My Thoughts on the Anthro Ordeal

I'm sure most fashion bloggers have heard about the controversy that's unfolded in the past few days.  I don't really feel the need to re-explain the whole situation since it's plastered on blogs and forums.  If you're interested, here are a few links:

GOMI Discussion
The Pursuit of Hippyness: Her Personal Experience
Anthroholic's True Colors
Effortless Anthropologie's Post (read the comments)

I'm really new to the fashion blogger world.  I only started reading the majority of these blogs a few months ago before I started my own blog.  I unfortunately don't blog often, but I do read posts every day on my breaks.  I have been a fan of Anthroholic's blog for months, and even posted at the end of August that I was featured in one of her Reader Outfits posts.  I wasn't even aware that she offered a personal shopping service.  I only knew about recent contests on her blog because I entered a few.

I have a lot of sympathy for the countless victims of this deception.  There is no good reason that this should have happened, and I really hope that everyone receives the refunds they are entitled to.  The manipulation and quite frankly abuse of those affected is wrong on every count.  I fully understand why the victims kept believing the lies and deceitful messages they received, because the impression Kim gives on her blog is one of a sweet girl who's unequivocally in love with fashion and Anthropologie.  When you read someone's blog and exchange messages for a long enough time, you start feeling like they're a friend, and therefore someone that can be trusted.  Unfortunately, this situation has rocked a lot of people's confidence and trust in the fashion blogger world.

In all honesty, I'm just surprised it took so long for all of this to come to light.  If a seller was doing this on any of the clothing exchange sites (Lululemon Exchange or Ebay for example), they would have been banned a long time ago.  I'm just glad this got exposed before even more people got affected.  Whatever the true reason is for why this happened (debt, personal problems, mental issues), the fact of the matter is that it is inexcusable.  The victims deserve more than the apology given on Kim's blog (which isn't even up right now).  I just hope that she can find the help she needs.

I'll close with some links helpful posts from Effortless Anthropologie and J. Crew Aficionada detailing how to avoid getting scammed online.

Alert! Protecting Yourself From Online Transaction Scams - Effortless Anthropologie
Make Sure You Are Protected With Online Transactions - J. Crew Aficionada