Alice Catherine

Life after blogging isn’t something I try to dwell on too much – after all, I still feel relatively new to this weird online space, and In many ways, I’m still finding my feet. There are certain aspects of my job that bother me sometimes, and make me wonder what the hell I’m doing, but there are also so many positives to working a wonderfully unstable job…

There’s a lot of negativity that’s thrown around in the blogosphere, and in general, the fashion industry seems to get a bit of a bad rep. Having wanted to work in the industry for years, I now witness this first hand on pretty much a daily basis – scrolling through Twitter can be a nightmare for one example. I do have moments where I wonder if I’m just contributing to an industry that’s flawed – excessive consumption, waste, championing one body type, lack of diversity, the list goes on… 

I’ll be honest, there are weeks when it gets me down, and I find myself searching for a deeper meaning to everything that I’m creating. I’ve never been comfortable with just taking pictures of myself and leaving my work at that – I want there to be some sort of depth to what I put out there, some sort of meaning. I always wanted to create a sense of community with my blog, to find likeminded people to connect with. Never in a million years did I think I’d end up doing it as a full time job…

As someone who studied English Literature, writing has always been a huge passion of mine. I used to write short stories when I was younger, I’d be so eager to get everything down that I’d miss out all the punctuation, rarely even pausing for full stops. Just a constant stream of none stop thoughts floating all over the page – sometimes this is how blogging can feel.

It feels like a consistent pressure to churn out inspiration, never really stopping to look at what you’ve already done, never getting the chance to give yourself a pat on the back. The fashion industry is constant newness, constant so what’s next? This is the part that makes me feel as though I sometimes don’t fit in – I wear a lot of vintage pieces, and I pretty much know my personal style inside out. I wear the same drawer of jeans on rotation, and some weeks I don’t feel like I have new outfits to show. This is why I focus much more on my writing – writing and connecting with you guys makes me feel like I fit in. It spurs me on, it inspires me to keep sharing, whether that’s a feeling, or a new vintage blouse I picked up… 

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about other creative ventures that I can pursue on the side of blogging. That’s not to say I want to abandon blogging anytime soon, but I definitely feel it’s important not to put all of your eggs in one WordPress shaped basket. Some of you may or may not know that I’ve been working on a little jewellery collection with Mikaela Lyons for the past six months – I’m excited for that to see the light at some point this year, and it’s definitely given me a taste for jewellery design again. Those of you who have been around since the Après Moi days will understand this reference (I used to have a little online jewellery store before I started my first full time job).

I love accessories and I love clothes, but too much focus on external features can leave me feeling a bit empty. I only genuinely feel fulfilled when I feel as though I’ve created something that’s made people stop and think. Beautiful imagery will always be something I admire, it takes a lot of effort and planning, and it’s a lot harder than a lot of people think (especially when you live in a grungy city centre). However, for me, it’s the words that go alongside with an image that really bring it to life and give it purpose. This is the reason I still make a tit out of myself on a weekly basis – standing in awkward/busy parts of the street, brushing off negative comments, and reminding myself that it’s a weird and wonderful job that not everyone will really understand or appreciate… 

So what does life hold after blogging? Who really knows, and who can really plan for the future when the future has idea’s of it’s very own. Something I’ve been thinking more and more about recently is writing a book. I’d love to write a book concerning my journey with female health, and how it’s affected every aspect of my life along the way. I don’t think there’s enough books out there that talk about it candidly, and far too many books containing clinical images of vaginas that are somehow meant to help us. What I really could have done with throughout my teenage years, was a book that talked openly and honestly about all aspects of discovering your body and entering womanhood. I feel as though I have a lot of stories and information to share, and I’d really like to hold it all in my hand one day, wrapped up by pages, and bound into a neat little book…

Even if nobody ever read it, I think it would be a very therapeutic thing for me to create. I tend to have a lot of ideas, but not much direction in terms of bringing them to fruition. I think a lot of people feel like that about their hopes and dreams, and in reality, most of us are just winging it as we go along. This book is something I do feel really passionate about though, and in my experience, if you feel strongly enough about something, you can make it real… 

This blog post isn’t me hating on the fashion industry either – it’s full of so many creative people who really want to see positive changes, but it’s also still a place that massively needs to change and become more inclusive, and more responsible for the impact that it has on the world. In terms of young people wanting to break into the industry, and in terms of making all men and women feel like they are welcome. It’s easy to be disheartened when you witness trends and patterns leading society in a negative direction, but there are always people wanting to shake things up. We just have to be honest with our experiences, speak up when we know something is wrong, and have faith in ourselves that we are doing a good job…

Photographs by Adriana

Jacket – Paloma Wool

Knitted top – vintage (similar here) 

Trousers – Mango

Shoes – ASOS (sold out/similar here)

Bag – Zara

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