Personally, I’d never heard of anyone becoming an accidental style influencer. As many people you see trying so hard (in many cases trying too hard) to be Instagram (or internet) famous; it’s hard to imagine that anyone with a substantial audience didn’t set out to do so. Well, after talking to Whitney, I think I may have actually met a real live accidental style influencer. “I started just sharing what I was loving in fashion and lifestyle generally” Whitney says in all seriousness, “Slowly people started asking for specific content and I developed a loyal group of ‘followers’ that I engage with regularly which has grown and evolved into the resource that is WhitneysWonderland.Com.
We cover everything from fashion and makeup to travel and fine dining, anything that I’m doing that I think people will enjoy hearing about really! My Insta page is an extension of the Blog and is somewhere I can show glimpses into some of the amazing things I get to do and experience! Through the publication.”
It wasn’t like Whitney wasn’t deeply involved and knowledgeable about the fashion and style industry. “I studied Fashion and design for my first degree, but before that I was making outfits for my barbies! I used to sow little dresses and create little fashion shows when I was as young as 7!” Whitney tells me.
Even going back further in Whitney’s life, the passion for fashion has had a place in her life, “My grandma was a huge inspiration in my life generally but also in fashion. Aside from being an immaculately turned out lady she sat with me making the dresses for my dolls and finding little off cuts of fabric for me to use. She was the one who sowed the seed all those years ago and it has grown into who I am today…with a lot of watering along the way.”
Whitney’s Style
“I have an eclectic style, I love all fashion from hippy chick to power dresser, ballgown to skater cool! I just love to dress up and express my mood and self generally through fashion! I lived in the tropics for many years so I guess the thread that pulls it all together is color I love to be bright and use the full palette as much as possible! Black looks great but is not the most creative!”
Incorporating New Styles
I am constantly traveling for work which is 95% blessing and 5% curse but it does mean I am exposed to so many different styles and cultures and they say mimicking is the sincerest form of flattery so I try and take something away from everywhere I visit and incorporate it into a look.
Favorite Fashion Accessory
“Confidence. If you wear it with confidence you will always have that jeu ne se quoi
Just go with your gut and do it with confidence. It also does not hurt to accentuate your best features and minimize the less wonderful.”
Whitney’s Fashion Expertise
Expressing yourself, there is nobody better at being me!
Rewards of the Journey
“Being able to help the people I love and the causes I feel strongly about has been so unbelievably rewarding. My Dad always said to me that the best gift anyone can give you is to let you help them, I never understood it and used to think it was just a corney nonsense he would say to try and make me and my brother better people. The older I get the more true it feels. I love being able to help someone and see the difference that help makes in their life. It started when I gave a box of my old clothes ( I get gifted a lot of wonderful things so have a lot of clothes!) to a very poor family in costa rica for their daughters, I thought little of it but the children were crying they were so happy which made their mum cry and then I was crying but it was all out of happiness! Now I am so lucky to be able to continue doing things like that but also to support larger scale projects that can do even more to help. It’s hard to describe the feeling, but rewarding is a good start.”
