Welcome to the Journal, Jess. We’d love to know what this month in your work (and off-duty) life entails. Mind giving us a glimpse? 

It has been a very busy start to the year. Last month, I had the Paypal Melbourne Fashion Festival for the first week of March. During this week, I was attending shows and events in the evening and shooting content on location for brands that I was working with during the day. The following week, I was up in Sydney for a store opening with Valentino, which was incredible. I’m grateful to get up to Sydney often with work and will make a point to do a few PR showings each time I am there to source looks for upcoming shoots and events. I am not big on downtime, but I did get a chance to hit up the Peninsula Hot Springs for some glamping, bathing and R&R earlier in the month, which was lovely.

How do you typically structure a weekday of work and self-care time? 

Usually on a Sunday afternoon I will make a loose plan of how my week is going to look, however, in this industry I find that things come up super last minute and you really do need to be flexible. For that reason, I typically structure my days each morning to ensure I am productive and efficient but will make allowances for plans to change. I integrate self-care into every day, and this comes in the form of my morning routine. I’m an early riser and I like to move my body at the gym first thing in the morning followed by preparing my matcha latte and a nutritious breakfast when I get home. From here, I feel truly ready to kickstart the day!

Before cutting your teeth in the world of sartorial content curation, what did you do? We’d love to learn more about your career journey thus far.

I first started out creating content on a personal style blog nine years ago now. At the time, I was working part-time as a paralegal at a property law firm, while simultaneously working part-time as a marketing intern and studying full-time for degrees in both commerce (majoring in marketing) and law. With ambitions for a career in law, the fashion blog was a creative outlet to give my mind a break from academia and a welcome hobby come the weekend. With the persuasion of my friends, I started posting my fashion blog content onto my personal Instagram page and began to grow an organic following. By the time I completed my degrees in 2017, I was working with brands and effectively running a small business. I quickly realised this represented an alternative career choice and I was tasked with the difficult decision to either apply for graduate positions in law or pursue this passion project. I have never looked back since.

Who are your current style muses? 

I say this to anyone that will listen, but my number one style muse is and always will be my mum. She is incredibly stylish and has a classic, timeless taste in fashion. To this day, if I am really struggling with what to wear for a certain event or shoot, I will dig into her wardrobe and will always leave with the perfect outfit. Often, we catch up for coffee and find we are wearing similar outfits and it makes us laugh every time. As for my other style muse, Carry Bradshaw will forever have my heart and the Manolo Blahnik wall at Harrolds truly makes my SATC-filled heart sing.

And how about in your youth — who taught you what you know now about outfitting?

I look back at photos of my youth and it is not surprising that I ended up working in fashion and as a full-time content creator. Although I can’t say I am proud of the outfits I put together back then, it was clear I always viewed fashion as a way of expressing myself. For my 14th birthday, I was gifted a sewing machine (as per my request) and loved to sew my clothes for school discos and parties. I’d spend summer holidays knitting scarves, making jewellery, doing photoshoots with my best friend in the backyard and always had a strong desire to document everything on whatever camera I could get my hands on. As for who taught me about outfitting, I’d say that beyond my mum, it was the stars of whatever TV show or music band I was obsessed with at the time. My style is much more refined these days, but The OC and The Hills both had a huge influence on my wardrobe growing up!

On the weekends, where can we find you eating, relaxing or moving in Melbourne?

On the weekend, you can find me sipping matcha lattes at Hikari, eating Anchovy Toast at Napier Quarter by day and pizza at Kaprica by night. I love strolling down Gertrude Street and Brunswick Street, or venturing into the city. I can’t go past a martini from Everleigh or a gelati from Piccolina.

Harrolds Melbourne was rapt to have you in-store the other day. Please walk us through your recent Harrolds experience from start to finish.

I love visiting Harrolds and will always pop in when I have time and am on Collins Street. The store is simply divine and the retail assistants are very welcoming and incredibly helpful. I visited the store on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was nice to have a bit of time to enjoy my experience, look around and try on a few of the new season’s bags. I love brands like Saks Potts, Coperni, Wardrobe.NYC (which can all be difficult to find in Australia), so it is amazing that Harrolds makes these brands so accessible in Australia. Deciding on my final choice was easy – I had been eyeing off the beautiful Bottega Veneta Arco in black for a while.

What do you love about your new Bottega Veneta addition, and how do you plan to style it?

I particularly adore the shape and size of the Arco. Although on the smaller side for a tote style bag, it is so spacious and probably one of the most versatile bags I have ever added to my wardrobe. I see myself styling it with oversized trench coats, jeans, loafers and singlets during the day and a little black dress, statement heels and a blazer for the evening. It is simply timeless and I can’t wait to wear it in myriad ways.

Any expert tips for transitioning from summer into autumn/winter when it comes to getting dressed?

As a Melburnian, I find dressing for the cold weather significantly easier than dressing for the hot. As the temperature begins to drop and we transition to the cooler months, I like to integrate layers back into my wardrobe. I’ll take a simple summer outfit such as singlet, trousers and sandals and make it more weather-appropriate by adding a linen shirt and a trench coat. Then, I’ll swap out the sandals for some closed-toe slides. I don’t really have a summer versus winter wardrobe, because I find I can often wear a lot of my pieces throughout the whole year in Melbourne. It’s just about reworking them a little to suit the temperature that day.

What’s something you’re immensely looking forward to this year in the context of fashion?

I’m incredibly excited to go to Paris and Milan Fashion week in September! These are the absolute premier events in the world of fashion and I cannot wait to experience them to their fullest. I may have to plan a few trips to Harrolds before I jet off!