Wait, Top Fashion Bloggers Get Paid HOW MUCH Per Post?

Fair warning, this will depress the living hell out of you…if you’re not a fashion blogger, that is. In this morning’s WWD, writer Rachel Strugatz offered up some well-researched rough estimations and well-sourced (though unconfirmed) numbers regarding how much all those top-tier fashion bloggers you follow are actually pulling down per post. For anyone who’s already spent money on, say, a Bachelor’s degree, it’s a painful read.

Through partnerships with big-name brands, the cream of the fashion-blogger crop (such as Fashion Toast's Rumi Neely, above) can rake in up to $3 million a year. Though Strugaz is unable to reveal exactly who earns exactly what, she points out that Kristina Bazan of Kayture recently signed a “seven-figure” contract with L’Oréal in October—a sum far higher than most fairly new professional models earn. Note that WWD’s piece focuses on people who are famous fashion bloggers, not famous people who blog. There’s a completely different calculus employed for them.

While there are many fine revelations about where the industry as a whole is headed—particularly when it comes to the burgeoning business of representing this emerging category of money earners—one statistic in particular sticks out. “A sponsored Instagram post with a top fashion blogger,” Strugatz writes, “can cost a brand anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000—nearly five times the going rates just a year and a half ago.” Just for reference, three $25,000 Instagram posts would be enough to pay for a year of the most expensive college in America and still buy the world’s most expensive cat. This is how we measure things around here.

For more jaw-dropping, soul-emptying facts, head over to WWD. 

(WWD)