Victoria is the lady behind the award-winning fashion, travel and beauty blog, Inthefrow.

 

She established the site in late 2012 during the completion of her Fashion PhD and career as a Fashion Marketing Lecturer at the University of Manchester.

 

Victoria has a global audience and writes about a variety of topics including fashion offering her readers the latest on the subjects they enjoy the most.

 

Within its first six months, Inthefrow won accolades, and the year later, the award for Best Established Blog in Britain. Inthefrow has a collective set of social channels and now has a follower reach of over 1.81 Million.

 

 

A huge career highlight involves signing with L’Oreal Paris as a Beauty Ambassador in 2017 and starring in the Princes Trust Campaign to champion confidence in Young People and careers; and in 2017 Victoria began working with a number of huge retailers.

 

Here she chats to VIVA about her role as an ambassador for jewellery and timepiece maker Thomas Sabo at the launch of her new edit for the retailer.

 

How did your role as brand ambassador come about?

I already had a few Thomas Sabo pieces in my collection that I adored and I featured them organically on a couple of my platforms. Fast forward a few months and the brand rather excitingly asked to collaborate with me, and Alex and I created the imagery in New York and the Grand Canyon that was a highlight of 2017. Fast forward another few months into 2018 and the response to our partnership was so great that the word ambassador was mentioned and as a team we haven’t looked back.

 

What are your favorite pieces from the collection? 

I would say my most worn and loved pieces are definitely the Star & Moon earrings. I adore statement earrings and as soon as I knew these were a part of the collection, I snapped them up in both silver and gold and have barely worn any others since! Similarly, the beautiful Royalty Star pendant is the most amazing stand out piece that I actually first wore for my birthday in July so it now has wonderful memories attached to it as well as being so gorgeous.

 

Do you have any fond memories of jewellery when you were a child? 

I remember my first watch – it was inside a box that played music when you opened it. Since then, watches have been the thing I love to collect the most. And I also have a silver ring in my collection that my Mum bought me to cheer me up after a bad break up with a boyfriend at 16.

 

If a woman only has one piece of jewellery – what should it be?

It should be something that they think is the most beautiful jewellery piece they’ve ever seen. But also something that holds memories. Whether you purchase something like a locket or a bracelet with the intention of it being that ‘special something’ one day or whether there are already some special memories tied to the design before it even becomes part of your collection. A piece that you want and love to wear.

 

Do you have any fashion regrets?

The short answer is yes! The long answer? Luckily not too many! I’ve always had a very similar style in that I love sleek tailoring but crave pieces of jewellery or accessories that add a little edge to my style. I do remember one look that will forever haunt me though. I had this amazing high street shift dress that was pink faux leather, that I just loved to wear with my pink Givenchy Antigona and pink cleated heels – not to mention I had bubblegum pink hair at the time too. Not a stylish look but in all honesty it made me feel great and that’s what fashion should do.

 

Do you use a stylist, or do you style yourself?

I always style myself, it’s something that I love to do and something I don’t think will ever change. My outfit for the day very much reflects my mood and however much I love to take tips and tricks from stylists when I’m lucky enough to work with them, style is so personal that I don’t think anyone could ever really pin point how I would love to dress on any particular day. Although I have to say, a few pieces in my wardrobe have come from shoots where I’ve not been able to leave without said piece that a stylist has put me in, so never say never!

 

What are life lessons you’ve taken away from your career so far?

There are just so many, we could be here all day! If I had to narrow it down it would be that I can’t do everything myself no matter how hard it is to let go of certain things, that a lot of my growth has come from surrounding myself with people who inspire me and push me to better myself and that I’m capable of more than I ever dreamt. I’ve always been one to look ahead to the future and try to better my best, but looking back and learning a lesson is sometimes the first step before you can move forward to better things.

 

How do you balance personal time with work?

With great difficulty! If you ask my Fiancé Alex he would say not at all but I feel that I’m getting better. The more I learn to let go and rely on my amazing team from day to day and the more I can delegate and prioritise my time wisely, the closer I get to cracking that work life balance. I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever fully achieve as I’m sure every single person who is self employed will understand, but the older I get the more I realise that self care should be near the top of my priority list now. The workaholic in me just needs to take a backseat sometimes so I can fully recharge.

 

What Christmas gifts are you excited about giving someone this year?

My family and I are doing secret Santa this year to make life super easy and also because it’s about the quality of a thoughtful gift and not the quantity. I can’t tell you who I got in the draw in case they read this but I’m very excited to make someone’s Christmas morning with a beautiful gift from Thomas Sabo that I’ve personalised just for them.

 

What do you want for Christmas?

In all honesty I know this will come across as a little cheesy but I just cannot wait to spend time with some of my favourite people. To be lucky enough to have a little time away from work and spend it with my family and my friends, both of whom I simply don’t spend enough time with, is the only thing that’s on my Christmas list this year. Time with the people I love is what I’d love this Christmas. Merry Christmas!

 

You can view her collaboration with the retailer at  intu Trafford Centre, 1 The Dome, The Trafford Centre.