Few men blog about fashion, but number is on the rise
“AS FASHION GROWS
... I THINK DOORS WILL OPEN FOR MORE
AND MORE MALE FASHION BLOGGERS.”
MARK ST. JAMES
Fashion blogging has become the pastime du jour, with hoards of hopefuls rushing to post their opinions and outfits faster than you can say blogosphere. Long populated by style-savvy females, male fashion bloggers are steadily becoming the newest fashion transplants to grace the web.
“There aren’t a lot of male fashion bloggers comparatively, so I think it’s accurate to look at them as the new generation of fashion bloggers,”says Marquis of Fashion blogger Mark St. James.
“As fashion grows, and as the Internet becomes more accessible, I think doors will open for more and more male fashion bloggers.”
Male fashion bloggers are now enjoying increased exposure thanks to pioneering bloggers like The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman and Bryan Boy’s Bryan Grey-yambao. That popularity appears to have has a positive impact on blogs based in Edmonton, where only a handful of known male fashion bloggers reside. Edmonton has about 20 fashion bloggers, but most of them are women.
The face of the Marquis of Fashion blog, Mark — along with his business partner and husband, Matthew St. James — has worked tirelessly to grow the eight-monthold Edmonton-based blog to the traffic generator it is today, averaging 100,000 hits per month.
Covering everything from celebrity style and trends, to fashion week coverage and designer exclusives, the duo recognizes that websites today have to be more than just onetrick ponies in order to succeed.
“We definitely cover the gamut in terms of content, and try to bring fashion to the forefront in a very casual, yet professional way,” says Matthew, who also owns an online marketing company.
“That to me is the essence of blogging.”
Andrew Eirich, the Edmontonbased blogger behind High Gloss White, also understands the need to bring something new to the blogging table.
“I consider male fashion bloggers to be the natural evolution in the sense that women were the first to take the stage and talk about fashion. There’s always going to be men in the world and in this city who are interested in fashion, and I think we’re the new people on the scene,” Eirich says.
“We’re just adding to the overall content on the Internet and providing a different perspective.”
Known for his seasonal photo shoots, Eirich credits these editorial posts as his top traffic generator. He won’t disclose the numbers, however.
“My seasonal shoots are something unique that I bring to the Edmonton fashion community, because there’s nothing like them being done here,” Eirich says.
Teaming up with other fashion and beauty professionals, Eirich designs and photographs editorials aimed at promoting local talent while fostering a sense of community among the city’s fashion set.
“I think that Edmonton is a really young fashion city in terms of our fashion week or the way we embrace fashion as a culture, but when I look at how much it’s growing and how quickly, it amazes me,” the University of Alberta design student says. “It just proves that this province and this city is more open and progressive than people might think.
Jared Tabler, Avenue Magazine’s fashion editor and the blogger behind Style Guy Jared, believes that Edmonton’s budding fashion scene has more than embraced its style blogging community.
“Being a fashion blogger in Edmonton means you have a unique opportunity to have a larger impact. What I have been able to do in two and a half years with my brand would have taken longer in a city like New York or Toronto,” says Tabler. His blog’s monthly traffic averages nearly 40,000 hits.
To learn more about these bloggers, visit fashionblogblogger.com, highglosswhite.com andstyleguyjared.com.