Whats the IRL Angle
Marie Louise took time out from her successful PR company : MLPR
and hosted an In Real Life lunch with the class of 2018 #over40fashionistas
📲 Penned by Fashion Influencer Marie Louise Pumfrey aka @MrsMLMode for her blog The F Club UK
Time to Read – 3 minutes
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Instagram has me hooked! Its been a year & I fear I’m addicted. To be fair it’s key to my job in PR because it has taken the communication industry by storm. I’ve been trying my hand as a ‘fashion influencer’ which is extra weird as my job has always been to push other people or brands into the lime light while remain firmly back office. Over the last year I’ve been sharing outfit posts, talking about my life and trying to grow my audience and engagement. Yes I’ve had the cringes. And yes I continually wonder WTF am I doing! So decided I need help navigating this weird, wonderful and incredibly powerful network –
in the form of a fashion ladies of Instagram networking lunch! I teamed up with the clever & stylish Coral Manson (@stripeycoral) and last Friday hosted a really fun lunch with a group of dynamic, successful and talented women who are all working the squares really successfully.
As the inspirational and Ex-Fashion Editor Fatima Truscott (@the_ft_times) sagely puts it “We’re all hustling in a space that’s simultaneously sweet and scary. And we’re honest about that. Brutally. And that’s refreshing. Because its not all peony perfection. Insta makes us feel anxious, and sometimes, yes, it feels like a form of madness when you keep questioning ‘but why’ and have an Insta-wobble”.
Great I’m not alone with the Insta-wobbles then! Putting my PR hat back on though, I’m acutely aware of the massive power Instagram is delivering to business, individuals and fashion brands. Being part of the game (my husband likens it to Candy Crush!) is key to my job in communications. Who knows where its going but I’m certain there are many more years left in its virtual engine. Taking the business hat off, I love the squares. They are way more entertaining than magazines. I can surf while watching copious dramas on NetFlix and I’m continually discovering new fashion labels and high-street must haves.
But for me,. the new best part is making a whole bunch of new friends and taking the grid into real life.
So at our Insta-support group lunch we made such a dynamic, clever, impressive and super smart bunch of women. We had fashion designers, stylists, journalists, models to a barrister, PRs, product developers &
Mumpreneurs. We bellied laughed endlessly. Got drunk. Shared the crisis. Took endless pictures, boomerangs, selfies and videos. We planned, plotted, collaborated and shared. We had FUN.
If you are interesting in coming to the next Influencer lunch email Marie Louise ml@mlpr.co.uk
@mrsMLmode ‘s recommended accounts to follow
Check out the ladies that lunched: @alice_inthe_looking_glass @carolem_beauty @the.thisle.edit @_charlotteloves_ @clairemcnestry_styling @stripeycoral @finlay_fox @mercer7official @the_ft_times @the_savvy_mummy @notsuchamodelmum @mrsmlmode @mirandaholderldn @silverstylepages @theturquoiseflamingo @_my_tee_ @susannahfields @voguishandcalamity @victoriainascot
With special thanks to: @totalwardrobecare @somervillescarves @studio10makeup @naturabisse