The 2012 Style BiB Awards finalists

“Mumsy” used to be an insult to the style-conscious. While that word hasn’t had a makeover, these days you’d be mad to think being a mother somehow disqualified you from being outstandingly stylish (Kate Moss, anyone?).

In fact, this group of style bloggers are carving out a niche that acknowledges the particular tastes and needs of this powerful sector. (More than £11.1 billion was spent on fashion in 2011 by this demographic of women…although not by these 8 finalists. We think.)

Not content with throwaway looks and flash-in-the-pan, bare-it-all trends, these blogs feature wearable looks with grown-up styling, often combined with an eye toward practicality (or a nod to the moments you need to throw practicality to the wind) – all written from the viewpoint of women who control the household spending. This BiBs category also takes in stylish living, since these days the pleasures of looking good extend to the space around us.

In an era when Claudia Schiffer is photographed on the school run and practically every designer has a home furnishings line, this group of Style finalists are right on trend.

 

The Agoraphobic Fashionista

After dropping 8 dress sizes, the Agoraphobic Fashionista discovered her inner fashionista and as her copy proves, she doesn’t pull her punches. Her blog is made up of unvarnished reviews of products she tries and features plainly spoken posts about how items meet (and fail to meet) expectations from website descriptions. They take in clothes, shoes, jewellery, even nail varnish and stick-on eye liner. This is a style lover who expects satisfaction, no matter how much she’s spending. While she won’t able to be at the BiBs ceremony on the night, she has posted a picture of what she would be wearing, and can we just say we love the green trousers.

Geek Is the New Chic

Sian To’s new website may not have been around as long as her Mummy-tips blog, but it’s gained a pack of avid followers. Her personal style shines through, with posts on topics such as hot pink Doc Martens, a gold Twitter name necklace, and The Smiths. You’ll also see fashion by her husband, the designer Yan To. Style on this blog extends to Sian’s creatively and beautifully snapped pics about a wide range of topics. The images taken on her recent trip to Niger, with charity World Vision, demonstrate the stark truth of the food crisis taking place in vivid colour. They also make her devotion to worthy causes apparent.

(Mostly) Yummy Mummy

After a career in banking, “Mostly” (as we’ve come to think of her) became a stay-at-home mum, raising a son and three daughters with her “long-suffering other half”(her words, not ours). Her blog examines stylish living through daily posts, focusing on her outfits, accessories, home furnishings and occasionally featuring that delicious standard of every lifestyle publication: the before-and-after comparison. On another of her blogs, she’s undertaken to post an image every day for a year. “Mostly” is a prolific social networker, Instagram’er and Pinterest’er (you can even find her blog on Kindle via Amazon), making it easy to engage with her version of the chic life.

 

The Online Stylist

Expect the most covetable labels on Amanda Strong’s blog – she posts lust lists of her favourite pieces from sources such as Dolce & Gabbana, Whistles, Zara, Alexander McQueen, Jimmy Choo, Net-a-Porter and many many many more, all with glossy pictures. The Steal Her Style posts dissect gorge celebrity looks and allow you to put them back together, piece by piece. You even find Amanda featured on other fashion blogs from time to time, shareing her stye and proposing things like knighthoods for Christian Louboutin. Warning: mouthwatering pictures and posts are linked to online shops, meaning your credit card may get a workout.

School Gate Style

Avril Keys specializes in accessible fashion illustrated with images that readers can relate to, while the outfits she features testify that money need not be an impediment to a fabulous personal look. “I’m not a stylist or a fashion guru and I have a very limited budget – like a lot of busy mums out there,” she says. Visitors to her blog will see her posing in her garden, her signature top-down shots of her shoes, and her favourite finds you can seek out at familiar high street brands. We also like the occasional competitions that let readers share in the wealth, and the clear ethical disclosure on items she receives for review.

Slummy Single Mummy

You gotta love any blog that tackles the subject of both summer camps and swimsuit shopping. Jo is a single work-at-home mum and the topics on her blog are as plentiful as descriptions of her experience: social media consultant, copywriter, journalist and more. Jo’s blog shows that beauty is where you find it: a cocoa-dusted cup of coffee, stacks of wheels of cheese, and of course in the occasional outfit. The pictures are always accompanied by her breezy, personable writing. Her blog is less of a guide to what-to-wear than a place that makes you think, “Huh, I didn’t know you could buy a chicken-shaped egg-white separator jug.”

Style Guile

Read Beth Goodrham’s blog and you can become your own Rachel Zoe or Gok Wan. Beth is a personal stylist and her blog focuses on “how to style yourself on a daily basis without spending hours, or a fortune”. She speaks the language of fashion – layers, the latest colours – and mixes Hobbs with Hermes. But to our mind, the real strength of Beth’s posts are details of the mistakes as well as successes. (“…again it didn’t really work for me as it was just a bit too bulky – outfit number 2 disaster!”). If it first don’t accessorise well, try, try again!

Zoe & Drew

Zoe is a designer and fabric addict. Drew is her husband, who quit the rat race to get his History degree. They have five children and this blog is devoted to family design – adorable and chic children’s clothes, stylish home accessories, prettily featured family travel – all with a distinctly British flair and aesthetic. Readers can find inspiration for their children’s rooms – from sausage dog themesto Union Jack duvet covers. Regular frequent posts mean you can return again and again to browse the site like a beautiful mood board to make all aspects of family life that bit more photogenic.