The term “fashion blogger” may now be a loaded one, with Elle editors dogging enterprising 14-year-olds, but at the heart of every backlash is an inkling of envy, and it’s easy to see why.
With an informal background in fashion, online unknowns are grabbing the sartorial world’s brass ring (front-row seats at Fashion Week, magazine covers, and plenty of press time) with little more than a digital camera and an I.P. address.
They come from backgrounds almost as unexpected as their sudden fame – the aforementioned 14-year-old, Tavi Gevinson, began her blog, Style Rookie, at age 11, and Philippines-based blogger Bryanboy (real name: Bryan Grey-Yambao) was a web developer when, at 17, he began dispensing his snark to the internet. He now has a bag named after him by Marc Jacobs (The “BB”).
But what of the local scene? Pacific Beach native Rumi Neely was flown to Paris last year as Emanuel Ungaro’s muse, something made possible by chronicling her cool-girl style on her blog, Fashion Toast, midst some very familiar landmarks (like the Whistle Stop and the John Lennon mural on Garnet). She’s not the only one on our radar, however – below, four more of San Diego’s most stylish go viral.
The Love Letters Blog
Interstate-hopping B.F.F.’s Jacqueline Coulon (San Diego) and Ashley Holmes (San Francisco) were tired of fawning over Chloe Sevigny’s flawless wardrobe and vintage Yves Saint Laurent over email, so, fortunately for us, they took their musings to the blogosphere with The Love Letters Blog. To keep in touch, each girl shares a stylish postcard via blog post, from DIY projects a la Vivienne Westwood to engagements and impromptu trips to Paris Fashion Week.
Rich, Pretty, Skinny
Despite its misleading moniker, Rich, Pretty, Skinny is actually meant to dispel the fashion-realm’s ethos of the unobtainable. It’s about style in the real world and those who inhabit it, and owner Nacole Gray does a fantastic job of rounding up the freshest new local designers and faces.
Suck my Savvy
Suck my Savvy features deliciously dapper fashion advice, from a guy who knows what he’s talking about. In his downtime as a graphic designer, Graham Haynes spends his time hitting up the town’s buzzy events and capturing hip locals with his digital camera, and his own ensembles are just as smashing.
Cult Culture Clothing
Alexa Parashos and her friends have graced many a hipster hot spot (think El Dorado and Voyeur) with their impeccably cool style – you can glimpse the inspiration behind their tough-chic aesthetic at Cult Culture Clothing, a darkly irreverent mixture of personal shots and found photography. One gripe: Their “thinspiration” posts revere the catwalk’s current hyper-skinny fixation. No thanks.
