Written by Eleana Ntagia
Things you should know before you start your new social media platform!
Eleana decided to use lockdown as a time to build her Instagram page. She posts about her passion for fashion and beauty. In this article she gives out tips and tricks to grow a successful Instagram platform.
Hello, my name is Eleana, I am 20 years old and I study journalism. In this article, we will discuss about beauty and fashion. I will be explaining how I started my beauty and fashion Instagram account and I will be showcasing different ways on how you could combine your everyday clothes in your wardrobe to create different outfits.
I hope to share a good insight into the concepts of beauty and fashion. These are only a few things I wish I knew before I started my account. I am still new on the platform, but I aim to grow with the new content I am working on. For me, the best way to approach this was to ask myself what is beauty and what does it mean to me? Weirdly enough I have never really thought about it. So, go ahead and ask yourself what is beauty to you?
A little bit about myself:
Growing up, I was not always into fashion and beauty so let me tell you a little bit about myself and how I got into it. When I was young, I used to do lots of activities so dresses and skirts were not my favourites. I used to hate dressing up despite my mother’s efforts. Coming into my teenage years, I started enjoying playing around with clothes and making an everyday outfit look elegant. Since then, I have been teaching myself more about outfit combinations-more specifically being colour oriented.
Being in my early 20s now, fashion has become my passion. I spend a lot of time researching about new innovative products and clothes to add in my collection. Being over the top comes from my Greek routes. Culturally, in Greece we take pride in our stylish outfits as we love to dress up.
One of the reasons I decided to go into journalism is because I absolutely love vlogging my life. I am known for the annoying friend that documents everything and I think this is the right time to give you a glimpse of my lifestyle.
A little insight on how to start:
I recently decided to start a new Instagram account showcasing my wardrobe and beauty products. I have always wanted to do it, but I was never confident enough. Also, I would like to think am a perfectionist so if I want to do something it has to be perfect or it does not work for me. Lockdown has pushed me into being more creative and into exploring myself and my style a bit more. I love styling different pieces, dressing up and taking pictures. Finding clothes in my wardrobe that I have never worn has further sparked my creativity!
Here are a few tips on how to start:
1. DESIGN YOUR OUTFITS –
Before I started my account, I planned enough content for a week, and had extra outfits planned for the future. With all the shops being closed, I have decided to showcase clothes I already have in my wardrobe. However, I do admit that if the shops were open I would of possibly go out to buy some new outfits as well. As we all know, most fashion recycles so any old pieces you have in your wardrobe could be trendy again at some point.
2. DESIGN YOUR WORKSPACE –
Besides your outfits, the environment you work with is very important! This is why I had to work around with my workspace. I organised my room to look more aesthetically pleasing and disposed a lot of things I did not need to free up space. That made it easier for me to take pictures and create my videos as I did not have to move everything around.
3. WORK WITH YOUR LIGHTING!
Lighting is crucial for photo shooting and vlogs, hence why I decided to invest in a ring light. You can find affordable, good quality products on online or on amazon. This will improve the quality of the pictures. Lots of my friends ask me what camera I use to shoot my content with and honestly, I use my iPhone camera. It has got a high-quality resolution hence why I am not willing to spend more on a professional one just yet. I recommend that you do not spend a lot on unnecessary photography kits if you will not use them professionally. Most of the time I find myself using natural light so I would suggest that you start working in the mornings.
4. HAVE A ROUTINE AND A PLAN –
Planning is everything. Being consistent with your work and preparing future contents ahead will relieve you of stress and uncertainty. I have found it will also give you more time to edit your content and you can always reshoot if you are not happy with the results. Sometimes however, I do not always feel like putting makeup on, doing my hair, and getting dressed up. Therefore, planning could allow giving yourself a few days off. Throughout the nice weather I found myself spending more time outside with my family, so it is always good to have pre-shoot content.
5. PHOTOGRAPHY –
Usually my brother or my mum take the pictures of me. However, if they are both busy, I use my iPhone’s self-timer camera function. I would suggest you work with your angles as much as possible and see which poses work best for you. That way you spend more time perfecting that pose and taking more content.
I usually like to shoot more than one outfit, all from different angles. Also, to make the pictures look different I change my hairstyle or add a different lipstick.
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6. BE CONSISTENT –
Most importantly you must be consistent. The more you post the more exposure you get. I sometimes find myself too lazy or not motivated enough to post stories every day and that is something I am working on improving.
7. USE ALL THE TOOLS ON INSTAGRAM –
For instance, I have decided to do more Instagram videos (IGTVS). That has improved my editing skills and has made me want to work more on how to make them look more professional. In addition, this will help my journalism career by improving my video editing skills.
Why I started:
Studying journalism was not always an obvious choice for me. It was not until my college years that journalism and vlogging drew my attention. The high competitiveness of the field and the limited opportunities in the country is always a concern. However, the support of my family and friends has encouraged me to follow my dream of being a successful journalist. During my first year in university, I thought it would be a good idea to link social media with journalism and have a page where I can express my thoughts on style and beauty.
I feel like when it comes to journalism engagement is key. You must be on the lookout of what is going on in the world and the fastest way to do that is online.
Enough with all the boring stuff. Let us get down to presenting you with 4 of my go to outfits for casual occasions.
Fashion Lookbook:
Explaining the outfits:
The 4 different outfits/ways I present you, showcase how you could combine a pair of plain black jeans with various outfits.
Outfit one is a very casual everyday outfit. You can always switch it up and wear it with any casual t-shirt. You can dress it up with accessories and a nice coat or you can dress it down by wearing it how I have.
Outfit two is smart casual. I feel like a shirt always dresses any outfit up and makes it look smarter. Also, you can throw in a pair of loafers and the leather jacket to make the outfit look chic and classy. I know that lots of my friends would not wear loafers so you can switch it up for a pair of ankle boots.
Outfit three is my favourite. I would wear this outfit anywhere! The trick to make it look casual is to roll up the sleeves to make the outfit more comfortable. To complete your look, roll the sweatshirt up so can see the shirt.
Finally outfit four is something I wear a lot to go out for drinks. I would only wear the bandeau top only during summer. If you are planning on wearing this outfit when the weather is not on your side, I would switch it up for either a bodysuit or a nice blouse. The blazer makes the outfit look smart and it is a nice little cover up.
Overall:
Hope this article has given you a little insight on how to start and encouraged you to pursue fashion passion. I would love to have you with me on my fashion journey so if you are interested, follow my Instagram account to see my latest content.