To say the least, the reach, influence, and yes, bankability of blogs have become impossible to ignore. At a time when a certain blog has metastasized into a veritable national pastime/scourge and go-to scandal sheet, the impact of blogging looms larger than previously considered.

In the realm of fashion, local blogs all carry a unique, interesting voice. Whether this voice is categorically "Filipino" or not seems beyond the point, as it seems the "personal" appeal—including, of course, the individual, sometimes larger-than-life character of the blogger—has become the largest part of what makes the local fashion blog attractive to readers.

Topping the list of blogs with interesting, unique voices, of course, is no less than Bryanboy. The brash, lurid, and altogether addicting site literally loved by many of fashion’s elite (including Rachel Clark, Marc Jacobs, Alexandra Agoston, Terron Wood, Lawrence Stiers, and, of late, Tanya Dziahileva and Nick Snider),

it started in its first two years as a more personal site chronicling the crazy, fabulous, and often very gay life of Bryanboy. At the heart of it, of course, was Bryanboy’s love affair with fashion, evidenced in frequent entries about all things he loved and, more important, hated in both local and international runway shows, brands, retail spaces, advertising, celebrity, and even editorials (one recent entry called Vogue US on its April 2008 cover, with Gisele Bundchen and LeBron James, for its conceptual similarity to the Vogue Paris November 2007 cover, with Carolyn Murphy and Andre J.).

Currently, Bryanboy admits that his site has "grown up." "I used to blog about everything I bought, announced when I’d travel, and what I’d do," he recalls. "But I realized that at some point, I have to be private. Now I’m more austere." He currently focuses on backstage photos, trends, and other things directly related to fashion. Although his unique, often humorous voice and perspective seem to have already firmly established him an identity in the fashion world. (This was evidenced early this year, when Marc Jacobs himself had contacted Bryanboy following a characteristically funny video post he had made—notably, not the one in which he had commented on the designer’s local retail shop in Greenbelt 5. Jacobs consequently named a bag after him, an olive ostrich piece from his Fall 2008-2009 collection.)

Another pair of blogs that have been in circulation for some time are Chuvaness and Manila Style by journalist Cecile Zamora van Straten. "I had started blogging way back in 2000 when I was pregnant and I couldn’t go out," van Straten recalls. "I started a different blog back then, which was really full of a lot of angst, so I closed it down. When I started Chuvaness, I was a bit more cautious, because I realized how people pick up on what you say, even when you’re reflecting your thoughts." Chuvaness reflected van Straten’s tastes in fashion, remarking her interests in everything from Eairth’s newest collection, to the latest Louis Vuitton bag, to a virtually unheard of Mexican designer that caught her eye, to the current rave in Japan. At times, Chuvaness ventured into lifestyle entries, whether about a spa van Straten had visited or a recipe she liked—reflecting her increasingly diverse endeavors in life. Manila Style, on the other hand, was developed two years ago following the highly popular street style blogs on the internet.

Similar to van Straten, Christine Dychiao started Manila Fashion Observer to pass the time—in her case while she was waiting for her then fiancé, who was, at the time, in the United States for further studies, to appear online for chats. While her background was in economics and business, and a good part of her professional life was spent in banking, she nevertheless created a fashion blog because it was a particular interest of hers. "I’ve always been into fashion and thought it would be nice to document fashion news and runway looks that inspired me," Dychiao says. "And when it comes to shopping, I have terrible self-control, so I also wrote about stuff that I wanted in the hopes of getting it out of my system. And, the funny thing is, blogging turned out to be a great form of "visualization," kind of like having a mood board in web form. For some reason, I usually end up getting or doing the things I wrote about."

Sasha Manuel, on the other hand, started early on as a problogger. While she had started her site, Tops 2 Bottoms, in late 2005 as a personal fashion blog, it was absorbed in early 2006 by the Toronto-based company b5media.com, when they merged with About Weblogs.com, the company owned by Manuel’s sister.

As Tops 2 Bottoms focused more on the global fashion scene (as seen through an Asian perspective), Manuel later put up Style Manila, her "personal" fashion blog, where she’d concentrated on the happenings in Philippine fashion. Style Manila was under the Bayanihan blog network—where Manuel was one of the owners. "We’ve now already put up Style Cebu, which is edited by Kristine Roa for the Bayanihan blog network," she adds.

Real content is king

While there has certainly been no clear cut formula for what has made these fashion blogs successful both in terms of readership and financial returns, the (surprisingly) basic rules—that is, what works for blogs in general—still seem to apply. A basic level of readability which, to a degree, panders to the short attention spans of a majority of blog readers seems the general rule followed by most bloggers.

"Unless you’re going to be snarky, it’s better to have shorter, more frequent posts," Manuel explains. To an extent, it is about reining in the natural human urge to go on and on about things, and to instead work with a concise but nevertheless interesting and entertaining writing style. Coupled with this is a necessary variety in postings to keep the interest of readers, and, in keeping with the "personal" appeal of blogs, reflects the blogger’s different preoccupations and his opinions of the world around him.

"Apart from reporting on the usual trends, new collections, new looks, and products launches, I also write social commentaries that are somehow tied to fashion," Dychiao mentions. "And I also receive requests for fashion advice from readers, so a blog post turns into an advice column at times. Also, based on my blog’s analytics, I found that readers like street style or personal style photos. I guess it also appeals to human nature’s voyeuristic tendencies, observing how other people live, and in a fashion blog’s case, how others dress up."

Another important element of successful blogs has to do with the ethical concerns of blogging, which translated to how a blogger maintains the trust of his readers. "Today’s readers can discern a rehash of a press release from a customer testimonial," Dychiao explains. "And I think, more than anything, real content is what they are after, especially when it comes to shopping-related posts. They want to get ‘man on the street’ opinions, to get the facts from someone who actually bought the product."

"I find it important to disclose if posts are related to press releases or advertisers, and even the very rare occasion that I do an advertorial," Bryanboy says. "You see, in my position as a blogger, to a degree, I have authority, or at least people listen to what I have to say. So it’s really about the basic issue of trust. I don’t want to publish a glorified press release, and I also need to be free to say when I don’t like something. Which is also why I don’t go to junkets anymore, even if I’m invited—besides the fact that I also don’t like to freeload. Besides, junkets are a cheap way of getting publicity. If companies want to advertise with me, I’d rather they do it professionally and pay for it."

Additionally, Bryanboy notes that his advertisers are all very much aware of his unapologetically honest and in-your-face personality, as well as his tendency to straddle what is often considered taboo. "They know that I will blog what I want," he emphasizes.

Connected to this is the necessity of putting a face to the blog, as well as to, as Bryanboy puts it, "being 104 percent responsible for what I say." "If you want to be a voice of authority, why be anonymous?" he says. "I say everything, warts and all, so I think it makes a big difference to show who you are and own up to what you post."

"When I read other blogs, one thing I look at in a blog is who is writing it," Manuel adds. "I think it is pretty much your online business card, so it’s important to let people know who you are." Manuel adds that while she is not particularly inclined to reflect strong negative opinions, instead choosing to ignore what she doesn’t like, she nevertheless maintains honesty in what she writes. "Usually I write about what I buy or acquire, or what I’d like to have," she says. "And I basically write what I think about these things."

Dychiao, on the other hand, believes it doesn’t matter whether identity is revealed or not: "People visit other people’s blogs because they get something out of it, whether it be for information or entertainment, not because of who the blogger is. What will sustain the blog is interesting content, so that should always be the primary focus."

Regardless of the case for the disclosure of identity, one important aspect of maintaining trust, as strongly emphasized by both Bryanboy and Manuel, is to never change or delete posts. "I’ve never deleted anything," Bryanboy says. "If I believe I made a mistake, I put up an apology, but I don’t take anything down." The effort to delete, in any case, is somewhat futile. "It’s cached anyway," Manuel adds. "So even if you take a post down, it still appears at least on search engine results when people search for it."