(Taylor Henry/The Daily Campus)

With fashion blogging being the new go to for advice and style hints, SMU Fashion Week does not skip a beat by incorporating a panel of Dallas’s top editors and bloggers for students interested in fashion journalism and blogging.

The panelist included two successful SMU graduates Amber Venz, blogger at VenzEdits.com and founder of rewardStyle.com, and Merrit Beck, blogger at The Style Scribe, as well as Tracy Achor Hayes, creative director of the Neiman Marcus Book; Tina Craig, blogger at BagSnob.com, and Kristie Ramirez, writer at Texas Monthly and editor at FDLuxe.

By 6:30 p.m., the room was filled with current and future fashion obsessed students, all eager to learn from those that have paved the way. Shelby Foster, moderator and style editor of the Daily Campus, wasted no time asking questions.

Starting with a fun upbeat question, to help break the ice, Foster asked, “Why Fashion?”

Without any hesitation Craig gave the most remarkable answer, “because it makes me crazy like teenage love.”

The audience and panel burst in laughter, all knowing exactly what she meant. Not being able to add to Craig’s example Foster continued on.

The next set of questions offered insight into the importance of social media, developing “your” own voice when writing, utilizing imagery, and the difference between journalistic writing and blogging.

Question after question, there appeared to be a common thread throughout the answers given by the panel. Each answer given from these women boiled down to these few simple statements. Find what you love. Do what you love. Write about what you love.

“The most successful people are not always the best looking people,” Craig said, “but the ones who are doing what they love.”

At the end of the event, Foster asked each panelist to give the best piece of advice to future journalist and bloggers. The advice given includes:

• Hayes – Journalism degree is important for fundamentals, read everything, make connections everywhere you go, and take advantage of internships
• Ramirez – Don’t limit yourself on what you read, be nice to everyone – you never know when your meeting somebody important and don’t judge.
• Craig – Be genuine
• Beck – Surround yourself with positive supportive people, take the negative feedback and work on it to make you happier about it.
•  Venz – Take advantage of internship opportunities to help build skill sets, become well rounded in every aspect, find out what you want to be and map to it – the end goal may change but the steps in getting there will teach you on the way.

Some of the favorite bloggers the panelist are following include: tullavintage, sincerelyjules, leblogdebetty, and thepioneerwoman.