Rise of the fashion blog

Designers, trends and hemlines rise and fall, but the love affair between fashion and the internet is something that seems to have suddenly gripped the nation.

It began a few years ago as the occupation of a handful of fashion obsessives, writing from bedrooms, lounges and internet cafes across the country. Now Ireland's community of fashion bloggers is growing at an astounding rate, there are blogs by make up artists, journalists and stylists, giving you the lowdown on what's hip and happening in the fashion world; often weeks before the glossy magazines.

This legion of bloggers are keeping track of their fashionable lives through online diaries, social networking services and other websites, creating a thriving network of internet communities reflecting the countries growing obsession with style.

It is estimated that more than one blog is created every second. The desire to self-publish and promote has spilled over on to the profile pages of social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace. Some bloggers have even signed lucrative book deals.

Thrity five year old, Annmarie O'Connor, is part of a growing number of bloggers, whose daily musings have captured the imagination of hundreds of internet users who are logging on to her site www.iblogfashion.blogspot.com every day.

Annmarie is originally from New York but she has lived in Ireland since she was twelve. She is an experienced fashion journalist who has written for some of the top magazines and newspapers such as The Examiner, Elle, Dazed & Confused, Image and Trace.

Yet, it is the everyday style of her entries, distinguished more by their very ordinariness, that has attracted her audience. A blog post about getting ripped off at the dry cleaners is laugh out loud funny, it goes without saying that Annmarie's wit and candour is certainly one of the reasons why her site is attracting attention.

"The great thing about a blog is that it's quick," she says. "When I see something that grabs my attention I'll go straight to my blog and write about it. The great thing about blogging is that I can joke around and use my own lingo without someone editing what I've said. People get an honest voice and I think that's why people find blogging so engaging as a medium."

She launched her blog in February 2008 as a promotional tool for her fashion work - it was not so much a commercial enterprise, more a fun way to pass the time. However, Annmarie was surprised at the growing number of hits that her site began to attract.

"I generally get a boutique number of around 150 viewers per day. However, if I do press that can shoot up, one day I got 1000 viewers after an appearance on the TV show Expose, so that was fantastic!"

Dublin's fashion set are readying themselves for the next Fashion Bloggers Brunch, which Annmarie organises. The monthly affair brings together the great and the good of Planet Fashion for a celebration of style and cyberspace.

She started the Fashion Bloggers Brunch because freelance writing can sometimes be a solitary experience. Now the monthly event has about 20 regular attendees. "We have all become really good friends and it's also a fantastic place to network as well as talking about the latest fashion trends and our experiences blogging."

With a book in the pipeline and a growing legion of fans Annmarie's star is certainly on the rise.