Having a fashion fling online
There crème de la crème of the online fashion community is at your fingertips
Susanna Lau (aka Susie Bubble) is undoubtedly Britain’s most followed fashion blogger. The London-based 28-year-old, who once wrote about sneaking into fashion week shows, claiming, “If you’re ballsy enough to act like you’re somebody, SOMEONE’s gonna fall for it eventually,” now graces many front rows and is often granted backstage access to photograph her favourite details. Despite consciously leaving out celebrities as inspirational fashion figures in her writing, her own celeb status is global.
Her blog, launched in March 2006, is a personal online diary: a collection of her daily thoughts on the latest fashion events and new collections, alongside where she is, what she’s doing, and, most importantly, what she’s wearing. While big names (such as Prada and Balenciaga) pop up from time to time, Susie loves to expose under-the-radar talent from fresh designers. Photography plays a large role in every post, whether it’s outfits (snapped by her boyfriend, fellow blogger of Style Salvage, on their famous Holloway balcony) or general inspiration posts.
Her personal avant-garde style is impossible to categorise, though a minimalist she certainly is not. She mixes an eclectic collection of vintage, high street and independent designer pieces, layering contrasting patterns, textures and colours. While her style is constantly evolving, her signature blunt fringe and innocent expression remain constant. She often uses her legs as her best accessory, whether they’re bare, or covered with opaques; she maintains her winter staple is a pair of John Lewis school uniform ribbed grey tights.
The blog also includes her famous ‘London Shop Map’, an extensive guide to London’s unique shopping experience, which includes everything from department store favourites like Selfridges and Liberty, and designers like Acne and Marc Jacobs, to East London vintage boutiques and Kensington charity shops. As a brand in her own right, she has associations with recognisable names such as Elle and Topshop, whilst never forgetting the importance of blogs. During her time writing for Dazed and Confused, she confessed to checking up to 250 a day.
As a follower of fashion blogs since they first appeared on the industry’s radar some five years ago, I confess I have become something of a blog-snob. Personal style blogs are now ten to the dozen, with hundreds of wannabe Rumi Neelies and Jane Aldridges clogging up the blogroll of those whose interest is in the close observation of beautiful, modelesque girls with perfect hair and deeply enviable wardrobes. And if your interest sways towards capturing the everyday moments of sartorial glory, the holy trinity of street-style remains: Scott Schuman, Garance Doré and Tommy Ton, whose hallowed cameras point only at the select super-stylish few, though presently the field is congested with DSLR-owners whose taste doesn’t yet quite cut the sartorial mustard. There is now an established elite within the blogosphere, which some would say defeats the object of blogging – it is, after all, about individuals sharing ideas in a free, public forum. Alas, such is the nature of the industry: elitism omnia vincit.
So imagine my delight when I find (on Tumblr, of all things!) a blog with a truly unique vision: Textbook. A style blog for history and literature. The premise? Each post is a stylish imagining of what a fictional, historical or even a video game character would wear if they were living today. The author, John Jannuzzi, works at Lucky magazine in New York, but the project is quite apart from his day job. He writes: “Ever read a book and formed a perfect image of the character in your head? So have I, and that’s why I started this blog.” Simply put, one by one, the Jannuzzi puts every well-known character imaginable in a selection of three fantastic editorial ensembles: there’s Anne Boleyn in Alexander McQueen, Dorian Gray in Dolce and Gabanna, Belle of Beauty and the Beast in Erdem and, a personal favourite, Lady Macbeth in Givenchy, with the byline: “Duncan is here for dinner...”
A blog for all the sartorially fabulous who could imagine that, of course, if Rasputin were alive and fashion-forward today, he would totally be wearing Rick Owens. I mean, obviously.
In these tough times when the student budget is beginning to drain and the days look clouded with educational bleakness, those of us with a spark of creative appreciation prefer to scoff on inspirational works as opposed to chips or chocolate. Unfortunately, it is on days like these, when we most crave the glossy pages of the likes of Vogue, i-D and Numero, that we are faced with the daunting reality that these monthlies are no longer affordable, thanks to our latest shopping extravaganza.
As a result, we turn trustingly to our good friend, the internet. Amongst all those girls prancing around so casually and perfectly in high fashion events looking every bit the epitome of what we envy, and all those sites linked to those physical publications we so desperately desire, cries out a spark of excitement in the online magazine.
Online magazines are typically devoid of any content worth our precious procrastination time due to a lack of funding and exposure, except in the case of The Ones 2 Watch. In fact, as the little sister of the online fashion giant MODELS.com, the popularity The Ones 2 Watch has gained since it launched a year ago has bought hoards of contributors who are nothing less than awe inspiring, talented, creative geniuses.
Each monthly issue is filled with unexpected originality. A hunger for beauty and perfection is the only thing in common throughout each issue despite a monthly set theme. Take, for example, September’s issue ‘Stay Beautiful’ which evokes nothing less than pure love towards an alluring Paul Boche in the calmly surreal shoot ‘Pale & Interesting’, contrasted against the yearning for extravagant luxury provoked by the image of models drowning in the pleasure of their own reflection in ‘The Royal Palace’.
In fact, The Ones 2 Watch has turned into somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Their aim was to showcase upcoming talent from across the globe, and they have succeeded without pretentiousness, giving just enough to set your thoughts ablaze, allowing the imagination to run wild, almost as if in the knowledge that we want nothing less than a total escape.
