Zombie Bloggers

Tonight is fright night. And to commemorate this Halloween season, I stole away two of my favourite bloggers to a cold street in Shoreditch, where the houses were aged and the wind was bitter. Stirring personal style with Halloween spirit, Stu Bradley and Jayne Read have styled outfits of a seductively scary quality.

Zara suit, J Crew shirt, French Connection tie, Sperry shoes, Ralph Lauren Purple Label sunglasses

Sharp yet sinister. Stu Bradley, fashion blogger at 'Not So Lonely Londoners', dons a dark suit and a blood-stained poncho, thus recreating the style of Patrick Bateman, anti-hero of American Psycho. His tortoiseshell sunglasses add further mystery.

From my perspective, Stu is the unofficial voice of UK male fashion bloggers. We are the minority in this particular community, and Stu has rightly argued for greater recognition. In a recent commentary, however, he observed that male bloggers are slowly beginning to receive the same ackowledgement from brands and PR companies as female bloggers. His regular appearances at press events in central London can only benefit this further.

"I started blogging actively when I moved down to London, which was about eight months ago. I use [my blog] as an outlet to talk about fashion and trends. And it's also a little bit 'inceptiony', as I use it to talk about fashion blogging itself, because I think there is quite a lot to say about it. And hopefully, I'll keep on going along those sorts of lines."

Stu's thoughts on Halloween:

"I quite like Halloween. It's one of those weird nights, though, the same as New Year's Eve, when there's quite a lot of pressure on to go out and do things. In the old days, I used to trick-or-treat, and I think I probably trick-or-treated until I was fifteen, until I literally said, "You can't do this any more." I once went to quite a good party, but since then, not really anything, which is a bit depressing."

Jigsaw coat, Claire's Accessories hat, Whistles dress, House of Holland tights, Irregular Choice shoes

Jayne Read, beauty blogger at 'Jayne's Kitschen', has fashioned a Halloween outfit that centres around her Irregular Choice cat shoes. Spooky make-up included, the chosen style is perfect for a party, without looking exaggerated.

Make-up includes: Lime Crime, Sugar Pill, Illamasqua, and Sleek. (See her blog for further details.)

While I openly admit I do not understand much about beauty, Jayne's experience within the beauty industry makes her very knowledgeable, as evident by her blog. During the weekly #bblogger chats on Twitter, she is always at hand to offer sound advice to other bloggers, whether it is related to beauty, or blogging in general.

"My blog has been going for about three years. It started off just writing about anything that was my style, anything kitsch or vintage-inspired, or anything that was from an unusual or quirky brand. Lately, I've been mainly writing for beauty, because I work in the beauty industry, so I'm surrounded by that all the time.

"But really, it's just somewhere for me to be creative. And it's amazing to see how blogs have become such a big thing now - I've seen a lot more interest in the past three years."

Jayne's thoughts on Halloween: 

"I haven't really done anything for Halloween for years, because I've been married for two years. I don't know, I'm a bit like a middle-aged person already. But I always liked the spirit of Halloween, because I'm always into the Gothic things and horror films.

"When we were kids, we used to have a reputation for doing really good Halloween parties, because we had quite a big house, and a barn that we had parties in and our parents would let us decorate. We used to do themed food - sandwiches cut into tombstones, jelly with frogs in, things like that."

(P.S. I am aiming to collaborate with more bloggers in and around London, Bristol and Bournemouth for future editorials. If you fancy being involved, please give me a shout on Twitter: @unlimitedbyjk. Alternatively, e-mail me at: unlimitedbyjk@yahoo.co.uk.)