#MyBlogLife: STELLAR Meets Naomi Clarke From The Style Fairy

Why did you start your site?

There was a niche in the Irish market to bring affordable personal shopping to Irish women; it was a service that’d previously been a luxury of the more elite, and I felt I could change that.

What makes it stand out?

What I post about is high street and attainable. I’m not a model nor do I resemble one; I’m just a regular Irish woman with a normal body, so I think Irish women can relate. I guess the ‘realness’ shines through. The site now has a dedicated maternity section and readers are keen to see how I will dress to adapt to my changing body.

What’s been your highlight so far?

Winning best fashion blog at the Irish Blog Awards in 2014 was a massive highlight and honour as the site wasn’t even a year old. Also, reaching 100k followers a month was a big milestone.

Where do you get all your fashion inspo?

Nicole Warne from Gary Pepper, Annabelle Fleur from Viva Luxury, Julie Sarinana from Sincerely Jules and Christine Andrews from Hello Fashion, and a lot of Pinterest, too.

Tell us about your jewellery line.

I always wanted to start my own line of accessories; it’s called TSF Accessories. I launched my first collection last October and it sold out within two months. This year I launched my second collection, which is 12 unique statement pieces, each with a name and character of their own; the idea being that there is one to suit every kind of woman.

You’ve a baby on the way: was styling yourself pre-pregnancy much different to now?

Yes. My body’s changing so much and so fast and I put on quite a lot of weight very quickly so that was hard to adapt to. I also went up a full cup size really early on. I love my bump though – I feel so lucky, sometimes I just stare at it in the mirror. It’s quite incredible what our bodies can do.

Any difficult hurdles?

My biggest hurdle was being put on an insulin pump last August because of my diabetes. It is a device that’s attached to my body 24/7 via a tube which goes into my stomach. It’s not pretty or in any way stylish but it makes me healthier. Given my love of fashion and what I do for a living, the thought of it terrified me. From a superficial perspective I didn’t know if I could do it but I’m learning to live with it and learning tricks of how to hide it in certain outfits. The best part is that I was able to get pregnant, so it was worth the tears and the nuisance.

Will you take a blogging hiatus after your baby arrives?

I’ll be taking a break for a little while. It’ll be hard to do, but I know it’s something I have to and want to do. I’m sure I’ll still post the occasional picture and blog post, but it’ll be limited. While I’m away, I have a great writer Heather, who’ll be taking over.

Wanna be a part of #MyBlogLife? It runs online weekly and in the magazine monthly, too. To be considered, you need to have a personal blog. Join STELLAR’s Facebook group, open to all personal bloggers, or drop an email to info@stellar.ie, telling us why we should feature you.

Tags:

• #mybloglife
• bloggers
• fashion bloggers
• Naomi Clarke
• The Style Fairy