Interview: Emma takes her seat in style with '˜The Fashion Chair' blog

Her online blog, titled ‘The Fashion Chair’ has a dedicated following and her facebook page of the same name already has over 15,500 ‘likes.’ In the past few months, Emma has also worked at the prestigious London Fashion Week and appeared on TV3’s entertainment and fashion show ‘Xpose,’ experiences she describes as “amazing.”

Emma told the ‘Journal’ how she had been interested in fashion from a young age, but it wasn’t until secondary school that she began to experiment with it and find her own style.

She added: “It was at a time when social media didn’t have as big of an influence as it does today so I never posted any of my outfits until I started my blog.”

Blogging was something Emma “always wanted to do” as it offered a platform to combine her English degree with her love for fashion.

She says: “I was frequently posting fashion and make-up related content on my social media anyway so I thought I would bite the bullet and give the blogging world a try. I didn’t expect in a million years for it to take off like it did and I am always very grateful to anyone who stops by to give my posts a read. I have a long way to go but my first year blogging has been more than I ever imagined and I live by the saying that the harder you work the luckier you get.”

Emma describes ‘The Fashion Chair’ as a “compact diary” of her personal style, beauty finds and adventures. She’s also a ‘high street girl,’ so the majority of items featured are ‘budget friendly.’

“I think that is what the everyday woman is looking for,” she says.

“I like to encourage people that you can look a million dollars on a minimum budget and Primark should be my second name at this stage!”

With her love of fashion, Emma has always wanted to attend London Fashion Week and decided that 2016 would be the year she would “make it a reality.” She sat up until 6am one morning and sent 200 emails with her CV attached to the PR of each designer showcasing their collection at the event.

“I didn’t have anything to lose and thought it was worth a shot if nothing else,” she confesses.

Her enthusiasm paid off as she secured positions with designers Emilia Wickstead, OSMAN and PPQ. She describes the experience as a “dream come true” and surreal “in a way.”

She tells how she was tasked with various duties such as dressing the models, assisting celebrities to their seats, placing the goody bags on the front rows and just being the go to for anyone that needed a helping hand. “It was an amazing experience and it proved to me that no dream is too big,” she says.

Emma’s appearance on TV3 show Xpose was also “very exciting” and she says that working on television is something she’d like to pursue the future. Emma appeared for three slots as part of the ‘Trend Tackler’ panel and was asked to give her opinion on three different outfits put together by a stylist.

Emma’s success is testament to how hard work, talent and the continuing popularity of social media can turn a love of fashion into a blossoming career. Social media and its ‘reach’ to people across the world is also opening up new and exciting opportunities for bloggers. Emma offered some of her own advice to ‘would-be’ bloggers, adding how the key focus when setting up a blog is to “establish your niche i.e is it going to be health, fitness, beauty, fashion etc that you talk about.” She adds how it is most important to “be yourself and let your personality shine through - authenticity is important. “Invest time in interacting with your readers as they are a large part of your blog and it shows that you appreciate them. Don’t worry about what you think people will say, be consistent with content and above all else, enjoy it. It can be very daunting putting yourself out there and I will admit that this was one of the things that held me back at the beginning but you just have to do what is best for you and let your passion be greater than your fear. You do need to have a thick skin for the world of social media but when you work hard at something, have a genuine love for it and don’t give up, you never know what opportunities will come knocking on your door. Whether you want a little corner just to express your thoughts, show your latest beauty dupe or an outfit you put together - I say go for it. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

Emma is hoping to undertake a Fashion Styling Diploma in London and if her plans “come together,” host her own styling master classes, personal shopping services, workshops and long term courses.“As long as I am doing something in fashion and helping others I will be happy - find something you love and you won’t work a day in your life - as cheesy as that sounds!