Fashion blogging has been quietly bubbling under the mainstream fashion scene for quite some time now, but of late it seems that anyone worth their fashion salt has gotten themselves their very own fashion blog. I too have hopped on the blogging bandwagon; posting my ‘looks’ on the ‘collective fashion conscious’ that is Lookbook. This site is perfect for those looking for a commitment-free blog, as the kind people over at Lookbook have already taken care of all the boring stuff, so it is just up to the lucky few (membership is by invite only) bloggers to post ‘hot’ looks at their peril.

But Lookbook is just one of an endless array of fashion blogs to be found online. Type ‘fashion blog’ into Google and you will receive a massive 92,100,100 results. Yes, fashion blogging has definitely arrived, but the question is, how is it influencing our fashion experience?

With the increasing popularity in online media, it is no surprise that blogging has taken on a life of its own. Once upon a time, going online was almost a privilege; nowadays it’s hard to imagine how we ever survived sans Internet. More people than ever are logging on, which is happy days for all of those bloggers out there. Once unknown fashion addicts playing dress up in their bedrooms are now being planted firmly in the spotlight. Take Tavi Gevinson, the 13-year-old wonderblogger who has become a front row fixture, popping up at shows around the world for designers such as avant-garde Japanese mastermind, Yohji Yamamoto. Tavi’s blog is now one of the most widely read online fashion websites, making this once unknown American teen, with her neatly bobbed hair and penchant for glasses, the equivalent of fashion royalty. Think Anna Wintour, only pintsized. Other bloggers such as Susanna Lau of Stylebubble fame are receiving similar recognition, and with her recent recruitment to the British style bible that is Dazed & Confused magazine, is it any wonder that so many of us are flocking to set up fashion blogs of our own.

Scott Schumann of the hugely popular blog The Sartorialist, takes a different approach to fashion blogging. Instead of posting pictures of himself, although he has been known to do this on occasion, he chooses to act as the fly-on-the-wall photographer, capturing the exquisitely stylish individuals of cities such as Paris, London, Milan, New York, and more recently Dublin. Scott presents us with images of ordinary people, going about their daily routines, but with an almost ethereal elegance. His blog has become so popular that there is now a guide entitled ‘Oh Snap! How To Get Shot By The Sartorialist’, a tongue-in-cheek look at how to get photographed by the man himself. Tavi, Susanna, and Scott are the future of fashion media; their fresh attitudes and inimitable eye for style mean that they will be long coveted in the fashion world. And all of this because of a blog!

Perhaps the appeal of Tavi and Susanna, and the many inconnus of The Sartorialist, is that they are average Joes like you and me. We, like them, take great pleasure in embarking on shopping sprees and coming home for that all important personal fashion show in front of the mirror! The only difference is that most of us don’t photographically document our new looks. But thanks to Tavi and Susanna’s blogs, and indeed Scott’s, we now get to see fashion on a more relatable level; there is no five million dollar photo shoot involved, no seven foot tall model, no airbrushing, no lighting, no Mario Testino or Patrick Demarchelier. This is fashion at its most pared down. And in an age where seemingly everyone aspires to be an Amazonian goddess, people like Susanna and Tavi offer us, the real people, a reassurance that fashion savvy comes in all shapes and forms, from youth to old age, and it doesn’t take being on the cover of a magazine to be considered stylish. We, that’s right you and me, are the new cover girls of the fashion industry. All that’s left to do is strike a pose!