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In our new series Meet the Bloggers, Swide interviews leading bloggers to ask them what life is really like in the blogsaphere. Do they break out into a cold sweat in a non-WIFI zone? Sit in pyjamas all day, or suffer blog envy? Today's star blogger is Liberty London Girl. 

 Selected as one of the top 100 blogs in the world by the U.K's Sunday Times, the Liberty London Girl blog follows the anonymous thoughts of an English Fashion Editor based in Manhattan and L.A as she reveals all about life, love, design and food.

Unlike other style blogs that can verge on the predictable and the superficial - readers of Liberty London Girl's blog can follow her musings (including those from luxury hotel suites) that clearly demonstrates style is more than a one-dimensional clichè in heels.

Swide interviews the lady behind the super-blog.

1.

LIFE PRE BLOG

I started my career at British Condé Nast, where I stayed for six years as a magazine editor, before moving on to become a fashion reporter for an syndicated newswire service. Since then I’ve edited my own magazine, been an executive fashion editor on national newspapers in the UK & the US, freelanced as a stylist & journalist worldwide, & broadcast on radio & TV as a style expert for the BBC for ten years. Having such a comprehensive background in publishing really helped when I started my blog when I moved to America from London in 2007.

2.

ONLINE IS A WAY OF LIFE. DO YOU OPT FOR A NON-WIFI SPOT IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

Online is a way of life – do you opt for a non-WIFI spot in your spare time or is your blog all consuming?
I started my blog as a simple way to avoid writing hundreds of letters home to all my friends & family back in London when I moved from London to New York. I never expected anyone else to read it. But blogging becomes addictive. I’d love to talk about the perfect work/life balance but, although I hate to admit it, I get nervy without web access. My Blackberry doesn’t work when I return to the UK for holidays, and I was calling my sister from my London hospital bed last year to get email updates. In the end she told me to get a life & refused to take my calls. If I am alive & in the US then I am on-line, it’s as simple as that.

3.

DO YOU STILL READ PRINT MAGAZINES?

Although I get most of my news online, & think most front of book pages have been made pretty much redundant by the web, I still prefer to look at fashion editorial in print. There’s something about the smell & the tactile quality of paper, the saturation of the colour and the size of the pages. I do think we will see dramatic changes in the print world in the next five years as advertising revenues decline and audiences become more sophisticated.

4.

THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF BLOGS - HOW DO YOU SORT THE GOOD FROM THE BAD?

Enthusiastic blog posts can be lovely, but not when they are long rambling posts peppered with exclamation marks. So if I find a concise, well-written blog, then I am smitten. (And blogs that are simply hundreds of runway pics, with “I like this” written under the images or with sub-par fashion criticism attached don’t get a second visit.)

5.

WHO IN YOUR OPINION ROCKS THE BLOGSPHERE? DO YOU SUFFER FROM BLOG ENVY?

Two writers I like very much and who make me turn eau de nil with professional writer's envy are not specifically fashion bloggers, but their mini-essay posts often touch on the intellectual side of fashion. They are Mrs Trefusis Takes a Taxi by an anonymous magazine veteran based in London, and Backwards in High Heels by the writers of the book of the same name, Tania Kindersley & Sarah Vine (beauty editor at The Times (UK) Magazine).
It’s too easy for time-pressed fashion editors to become reliant on publicists to let them know about new designers. For me the blog world is most useful for letting me know about new designers who may be too new, too poor or too far away to have representation in either America or the UK where I mainly work. The ineffable Susie Bubble and The Kingdom of Style girls, the wonderful Queens Michelle & Marie filter out the talentless and the dull. Not only do they have glorious personal style and a great eye, but they continuously expand my fashion horizons.

6.

HAVE YOU EVER BLOGGED UNDER THE INFLUENCE AND REGRETTED IT?

Of course! Who hasn’t?! My blog is more discursive than most: I rely on words rather than on pictures, and I write a lot about my personal life, including the dates I go on. I’d like to say that I let the posts written late night about really bad dates when I’ve had to get drunk to get through them stand, but of course I usually edit or, more rarely, delete them the next day.

7.

THE STRANGEST PLACE YOU'VE BLOGGED FROM?

I’ll blog from anywhere. Not fussy! I usually write in bed. But that bed could be anywhere as I travel incessantly. Best beds lately have been this one (pic above) in the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and a huge one at The Halkin in London. I tried to blog from up a treehouse on California’s Big Sur coastline last month, but I couldn’t get a signal.

 

8.

IS THERE A PERSON YOU'D WISH WOULD START A BLOG?

I’m not so interested in random strangers’ lives unless their prose sets the page on fire. What I really, really love is insider information, so of course a Michelle Obama blog would be riveting and can you imagine what you could get from the Holy Trinity: Carine, Alex, Anna? Of course it’s extremely unlikely. Not least because of Alex Shulman’s professed disinterest in blogs.

9.

HOW DO YOU SEE TWITTER IMPACTING ON BLOGGING?

Twitter is extremely useful for posting single images, using Twitpic, and links to articles I know my readers would be interested in but don’t necessarily warrant an entire blog post. It’s brilliant for building brand identity, and for driving traffic to Liberty London Girl. LLG’s traffic has increased exponentially since I started Twittering and since I was voted a Top 20 Fashion Twitterer by The Times. People click through both from my Twitter profile and from the links I post to individual stories on LLG.

twitter.com/LibertyLndnGirl

10.

MOST EXTREME BLOGGING SITUATION

I’m often privy to breaking news about the fashion industry. I want to be the first to get that on-line, so when I get some juicy info (not gossip – I always fact check) it’s a rush to get good well, written, verified copy up on the blog. I’m most proud that I got Sir Philip Green to confirm his US plans for Top Shop before any newspapers could.

11.

YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL POST EVER?

 

It’s always the most personal ones. I was most proud of this blog about my grandmother’s sense of style, and my readers liked it too. libertylondongirl.blogspot.com/my-favourite-christmas-present
This one about a beauty disaster made them laugh the most: libertylondongirl.blogspot.com/fakery

12.

FOR ANY BUDDING BLOGGERS - WHAT'S YOUR ADVICE ON MAKING IT WORK?

a) Have the courage of your convictions: If you like something, explain why
b) Have good command of the language you blog in.
c) Unless you can write very well, keep your posts short & sweet.
d) Develop a distinct personality: this could be through your wardrobe or the stories you tell
e) Be prepared to post at least once a day: readers quickly lose interest
f) Don’t stand aloof: blogging is a community activity. Make friends with fellow bloggers, post comments, link to other blog stories, build a network
g) And, please, don’t post endless runway shots. That’s what style.com is for

13.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BLOGGER

I am on my laptop from the moment I wake up, turn over and switch it on (before even grabbing my glasses), to the minute before I turn out my light to sleep. And I check my Blackberry if I wake in the night to approve any reader comments on my blog.
I had to give up my blog last year when I was fashion director on an American magazine, but after I resigned, I was back blogging again. Now I split my time between writing my first book, writing freelance fashion & style features from LA & NY, and blogging.

With special thanks to Liberty London Girl

CHECK OUT LIBERTY LONDON GIRL HERE  libertylondongirl.blogspot.com

**For more exclusive interviews from the Swide series "Meet The Bloggers" see**

Bryan Boy www.swide.com/Meet-the-bloggers--BryanBoy

Kitsune Noir www.swide.com/Meet-the-bloggers--Kitsune-Noir

Melanie Crété www.swide.com/Meet-the-bloggers--Melanie-Crete

Kerry Olsen

Source & Photo Credits: Liberty London Girl

TAGS: liberty london girl bloggers sunday times twiter bryanboy kitsune noir fashion fashion editor fashion magazine style bubble susie bubble kingdom of style sarah vine tania kindersley michele obama