The Columbus School graduate Maria Serrano, Class of ’16, has always had an inclination for fashion, and enjoys to communicate her style through her blog, Lazarcastyle, to inspire women on a daily basis.

Since Serrano’s childhood, fashion had always inspired her, but it wasn’t until her senior year when she determined to start her own blog and follow her passion. Her main goal is to communicate what she likes to wear and offer basic styles tips that women can easily imitate.  

“Since always the idea of creating a blog sounded great but I never had the drive to do it, until my senior year, when I finally decided to create my own,” Maria Serrano, owner of Lazarcastyle, said.

What style does the blog promote?

Lazarcastyle is blog that promotes a modern, vintage hippy style. The outfits that Maria Serrano offers are easy to get and have accesible prices. Lazarcastyle has 799 followers from many parts of the world and she looks forward to continue spreading her fashion tips. 

When starting  a blog it is important to know which style you are promoting and what you wish to communicate to others. According to Serrano, feeling comfortable with what you wear in your blog is key as it is what you are promoting to others.

“The style I want to promote in my blog is the style I feel the most identified with. I want to show simplicity in a modern, classy way. I want my followers to feel confident and admired by the rest of the world,” Serrano said.

Starting the blog

“I’ve always had something for fashion and for its movement around the world. I really enjoy how people communicate through it and the impact it has on every person in a different way. That is why a year ago, I started this blog with the idea of giving women an everyday inspiration on what to wear,” Serrano said.

According to the website  Fashionista, not everyone can be a fashion blogger.  To be sucessful you have to feel moved by fashion and love the way it is expressed by people all over the world. Also, having the guts to create the blog and stop caring about the what the haters say is really important.

“I personally believe that the most difficult thing is to have the initiative to create the blog and not care what other people think, but from what I have seen in Maria’s blog I think that one of the most difficult things is to get followers and make the blog famous,” Elena Franco, Serrano’s mother, said.

How to come up with a name for a blog

According to Serrano a blogger must include a catchy and easy title to remember, but this isn’t an easy task. A title must be something that identifies you  and makes your blog unique.  

“To begin with, the hardest thing was finding a name for my blog. I wanted something that was unique and at the same time something I could identify myself with. But as time goes on, I feel that the real struggle is being constantly connected with the blog in order to keep my followers linked to it,” Serrano said.

The struggles of creating a blog

Creating a blog takes a lot of time. According to Vandelay Design, one of the most frustrating challenges for a blogger is to attract more visitors. According to Serrano when one has to choose between studying for university or taking pictures for the blog, the school obligations come first.

“Maria doesn’t have enough time to take pictures for the blog as the university takes away a lot of her time, also gaining followers is really hard and talking with other bloggers in order to create new collaborations and giveaways is not easy,” Sofia Serrano, Maria’s sister, said.

Having an experienced photographer is key to becoming successful as a fashion blogger. A good photographer can improve your pictures quality and upgrade the blog’s appearance  causing more people feel attracted by it.   

“It was hard to find a photographer due to the lack of time, availability and the price they can offer,” Serrano said.

Consistency can be another problem when creating a fashion blog, as Maria Serrano blog is not a full time job being consistent can be a struggle.

“Definitely, the hardest thing is being consistent. I find it really difficult to find enough time for taking the pictures and to have good material all the time,” Serrano said.