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Tavi and Lourdes: A Quickie Analysis of the Two Most Famous Tween Style Bloggers
By Leah Chernikoff
The comparison was inevitable. When Madonna’s 13-old-daughter starts blogging about fashion, it’s hard not to look to Tavi, the OG tween fashion blogging phenom.
Even Tavi knew it when she posted on Jezebel today, “I don’t like critiquing other fashion blogs because they’re usually personal style diaries about what the writer likes and wears and there’s no point in saying someone’s taste is wrong, and in this case especially, my doing so would just make people compare us to one another.”
Too late. We’re doing it anyway. But in a nice way, promise Tavi. And Lourdes has only written one post, so we’re aware that we’re limited in our means for comparison.
Tavi started blogging over two years ago (on March 31st, 2008 to be precise), so it makes more sense to look at her first posts next to Lourdes, aka “Lola,” Leon’s first post.
Tavi was just 12 when she started out. Lourdes is 13. They have both have a thing for John Hughes movies (Tavi mentions watching 16 Candles three times in three days, Lourdes has a still from Pretty in Pink in her “Things I Love” collage). They both write in conversational, over-excitable tween speak which means excess punctuation, a heavy hand on the caps lock key, capitalization, creative re-spellings, and tween slang.
To wit:
“I am totally obsessivo about ’80s shorts… You know the kind that makes your butt look kinda big, with a grunge-looking shirt tucked in. It’s kinda nerdy but I love it,” writes Lola. “And the ’80s are another huge obsession of mine, which is totally amazingly awesome because Material Girl…HELLO!”
And in one of Tavi’s early posts about Marianne Faithful as her style icon she writes, “Marianne Faithfull, why can’t I get no SATISFACTION??? (Haha, get it? That was Tavi’s play-on-words. RS fans UNITE!)”
They’ve also both got the personal style blogger self-photo pose down pat.
But that’s pretty much where the similarities stop. Lourdes is the daughter of MADONNA (look I’m heavy handed with the caps lock too!) and she’s blogging to shill for her mom’s new “Material Girl” line for Macy’s. Her first post, which went up yesterday, is pretty hard to access because the site keeps crashing do to the rush of traffic, and she’s already received close to 500 comments. It’s fun to read because you get a sense that she really speaks like she writes, but it’s more fun to picture Madonna as a mom forbidding her daughter to dye her hair until she turns 14. Tavi’s been at it for over two years, and while the “precocious 12-year-old fashion blogger” thing was a novelty and good for attention in the beginning, she’s got longevity and designers like her because she’s clever and funny and, well, generally seems to know her shit.
Warning: If you’ve got some time to kill, going back through the Tavi archives is a black hole. It’s fascinating to watch her style evolve, and watch her photos go from snap shots of her friends in her school play to shots of Rodarte’s last collection from the front row.
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wtf… Tavi's writing is ridiculous more articulate (and interesting) than little Lourdes'.. It seems you've decided to compare the two simply because the other kid is Madonna's offspring (because it is certainly true that Lourdes isn't the only other tween/teen blogger out there).Despite your choice to compare the two simply because Lourde's is a celebrity baby, they are barely comparable..Lourdes hardly links her sentences together (jumping from Material Girl to rompers to gladiators… uhh…), whilst Tavi is far far more eloquent in use of kiddy language.Anyway… The point is, I think it's quite ridiculous that this kid gets attention when she deserves basically zero credit; she is hardly interesting and her writing is almost annoying to read.Yay for being born with a silver spoon in your mouth!(However I will say I am certainly not against Lourdes' or her little bloggy blog, she has the right to do or write whatever she wants! I'm more against the fact that you guys are giving her attention where she barely deserves credit, especially in comparison to Tavi, who writes excellently for who she is, and has been at it for years; she has genuinely earnt it – the complete opposite of Lourdes)
agreed 100%. fashionista really jumped the gun on this.
I think it's interesting to compare them, just to showcase Tavi's superior writing skills when pinned against a more…typical 13 year old. It really serves to distinguish Tavi, especially being that Lourdes' blog is probably overseen by the major brand attached to it (Macy's) AND she came from the “silver spoon” lifestyle. Even given these advantages, hers doesn't compare. But let's not lose sight of the fact that they're only 13. Either way, the whole thing is impressive.
I feel like I'm watching a 3rd grade teacher correct English-class papers.
OK, time to picture Erin Kaplan's awesome disgusted look:”First of all, it's 'pitted against' not 'pinned against'…”and I don't think the whole thing is impressive.
Did Lourdes finally shave off her unibrow?
it's interesting to see how Lourdes talks about gladiators and forgets about leggings. They also have been in vogue for the last couple of seasons… But I guess because they're part of her line they are not worth to mention… Tavi, you go girl!
I could have said it better, Lourdes just happened to be Madonna's illegitimate daughter that I am so sure Madonna is behind her designs anyway and is being credited as “the creative director” please give me a break, and at 13 already talking a bout “hot guys” oh ups a wonder where she's getting it from.
UPS, sorry about the misspelled /typo I meant to say “I couldn't have said it better”
Lourdes' blog is a simple case of marketing, nothing more. Did she even have this blog before the 'Material Girl' line was announced? Is it part of a trend?, Yes. Will it generate some buzz for the line? Probably. Madge is nothing if not a consummate marketer.While there remains the shadow of doubt at times about Tavi's column, there's no dispute that she was one of the first tween bloggers who actually has something to say. I find it hard to compare the two.
i agree that it is absurd to compare to them. Loudes' blog is a poorly written marketing tool and Tavi's is a genuine, smart blog written by a person that knows their stuff.
Reading Lourdes “blog” was painful? It actually sounds like a middle age copywriter trying to sound like a dimwit 13 year old with all the “likes” and “ummm”s
Wait, is the girl on the right supposed to be Tavi? I saw those photos on Fashion Robot in '08 and they were of the blogger's sister's friend. Confused!
Hmmm. Given Madge's self-declared and famously “uber strict” upbringing of Lourdes (why the heck she named her after the French town famous for a miracle and its holy water, I can't fathom) including no TV or exposure to popular culture, one wonders what Lourdes would have to blog about, except philosopy and academic studies. Of course, Mom's liaison with a man young enough to easily be her son, may have caused her to think about things a bit. The whole thing seems like such a stunt to shift cheap merchandise at Macy's. I enjoy Tavi's blog, which is natural and sweet and a bit of an insight into a girl just graduated from middle school who loves fashion.
Margaux- Tavi IS Stephanie's (the blogger behind Fashion Robot) sister's friend! Stephanie was the girl who sent Tavi her first bunch of links to fashion blogs and stuff, and took the photographs of those kids self-styling.
Madonna named her Lourdes after the town in France because that's the place her cancer-stricken mother (Madonna Fortin) wanted to visit so dearly in hopes of a miracle, but never got a chance to before she died when Madonna was 5 years old. Madonna's mother has played and continues to play an extremely important role in her life and this was her way of honoring her mother.
Do you have eyes?
Why are people comparing someone who is a bit of a savant (Tavi), to someone who is a normal child her age (Lourdes)? Unfortunately, Tavi's become everyone's pet because she is a novelty and the fashion world loves fads. I hope she is not tossed aside when the novelty wears off as the fashion industry loves to do and I hope she doesn't go down the Drew Barrymore or worse, Mack Phillips route. She's an extremely talented girl and her writing and knowledge is beyond her years; that's what makes her extraordinary. However, I think it is extremely unfair to Lourdes or other minors out there blogging to belittle them simply because they are not Tavi. If Lourdes wants to talk about her line and her love of fashion in a blog, then fine- I don't see the problem. It's better that her exposure is limited right now to a blog (instead of having her do all the interviews and photo shoots), while she still gets to realize a dream (to design).
due to the rush of traffic? :P
Do you spell check?
you must be joking!! I just popped over and read about two lines of Lourdes blog before trying not to scratch my eyes out! MY GOD it was awful! Tavi's blog is witty, observed, charming and at times quite addictive, this comparison is akin to comparing ke$ha to Madonna…and I sceptically suspect a blatant PR exercise disguised as prose.
poor fashion robot, i wonder if tavi keeps in touch.