Fashion bloggers are becoming more than style curators, they’re trendsetters and celebrities of the online fashion realm. If you missed out on today’s bi-annual Independent Fashion Bloggers conference (Twitter hashtag: #IFBcon), then no worries because I’m here to bring you all the deets. The event featured four different panels including: Bloggers tool kit, Is the social media industry broken?, Balancing act: business & blogging, and lastly Evolution of fashion media. The day culminated with an upbeat keynote interview (much more enjoyable than a speech), between BagSnob’s Tina Craig and Elle magazine creative director Joe Zee.

The day’s noteworthy panelists included some of MyFDB’s favorites such as Coco Rocha (Oh So Coco), Leandra Medine (Man Repeller), John Jannuzzi (Textbook), Natalie Suarez (Natalie Off Duty), Aimee Song (Song of Style), Erica & Lauren (of Honestly WTF), Yuli Ziv (founder Style Coalition), Ari Goldberg (CEO of StyleCaster Media), Mr. Mickey (editorial director of PAPER mag), and Ari Seth Cohen (Advanced Style).�Big topics throughout were ad networks, blogging content, imagery, monetization and optimization of a blog, and working with brands & PR professionals.

Coco Rocha touched on her blog as a way of showing off work she’s proud of along with using it as a platform to stand up for herself (i.e. – people calling her too big). She also said if she doesn’t like a shoot she did or a client she worked with, she’s certainly not going to talk about it on her site. StyleCaster’s Goldberg was very firm about his advice for bloggers which is to create a media kit and curate quality content. He emphasized the competitiveness of the blogosphere and how very few bloggers actually end up making their hobby a full-time career.

As for the keynote, Zee and Craig touched on the evolution of print media combined with online. Bloggers keep editors from becoming lazy emphasized Zee. Back in the day (pre-internet), editors would see fashion shows, then select image slides, and then about 5-6 months later an article would appear in a publication. Now this evolution has changed where collections are instantly viral and editors and bloggers are actually getting sneak peaks of looks before their runway debut. It was interesting to hear him touch on this evolution, especially after his interview with MyFDB.

Besides a learning from the pro’s attendees were also greeted with manicures courtesy of Magnum Ice Cream (remember their videos with Karl Lagerfeld?) along with the sweet treats themselves (anyone else notice the nutrition info was strategically hidden?). Bloggers could also get their hair did by KMS Hair, who was on hand to take care of unruly manes.

Shoe brand Aldo�gave bloggers a gambling chance with their new fall collection. They had a little roulette table and I must say, the sweetest swag score was definitely their fun playing cards. Poker anyone?

After a turbulent red-eye flight it was a long fashion filled day, but there couldn’t have been a better way to kick start New York Fashion Week! A big thank you to IFB founder�Jennine Tamm for putting on another spectacular event.

For more about IFB and the conference visit their official site.�