20 MOST READ POSTS OF YEAR 2019 AT MODAODARADOSTI

Checking out and reviewing our blog statistics is always an educating experience. Regardless of whether you are a professional or a hobby blogger (or something in between), reading your blogging statistics can tell you a lot about what kind of content your readers enjoy. So, I analyzed  my blogger statistics for this year to see what posts were the most visited ones. Now, I'm not a professional bloggers and not surprisingly my views are not the most impressive ones. I've been blogging for seven years and I still a bit short of one million views while there are bloggers who get a million views monthly. Still, I think it makes sense to reflect on our blogging work, even for small- time bloggers,  because it can be a great learning experience.  I don't blog for views, but I'm genuinely interested in what my readers like and what they read the most. Therefore, I think it makes sense to make this kind of posts. 

It is interesting to have a look at them and even more to compare them with my own picks (that I won't publish this year but I'll link up a few of them here, here, here and here). It seems that my readers and I think alike, for if I were to choose my 20 favourite posts of the year, most of these would definitely be my picks as well. I wasn't surprised to see most of these posts on the most visited list. I was happy that four of these posts were my fashion illustration posts, because I have worked hard on my developing my art skills for the last few years and I'm proud at the effort I make and the original art pieces I create. I'm also proud of the work I put in this blog in 2019. I did my best to write informative, interesting and reader friendly post. I hope it shows. I want to thank all of you for your constant support and encouragement. 

1. TEN  STYLE LESSONS LEARNED FROM MALENA/ MONICA BELLUCCI 1, 370 VIEWS
I wasn't surprised this was the post that got most views because I really enjoyed writing it. As a Mediterranean lady myself, writing about this type of style comes naturally to me. In this post, I focused on a movie character Malena played by Monica Bellucci. I think she has some lovely style lessons to teach. This is a historical movie, so the style lessons learned are a bit on the vintage style, but still relevant for this day. I honestly think this kind of feminine elegance is timeless.


2. INSPIRED BY TIJANA, 1 140 VIEWS 
I was a bit surprised to see this post trending this year but only because I posted in back in 2017 (not for any other reason, I still like this illustration). This post is all about my acrylic painting of a fashion blogger Tijana. I have illustrated Tijana many times, she is such a sweet person. I even mailed her some of the fashion illustration that were inspired by her. She's not active on her blog, but you can still find Tijana on Instagram (here is a link ).

3. FASHION ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: A SUMMER DRESS , 436 VIEWS

Again, I'm not surprised to see this fashion illustration among the most viewed posts. I'm really proud of this fashion illustration and by how I combined drawing and painting in this one. You see, here I used watercolour pencils to create a more artistic feel. I came up with this red dress design myself and I love how it turned out. Moreover, I'm really happy with the facial expression I created to go along with this look. The eyes of this girl are so pretty. This is exactly the kind of fashion illustrations that I aspire to create: artistic, interesting and unique to my own personal style. 

4. ZUHAIR MURAD'S BLUE GOWN FROM 2019 COUTURE COLLECTION, 470 VIEWS

God, I loved this collection! I even illustrated one blue dress twice. Both of these illustrations were drawn with coloured pencils and I proud of both of them. This was some dress, right? It sure deserved to be illustrated twice. It seems you guys agreed with me, for you all left me so many amazing comments on this post, thank you once again for that and for your ongoing support. 

5. A DRESS FROM VALENTINO'S READY TO WEAR 2019 COLLECTION

I cannot tell you how happy I am to see my fashion illustration posts trending on this little place of mine. I enjoy sharing outfit & travel post and obviously I do try to get better at that. However, developing my art skills, that's something that is extremely important to me. It takes courage to put one's work out there. I've put so much work into my fashion illustration skills, I'm self-taught in this respect (I did take lessons in classical art but I learned fashion illustration from the internet). Thank you so much for recognizing the hard work and investment that goes into fashion illustrating. 

6.   A GRACE KARIN DRESS, VALENTINE'S DAY OUTFIT PROPOSAL 435 VIEWS

This was a collaboration post, featuring a dress that was sent to me for review. I had a great time taking these shots and the day was super sunny and warm for that time of the year. I felt like a Barbie doll in this dress and I even showed you a Barbie dress I made myself. I was still obsessed with the above shown fashion illustration so I was holding it for the photo shot. Fun times. 

7. TRYING OUT NEW HIKING TRACK, MOUNTAIN PRENJ, RUJIŠTE, 338 VIEWS

I didn't really expect this one to make the cut, but I'm glad it did. Did you know there are more than a hundred mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I knew there are a lot of them, especially really high ones,  for I can see half a dozen of them on a daily basis (from Mostar city). However, doing research for my blog I found out that there are AMAZINGLY 64 mountains with peaks over 1,500 meters in Bosnia and Herzegovina (maybe even more, I know of 64 for sure, I checked and counted with the help of mountain sites). If we take into account all the mountains, not just super high ones, we're talking about hundreds. I love how I get to learn new things while working on my blog.

8. LAYERING A RED MIDI DRESS WITH A HAND PAINTED BLAZER, 341 VIEWS

I always love a post that includes a DIY project and it seems I'm not the only one. Here I showed you a beige vintage blazer I have hand painted with textile paints. It was a fun DIY project. Moreover, I showed you more than one way to layer a red ruffled dress (and you know I love this dress). 

9. AN AUTUMN OUTFIT AND A BOOK REVIEW 262 VIEWS

This is the only book review that made it into my top 12 post lists. I have to say that I'm a bit surprised by that, I expected more of my book posts to make it among the most viewed posts. I still plan to keep posting book reviews here, because I know that I'm good at writing them. I give classes  as a private tutor for literature, so I know what I'm talking about when I talk about books. 

10. 21 WAY TO STYLE A MINI FLORAL DRESS, 337 VIEWS

Sustainability in fashion is definitely important. They say that one should wear an item 30 times in order to make it sustainable. Well, I wore this dress even more than that and in this post I showed you 21 ways to style this floral dress. This post was time-consuming but also really fun to make. 

11. VISIT THE MAGNIFICENT LAKE BLIDNJE, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, 249 VIEWS

This post captures one of the happiest and most serene moments of 2019 for me. Standing in mountain lake Blidinje, I experienced such serenity and peace that I felt inspired and happy for days. 

12. HOW TO STYLE A GRAPHIC T-SHIRT WITH JEANS? 291 VIEWS

I was a bit surprised to see this post among the most viewed ones, because it was just a quick outfit posts with links to my art on RB site, but I don't mind seeing it among the 'popular' posts. 

13. RED DRESS FOR A DINNER DATE AT RESTAURANT ASIA, SPLIT, 346 VIEWS 

The only restaurant review to make the list this year, but it is a good one. I love this Asian restaurant in Split. I always stop by there for a bite whenever I'm in Split. I can definitely recommend it. Plus, it is nice to see this red dress featured again. I wore it a couple of times this year and to think that I was worried about styling it for every day when I bought it last year. If there is one thing I learned it is that a girl can do well with a statement dress. They are easier to style than it seems. 

14. ISLAND HIKING OUTFIT FEATURING A GEOMETRIC PRINT DRESS, 291 VIEWS

I wore this geometric print dress for hiking. My destination was bay Soca (not far from where I was staying) on island Hvar. What I like most about this styling was the DIY necklace I made from left over material from curtains that my mother cut (they were too long). Bonus points for sustainability. 

15. NINE WAYS TO STYLE A DUSTY PINK SKIRT , 289 VIEWS

I enjoy making posts that promote sustainability, such as showing different ways to wear a same clothing item. This post devoted to this dusty pink skirt is the perfect example of that. 

16. HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT EASTER OUTFIT? 346 VIEWS

Themed seasonal posts are always fun to create. I enjoy putting together guides and inspiration to help me (and my readers hopefully) find an answer to that eternal question: What should I wear? 

17. HOW TO STYLE BLACK CORDS FOR AUTUMN? 283 VIEWS

This was such a comfortable but chic styling. I do like cord jeans, they're always so warm and cozy. We shot this outfit post in Goranci village, one of my favourite locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

18. A SECRET LAKE IN MOSTAR CITY, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, 301 VIEWS

As a local, I feel that it is my duty to share stunning but less known locations in Mostar city with you, even if that means that I won't have them all for myself anymore. 

19. VISIT STARI GRAD CITY ON ISLAND HVAR WITH ME, 252 VIEWS

Another travel post that made the cut. I'm not surprised for Stari Grad is a beautiful historical city.

20. AUTUMN OUTFIT PROPOSAL: A LILAC SWEATER, 261 VIEWS

Another outfit post that got some views. I added my art to some of my outfit photographs, just to make them a bit more visually interesting. This year I was really into mixing my art with my photography. That is something I might explore more in 2020 as well. 

What post is your favourite one? Have you read any of them? Thank you for reading and visiting!