What are the other elements of professional fashion writing?

• Peg and angle

In addition to incorporating facts within an article, Sykes’ writing also reflects the importance of a feature having a peg and an angle. While the former refers to the topicality of the story, by highlighting why “the reader should be interested in this issue now” the latter links to a question, an overall idea, seen in Sykes’ stand-first “Is the fashion industry finally recognizing a less binary version of diversity?”. In this context, already being crucial elements of fashion writing in print, peg and angle remain important when it comes to writing for online.

• Authenticity and the first voice

With authenticity as the main element of fashion writing in digital media, it interferes with traditional norms of journalism, as I have argued in Chapter One, specifically the one of journalistic objectivity. However, it has become a signifying element in fashion writing for the online space. Evident in Sykes’ article, she “inserts [herself] in the story” through her own impression as she writes in the last paragraph “Agency-signed pro or ‘non model’ doesn’t matter so much as the message: there isn’t one single kind of beauty. And what I hope is that these changes, however minutely, will help to change fashion’s narrow view of the ideal”.

• Journalist vs. Blogger

The first perspective recognized in Sykes’ writing, resembles a strikingly similar voice to the one used by fashion bloggers, one that Coward defines to be “personal, intimate, uninhibited, immediate and ongoing.” This is not common in traditional writing but is seen in specific newspaper columns. With Sykes taking on this authentic writing style it can be argued that conversation and specifically interaction have become her priority to connect with the reader online, who values writing that comes across as “immediate and personal.”