagram feed and it’s all go the same look…), or who only use images from professional cameras transferred to a device to share on Instagram. I totally understand wanting life to look perfect online, especially if you have followers who expect a certain quality of posting from you. I considered trying to streamline my Insta-shares to have a better “look” at one time purely for aesthetics, but then I thought… what for? My entire theme, so to speak, is real life. I don’t want to be fake. (That’s not to say that the feeds of those whose entire aesthetic melds is fake — some people just live pastel lives –, but sometimes it can be)

And right after I noticed the overall theme of “blogger feeds” on Instagram (and read about it on GOMI), I saw three different bloggers post the “magazine, coffee, flowers, sparkly something” staged picture in a row in my feed. And it made me laugh. And realize that I’d rather be myself than a certain type of blogger.

I may not always have pretty words or perfect pictures to share, but that’s a-ok with me. Someday I’ll make a “day in the life” video so y’all can see just how not-perfect life is, and maybe share yours with me. Because the imperfect people are the ones I like the most. Real life is pretty fascinating, isn’t it?

I’m going to end this ramble before it becomes another blog post entirely. I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday! (I forgot it was St. Patrick’s day. I am not wearing green (yet), but I wore this yesterday grocery shopping, so… here, have an outfit that is not festive!)

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