cocolefreakcestchic.blogspot.com
What kind of subjects you are looking for? I love an outlandish look but also relish shooting subtle styles. The personal touches make it interesting.
Do you have any “regulars”? I like to keep my images diverse. London fashion week is different – you’ll see the same faces every day and look forward to what they’ll wear tomorrow.
How do you approach people? I’ll compliment them on what they are wearing. I would say 20% say no but people who say yes are usually flattered.
Has street style usurped catwalk style? Street style is a way to see how the catwalk trends trickle down to the mainstream.
What is the most irritating current trend? Studs and ripped tights have been big where I live. I have to say, I’m over that.
Photograph: Katherine Rose for the Observer
stitchesfabricandsoul.com
When did you start blogging and why? I began it as a kind of visual notebook of how, excitingly, Irish style was beginning to transform itself for the better.
What are looking for? You don’t find much, if any, deliberately trend-led looks on the street in Dublin. Instead, I look for someone who is well put together and whose personality is translated through their clothes.
Do you make a living from this? A lot of opportunities to generate income through advertising have come and gone. Some publications have begun to seek out my photos, which is a compliment. It’s also opened a lot of other doors.
What is the most irritating current trend? I find it tricky to photograph boyfriend jeans on girls. I appreciate them, though, and what they stand for, so I will always try.
Photograph: Patrick Bolger for the Observer
nicelyturnedout.com
When did you start blogging? Summer 2010. Me and my digital genius friend wanted to make an iPhone app that we would want to have on our phone. Being able to access a library of photos of stylish London people for day-to-day inspiration made perfect sense.
Which shows have the best-dressed people? Up-and-coming designers such as Mark Fast, Georgia Hardinge and Jonathan Saunders tend to have the most outrageously dressed guests as they attract fresh fashion folk who aren’t yet concerned with looking nonchalant in head-to-toe black.
What’s the worst thing that’s happened while style hunting? I took a photo of a glamorous-looking man who was wearing a bit of eyeliner. I said he was a great-looking man, but he interjected with a very stern face that he liked to be considered female. I got the giggles.
Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Observer
alhimovich.com
When did you start blogging and why? I’ve had a blog for a long time but only started to take it seriously a couple of years ago when I published a series of photos of Londoners wearing hats in their ordinary lives.
What kind of subjects do you look for? Strangers wearing hats, people with kindness in their eyes, people with dogs. If I see an interesting character, I have to take a picture.
Do you feel like you are documenting trends or helping create them? I am certainly capturing trends, be it the unusual characters of London or the usual ones; people who think they are trendy or people whose trend is to follow no trends.
Which bit of London has the most stylish people? Primrose Hill has its own unique style and atmosphere.
Photograph: Karen Robinson for the Observer
thestylekaleidoscope.com
What are you looking for? Young, daring individuals who buck the trend or wear something the way it wasn’t intended to be worn. If it’s the right person, I’ll run for a long time to catch them.
Do you make a living from this? No, I don’t earn a penny. If you love fashion that much, you’ll keep on going.
Are you documenting trends or helping create them? Both – I’m capturing what I like best. I know various artists refer to the blog for inspiration, but I’ve no idea if any stylists check it out. I’d bet money they do.
How do you approach people? People are normally shopping or on lunch break, so you have to read their mood. I say something along the lines of: “I love your outfit” and show them my blog: 98% say yes before I’ve finished my first sentence.
Photograph: Fabio De Paola for the Observer
styleeast.blogspot.com
Why did you start? On a whim, feeling there was a real gap in representing east London, which is known for its unique style, whether good or bad.
Do you make a living from this? No. I have a full-time job in Whitehall, where nobody knows I spend my spare time blogging.
Are you documenting trends or helping create them? Both. Designers are inspired by people on the street – they make the look high fashion, then the high street brings it to the masses.
What’s the worst thing that’s happened while style hunting? I ran after Jefferson Hack at fashion week, only to stop dead in front of him and then not utter a word, before walking off.
What is the most irritating current trend? Pastels. Nothing feels less wearable than a lemon capri pant.
Photograph: styleeast.blogspot.com
Shotbyshooter.blogspot.com
When did you start? I lived in Milan in the 1990s and earned a living photographing backstage at shows. I had no way of exhibiting my work. Three years later, I stumbled across a fashion blog and thought I could do that.
What camera do you use? I started out with a Leica and one day saw David Bailey. He let me take his photo and he advised me to change cameras – he had a Lumix GF2 so I got one.
How do you approach people? People respond better to a hand-held camera; they think you’re an amateur. I even got Carey Mulligan to pose for me by being polite. I prefer real people in vintage or older men with great beards. Street portraiture is so compelling. It’s like what the protagonist from John Fowles’s The Collector says of butterflies: “They’re pretty, petrified objects.”
Photograph: Karen Robinson for the Observer
streetstylelondon.blogspot.com
Do you make a living from this? I wish! I don’t earn a thing. I only link and promote something if I genuinely like it.
Who is the most famous person you’ve photographed? I’ve shot Anna Wintour, but the biggest feeding frenzy I’ve seen was over Anna Della Russo. My favourite discovery on the street was the Swedish model Frida Gustavsson in H&M. She was still at school. We stayed in touch for a while and then she became Elle Sweden’s model of the year.
Is there competition between bloggers to snap certain people? Do you ask for exclusivity? It’s not like “real” journalism; it’s never an issue of exclusivity. At fashion week, so many women come to be photographed – to be “famous”, through being on blogs. They want to be shot by as many people as possible.
Photograph: Suki Dhanda for the Observer
