She left us with a note saying she was off to Stockholm for a long weekend. That was almost a month ago. Were it any other blogger, you might say “oh… they probably ran out of ideas”, or “they just got sick of blogging”, or it’s just a lot of work with little returns… but Agathe, aka Stylebytes is different. She’s been at this for almost three years pretty much blogging daily. Sometimes she’ll take a break for a couple of days… or the frequency may slow down a little but a month? I was worried.. apparently I’m not the only one, and finally yesterday Style Bubble broke the silence, we’re all a little worried.
If it weren’t for WendyB I’d probably worry in silence… but she encouraged me to let you all know that on May 17, Agathe confirmed me as a friend on Facebook. I’m guessing she’s still alive, and this photo I found in her profile posted by one of her friends on May 4 tells me she didn’t get kidnapped by gypsies.
Back to Agathe, where is she? Why did she suddenly stop blogging? In the last few months Stylebytes have become even better than ever. Her and her husband have been taking loads of beautiful and inspiring photos. She’s been getting tons and tons of comments, features in magazines and newspapers… all of this is just thrilling for a blogger. So why stop?
Negative Comments?
For some time, I’ve noticed in her comments that some people have been giving her a hard time about her weight. That she had some kind of eating disorder, etc. I don’t know Agathe personally, but I’ve been reading her blog daily for about 2 years and I’ve never noticed anything strange about her weight. I think I have more demons surrounding body issues than she does. Whether or not she has issues doesn’t stop negative comments from getting troublesome. Maybe they got out of control?
Hackers
Maybe someone got hold of her blog and email and is holding it for some ransom? Little do they know, unless you are some high powered fashion blog like Manolo’s Shoe Blog, there isn’t a whole lot of money. Well, there is but you pretty much have to give up your analog life, and maybe your first born son. Either way, I’m pretty sure Agathe isn’t about to hand over any of the above. After all, I’ve watched enough suspense thriller movies to know that the first rule about ransoms is to never hand over the money.
The Pig
Maybe little Molvin is sick. Maybe Agathe came home and her husband accidentally … you know… what most people do with pigs, well, not the Jews, the Kosher Jews.
Maye she came home saw the pig was gone, causing obvious problems with her husband, and that’s why she’s not posting. I would seriously break up with Rocky if….
Personal lives can have a huge effect on one’s blog life. When traumatic things happen, it’s hard enough to trudge through the vital functions of life, let alone the extra curricular things like blogging. Some extra curricular things are easier to take up during tough times, like drinking, but again, that inhibits blog time.
Sick of Blogging
Occam’s Razor is the principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory.
In layman’s terms, the simplest explanation is usually the most likely truth. Blogging is hard. It takes a lot of time. Doing the photographs, doing the research, keeping up with all the other blogs. It takes time. Agathe does Stylebytes purely as a hobby. Maybe she just got a taste of civilian life and is now enjoying her analog evenings. Wow, what a concept. (middle finger pic from Stylebytes Phiary)
Stylebytes was the first fashion blog I read (the second blog only to Pink is The New Blog). If it weren’t for Stylebytes not posting every second of the day I’d probably still be a reader and not a blogger myself. The thing I like about Stylebytes is that it continues to evolve in a genuine way. Rather than resorting to gimmicks (which I may start doing for kicks) she’s shared with us her thoughts about her sense of style. It’s helpful, really to all of us.
Well, here is a few pictures I pulled from her site that stick in my head as points of inspiration in my own personal style. I do hope she comes back, because I’m not sure blogging would be the same without her.
UPDATE: Stylebytes.net has been taken down… here’s a post from Style Bubble about it.
Comments 144
i guess, shes at stylebytes.net? if you put it in google. except it says its forbidden. who knows.
Her husband’s blog (www.trashion.blogsome.com) is gone too! Oh well. There ARE a million other fashion blogs. I think I’ll just have to move on. I may check back sporadically, its just so weird..
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yeah… i have to say, in absence of stylebytes, i’ve found quite a number of wonderful style blogs… it’s refreshing actually to see how other people do it.
it’s so sad seeing those pics on phiary :o( I really miss her style and it’s such a shame she don’t share it anymore! Agathe if you read this, I wish you and your little family all the best you can have and I’m still hoping you come back one day!
I got so crazy over her wearabouts that I even thought about a Facebook group on finding her! (I know, insane).
But seriously though, did she reply any of your Facebook/Myspace comments?
Also it still says “Married” on her Facebook profile, so the breaking up theory doesn’t seem probable.
(Don’t we feel like a bunch of Sherlock Holmes)
My life has felt a bit empty since StyleBytes kinda died :(
no I’m kidding, but it was the first blog I really got into, and I used read it religiously and its been hard to fill the void
(I even went through those “Loss” stages: depression, denial etc. :|)
anyway, maybe its like when she said she would stop watching TV (I really did read it religiously!) and now she’s decided to scrap computers too
nevertheless, StyleBytes will remain on my blogroll, for old times sake :)
its so bazaar how the whole thing has happened out of the blue. surely someone who took the time to respond to all her comments and update on a daily basis wouldn’t simply get sick of blogging quit cold turkey ? she seamed like a genuinely caring person and it seams so out of character that she would leave her readers hanging like this!!!
oh im in denial
Thank you for your news on Agathe,
I miss her blog a lote,
I hope she is fine and that style ytes come back soon as possible!
compliments for your blog
Oh I miss so much agathe… I read her blog for about 2 years…
well, i think SHES PREGNANT . she let us know that she wanted them for sure. she is married, and well i think she want to move in life.
Agathe you are the BEST!!!
Miss her too!
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I also posted about Stylebytes’ mysterious disappearance on my blog, albeit in a more hopeful tone, full of naiveté in the belief that Agatha would return soon… And then, my hopes and dreams were shattered when I checked the site again and it wasn’t there anymore!
I do hope she is pregnant and just busy researching how to blog a about adorable kiddie clothes.
Or maybe she loved Stockholm too much to go back home and since she had decided to leave her computer behind…there goes the naiveté again!
My wife and I have been her fans for an year now and I even sent her an email that is listed in the WhoIs database inquiring if she was OK and if she has simply forgotten to update her credit card with the hosting company. No news yet.
the old stylebytes domain was owned by her ex-boyfriend and i know he’s threatened to take it down so that might be what’s happened. i’m sure she’ll be back when she sorts it out.
I’m thinking she forgot to pay her website fees or is busy with something. I can’t remember if she had her wedding yet? Maybe that’s it?
Does anybody have any suggestions to help fill the void stylebytes once filled? I’ve been trying to look for a good style blog for a week now….but it just isn’t the same. Agathe was brilliant!
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hmmm… that’s an interesting point. i wonder if it was her ex boyfriend? well, i hope that’s the case, and she does come back.
anais… there are a lot of great style blogs, i was thinking of doing another post about great personal style blogs… right now, i notice there are quite a few great french ones…
Seriously though, when you guys write to her, did any of you get any responses from her? It seems like she passively accept people’s friend requests, but she won’t answer any mails about her blog.
Have you guys all seen her recently posted picture on Phiary?
The one with the cute Molvin and her from the back.
It appears that she is wearing a ‘rouwband’ (in Dutch). A peace of black cloth worn around the upper arm when in morning.
Is that a clue for saying a definite goodbeye to stylebytes?
I think so. And hope she is not morning a loved one, but her blog. Which was amazing for sooooo many.
So Agathe thank you.
xoxoxo Poppy
I miss agatha sooo much, im actually crying at this blogpost since it confirms it.
I googled stylebytes every day and from there I would go to the links on the right hand column and check out some of my other favs, but always her first.
im crying rather loudly now…
She just accepted my facebook friends request!
Ugh I miss stylebytes even more now!
i hope she´ll take her blog back again once, i loved it, and it helped me to make my own style. whatever happened to her i hope she´s fine and it has been a pleasure to discover her through her pics and posts
At the risk of sounding like a complete stalker… I googled Agathe and an ad she had made came up, in which she was looking for an apartment for one person… So I’m guessing there might be personal things going on.
where did you find that BB?
I haven’t read all the comment so I don’t know if someone already mentioned this… but Agathe still updates her Phiary, actually as soon as today.
I noticed she changed her relationship status on Facebook to “Single”, so I guess bb is right.
Also she changed her last name back to Molvik.
shes updated her phiary!, there are some cool pics, and a few of hers
also very stalkery- but her myspace status says “divorced”…so i think that is why she’s not blogging…man that stinks
she’s on my facebook and her status has gone form ‘married’ to single :(
She never said she was only going for a weekend..
Agathe Bjørnsdatter Molvik went from being “single” to “in a relationship.”
is what my facebook is telling me.. mhmm
I think she was away from her blog because she was leaving her husband indeed. She’s now dating another man - I read it on her facebook today.
Agathe is not pregnant and Molvin is just fine.
I can understand that all of you is worried and wondering what she did with stylebytes.net, but her private conversations and her relationshipstatus on facebook is kind of rude to publish here.
If she accepts you as a friend on facebook, leave it with that and don´t act like a stalker.
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b, i understand what you are saying, but over the years she built a rather large fan base around her online persona. and left this part of her life pretty much on public display for everyone to see. i don’t think anyone is discussing anything private here, therefore not being stalkerish.
it’s not like anyone is talking about private conversations or publishing private emails.
taking note of one’s facebook relationship status isn’t stalkerish, because facebook it notifies all your ‘friends.’ and to tell the truth, it’s completely optional to have your relationship status public.
The site link I had took me to this…. Check out http://phiary.com/profile/agathe
Hey guys, Stylebytes (the real one, not the phiary one) is up again!
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wow.. i know.. i saw that last week…
There is an article on blogging in a supplement to Norway’s main business paper about blogging and its consequences - featuring Agathe.
According to the article, she came back to Stockholm to find that her husband had left, had a tough time, a fun summer and now seems to be enjoying life more and more again. At first she was living out of a suitcase and couldn’t blog and later felt a lot freer without having to rig her life around staging photos and blogging. She realized that in order to move on with life, she had to give up blogging.
http://www.dn.no/d2/article1593599.ece
How interesting, thanks! I’d love to be able to understand the article… :-)
Ha, I’m mentioned in that article… how weird…
Thanks for posting that, Anne — I figured something had happened with her husband but of course I didn’t know exactly what. It’s good to know she’s feeling better and enjoying life again. Best wishes to her!
I think someones bloggin on stylebytes now, like right now! Could it be her?? No outfit posts yet though . .
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