Personally, I'm most at home in jeans and a t-shirt but I'm also fascinated by people who have an interesting style and who post it online. I'm not talking about big social media influencers necessarily but Instagram friends and accounts who post and pose in their outfits under 'what I wore today' #wiwt and other hashtags. Here are three examples of accounts I enjoy:
RhiannonBrum – a friend who is also a swishing, swirling dressmaker who makes and wears her own outfits.
GlacialGlow – an ethereal, elfin, silver-haired Alice in Wonderland who also has an awesome dog.
SashaEDavison – a fashion model who became pretty successful in the time I started following her. I used to dial up her Instagram as a brief to my local hairdressers and also bought some sparkly Top Shop shoes in the sale on her recommendation.
You get the picture. Anyway…
Earlier this summer, at the start of the heatwave, I decided to have another wardrobe clear out and had a sudden realisation – I buy dresses but don't wear them and especially now that I work remotely in my metaphorical pyjamas most of the time. At least before bundling them up for the charity shop, I thought I should wear them. And so began a month of daily #wiwt poses and photoshoots – here's the slideshow, and more info on what I learnt from the challenge below.
I never thought I'd end up doing a 30-day fashion challenge but perhaps there was something in me that wanted to document turning 50 this year. It would kind of be like a diary thing. In 10 years, I'd look back and go: Well, would you look at that – and be impressed, appalled or amused.
Along the way I learnt a few things:
1. Being your own photographer is good for a woman's self-confidence – you only have to post the pics you like.
2. Being a daily Insta-fashion influencer is hard work – the staging, the variations, the bursts, the selection, editing, captioning and posting. I started off easy taking just a few minutes; the final shoot took an hour and a half to get the shot.
3. It was a bit of fun – and the feedback was like getting a reward. I looked forward to the reactions. I got loads of positive comments from 'This is epic' to 'A___ said it was the highlight of her week (and she'd just given birth).' And then someone took one of my pics – the kaftan one – and created a meme: the ultimate honour.
4. I can laugh at myself – I couldn't resist posting a bloopers reel on my Instagram. You can't take life too seriously.
5. Finally, turning 50 ain't so bad.
Once more, here's the full shoot. Enjoy! (Update: I've cleared out at least nine of these outfits, which leaves 21 things to wear. Turns out I quite like wearing dresses.)
Hire/commission me: fiona [at] fionacullinan.com
Love it! I think you should do this one month every year.