Growing Up Online

Growing up online is something that I wouldn’t have thought would be in my ‘path’. But when 16 year old me discovered blogging and that sharing your daily outfits online was a ‘thing’. I did just fall into by chance, and have pretty much done it on a near enough regular basis ever since. It was back when blogpost was in its prime and tripod ‘ootd’ selfies in your bedroom were the norm. The word ‘influencer’ didn’t even exist. To be honest if you said that you had a blog irl, you had to prepare yourself to explain what exactly a blog was.

Brand deals, sponsored posts and even gifting wasn’t frequently spoken about in the community. In fact, I can remember that very first ‘collaboration’ email that popped into my inbox, by a well-known fashion retailer. At 16, I thought it was scam. It didn’t occur to me that you could be sent clothes/products for free to blog about. I think this is now what a lot of people go into blogging/instagramin’ for. But I naively had no idea this side of blogging existed.

From documenting my ever changing hair colour and style. Because let’s face it a lot can change in 7 years. This blog has acted as my style evolution back catalogue. To even documenting moving back to London then to a brand new city. To of course dropping out of Uni and having to ‘re-think’ everything. Just when you thought everything was ‘going to plan’ (because life doesn’t work like that). This blog has had numerous make-overs to keep the content looking fresh and engaging.

Blogging itself is not as popular as it once was, with the likes of Instagram taking the crown (for the time being). I do absolutely love Instagram. It’s by far my favourite social media platform. But if Instagram goes down, then what happens next. At least if you have invested time into a blog/website you’ve always got that to fall back on.

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I have already briefly touched upon telling people irl (in real life) that you’re a blogger. When it was still a very new thing, people didn’t understand it all. What’s the point in sharing your outfits online? I would always get asked. In addition to a fair share of opposing comments from my school peers. My response to this was to one ignore, and two it’s my own piece of the internet that I cherish and there’s a bunch of people out there who appreciate it.

They were also oblivious to the fact that I would ‘skip study time’, to attend blogging events and film videos in collaboration with well known fashion magazine’s YouTube channels, at the tender age of 17. Because, with the support of my parents, I was building my own platform and network.

Fast forward to now I can honestly say that I have never felt more inspired to blog and create content. Pre-graduation it has always been a juggling act. From school work, to uni applications, to studying full-time for a degree and of course having a bunch of part time jobs on the side. But I kept it up for these past 7 years. I think the longest break I’ve had from blogging is 1-2 months. Blogging came when I had a spare hour or two. Now that I have the time to fully commit to blogging (and work full time on the side) I feel like I can personally focus my energy back into it. Hopefully watching it grow and develop, so here’s to the next 5+ years of growing up online.

Top – Nastygal (on sale – link) | Jeans – Collusion via ASOS (link) | Bag – Primark (similar) | Boots – Urban Outfitters (similar)