0:07

What's up besties? Welcome back to another

0:09

episode of Network and Chill with me, your

0:11

host Vivian Tu, aka your rich BFF and

0:13

your favorite Wall Street girly. Before

0:15

we start the episode, I'd like to

0:17

thank my advertising besties at Marshalls. I

0:20

know you know that Marshalls always has

0:22

your back with the latest high quality

0:24

on trend fashion, beauty and home decor

0:26

merchandise at amazing prices. But did you

0:28

know they also have an incredible self

0:30

care section? That's right. Ranging from skin

0:32

care to bath and body and beauty

0:35

tools to hair care. Marshalls gets you

0:37

the deals on all the good stuff.

0:39

That way you can invest your savings

0:41

in any of your future endeavors. Managing

0:43

your finances properly does not mean you

0:45

have to sacrifice quality on the things that make

0:47

you feel great. Marshalls makes it possible to get

0:50

the good stuff for less. It

0:53

is officially holiday event season. I don't

0:55

know about you, but I have tons

0:57

of holiday plans coming up like work

0:59

events, dinners with friends, trips to the

1:01

winter village because yes, I am practicing

1:04

ice skating and I'm dying for a

1:06

raclette sandwich. And I have

1:08

absolutely no idea what to wear to

1:10

any of them. Every day I wake

1:12

up, I walk to my closet, I

1:14

look inside and I say, I have

1:16

nothing to wear, which is

1:18

kind of a crazy comment, right?

1:21

Because I'm literally looking at a

1:23

full closet of clothing. So I

1:25

thought what better way to get

1:27

some freestyling advice than to invite

1:29

my friend who is the world

1:31

renowned flash fashion blogger behind where

1:33

did you get that stylist and

1:36

creator? Everyone, please welcome Karen Blanchard.

1:38

Thank you. Wow. Round of applause.

1:41

And the

1:43

crowd goes

1:45

wild. Hello. Thank you

1:47

so much for having me. It's so

1:49

nice to meet you again. Oh yes.

1:52

You too. Before we jump in, I

1:54

would love for you to introduce yourself

1:56

to the BFFs and talk about your

1:58

earliest memories with money. I know

2:00

at the marshals event that we both

2:02

spoke at in New York last month,

2:04

you mentioned how fashion was important to

2:06

you ever since you were young. What

2:08

was your first substantive memory related to

2:11

clothing and fashion and money? Yeah, 100%.

2:13

It has to be and I've said

2:15

this to my followers before, which is,

2:17

I was raised by my mom and

2:19

we didn't have much money. And so

2:21

my and I still think about this

2:23

today, which is we would go to

2:25

the local street markets in London and

2:27

buy inexpensive clothing. So it would either

2:29

be gently worn or you know, it

2:31

was just clothes that you could buy

2:33

for less. And, you know,

2:35

we'd buy it, we'd come home, and we'd have

2:38

a like a bag full of clothing, and we'd

2:40

just tip it upside down on the kitchen table

2:42

and have like a heap of clothes. And I tried

2:45

them all on because I couldn't try them on at the

2:48

market. So we'd have like a mini fashion show

2:50

my mom and I trying on all these inexpensive

2:52

clothes and just getting kick out how they fit

2:54

and how they look and if it matched the

2:56

way we thought they would when we bought them

2:58

when my mom bought them. And

3:00

I remember that my love for fashion

3:02

started then because it showed that you

3:04

could buy tangible examples how you can

3:06

buy something for not too much not

3:08

spend much. But you can get a

3:10

really cool outfit or outfits. So that

3:13

was that I know that to me

3:15

is like a was a really, at

3:17

the time I didn't know. But now

3:19

looking back on my life, I see

3:21

that that was a very special moment

3:23

and memorable time just for my mom

3:25

and I. And just something

3:27

that we love to do. Was there like a specific

3:29

piece that you just remember is like burned

3:31

into your memory, you were like, this was

3:33

my greatest guess? Wow. It

3:36

probably was this dress. I don't know who it was

3:38

by but I just remember this. I remember it looked

3:41

like I even have a photo of it somewhere. It

3:44

was this midi length. Sorry,

3:46

I like midi length now. But I

3:48

was growing up, I had a midi

3:50

length dress, it was sleeveless, high neck,

3:52

it had white, it had a flat

3:55

pockets on the front, two flat pockets

3:57

on the hip are each hip and

3:59

the pockets. like trimmed in white

4:01

and like I said it was like a

4:03

navy blue zipped up the back and it

4:05

fit me like a glove because it was

4:07

like a very like a full-fitting dress almost

4:09

like a linen fabric so there's no room

4:11

for error so we guessed the size and

4:13

she zipped it up and it fit perfectly

4:15

so I think because it fits so well

4:18

it's like ingrained in my memory now like

4:20

for life like oh that dress fits so

4:22

good you know and I remember it complex for

4:24

nothing. I love that

4:26

and I love that you can like

4:29

still describe it so intimately because that

4:31

must have meant so much to you

4:33

and so you grew up thrifting and

4:35

styling secondhand fashion how did that impact

4:38

your trajectory into the fashion space

4:40

now especially now that you are this

4:42

icon and do you think this influenced

4:45

the way you approach styling now? It

4:47

does because um what happened was because

4:49

that bug stuck with me back then

4:51

when I grew up later

4:53

on in London and then moving to

4:55

New York I loved and had a

4:57

taste for it right of just shopping

4:59

on the budget so you know I

5:01

would just continue that because I knew

5:03

from young that you could find good

5:05

things without spending too much so that

5:08

just just kept going so I would

5:10

just go to like you know thrift shops

5:12

and vintage shops and just any anywhere that was

5:14

inexpensive to find looks because I didn't have too

5:16

much money and then at the time either so

5:18

but I knew that didn't that didn't matter that

5:21

doesn't stop me you know if you if you've

5:23

got an eye for style and you love it

5:25

nothing's gonna stand in that nothing's gonna stand in

5:27

your way you're

5:30

gonna find it regardless. Yeah I

5:32

love that yeah so you mentioned like when

5:34

you have an eye for style nothing's gonna

5:36

stand in your way but when you move

5:38

from London to New York you are going

5:40

to chase your childhood dreams in fashion how

5:42

does this impact your finances the way you

5:44

give money because it's probably a pretty scary

5:47

move right that's like a very very hard

5:49

distance like did you know that this was

5:51

going to be your career or was it

5:53

still kind of just like a half baked

5:55

pipe dream at the time? It was just

5:57

a pipe dream because at the time I

5:59

moved had a nine to five

6:01

job, I managed to get one and I

6:04

didn't, I wasn't really doing fashion for a living at

6:06

that time. What were you doing in that nine to

6:08

five? Do you mind me asking? Yeah, I was working

6:10

in a printing company that was nothing to do with

6:12

fashion. I was just dying of so death at my

6:15

desk every day because I deleted it. But you know,

6:17

it was like, it was a means to an end,

6:19

right? It was a paycheck. So,

6:21

and it wasn't means to an end because it was

6:23

a means for me to shop. So, so,

6:27

you know, I'd like, you know, I could use

6:29

some of that money to like, you know, go

6:31

to like places and just try and find things

6:33

to buy. So it was really a vehicle to

6:35

do what I really loved, which was like fashion

6:37

and mixing and matching outfits.

6:40

And I worked in an office that was

6:42

very informal so you could dress how you

6:44

kind of wanted, so

6:46

which was even better. So I was able to,

6:48

you know, just on the lunch hours, I would

6:50

run off to like stores and just find things

6:53

for like cheap and like put them all together

6:55

and with looks and, and

6:57

that's how my blog evolved. It started because I

6:59

knew that that's why I actually love. I really

7:01

loved clothes. I love fashion was playing with that.

7:03

So I started my blog because my job was

7:06

nothing to do with fashion. And so I started

7:08

it as an outlet. It was almost like a

7:10

diary, like a personal diary, you know, just it

7:12

filled a hole. There

7:16

was missing that only something that you love

7:18

fills. And so that's why I started the

7:20

blog and it was called Where Did You

7:22

Get That? Because I'm a nosy parker. I

7:24

love stopping people on the street and literally

7:26

asking them. And I still

7:28

do that to this day and they ask me

7:30

the same. So it felt like the right title.

7:32

And it was just like an outlet for me

7:34

to just show what I loved and mixing and

7:37

matching and just hopefully show people that you can

7:39

do it. I love that

7:41

you're nosy because I feel like that's all of

7:43

my girlfriends were always like, where did you get

7:45

that? Link me, like show me, tell me. Um,

7:48

but you know, you start your blog,

7:50

where did you get that? What was your experience

7:52

in the blogging space? Had you done it before? Like, did

7:54

you have any idea where it was going to go? Like,

7:56

how did you learn how to do that? I

7:59

had no. And at the time it

8:01

was really just me looking at say other

8:03

people like Brian Boy or just fashion toast

8:06

at the time So it was like very

8:08

new. It wasn't a legit career or Path

8:11

for anyone, you know, no one knew myself

8:13

included that you can make money of it

8:16

It was just us styling clothes and just

8:18

showing them and that was it end off

8:20

very short and sweet There was no tick-tock

8:22

and all that stuff. It was just log

8:25

put posture outfit This is where it's from

8:27

and you could buy it right now because

8:29

I literally just bought it from the shops Mm-hmm.

8:31

Well, that was it in its most raw

8:34

Form and I think what people loved was the

8:36

fact that it was raw It was so anti

8:39

magazine and glossy and high fashion. It was just

8:41

stuff that they could relate to they could buy

8:43

right now and that

8:45

was really why I write I've got it and

8:49

The ball just started from there just so he

8:51

just snowballed into but I didn't know like I

8:53

said No was a career a job thing

8:55

and I never did it with that intent either

8:57

I started it because it was a personal

8:59

diary. So I started for very personal reasons Without

9:03

any expectation or knowledge that it could

9:05

in any way shape or form become

9:07

a job hundred percent. I had no

9:09

idea Well, that

9:11

is amazing Like how did you go

9:13

from literally just writing this blog and

9:16

then you mentioned the snowball moment like

9:18

it snowballed into a business Like how

9:21

did that happen and what was your biggest

9:23

obstacle? What was your biggest success? Good

9:25

questions. It's it It's

9:28

all baby steps. Nothing happens or overnight So it

9:30

was all trickling So I started to slowly get

9:32

brands approached me one at a time and usually

9:34

was gifting like oh we love your style We'd

9:36

love to send you this and to me at

9:39

that time. I was so naive. I didn't I

9:41

was like, oh my god What you're gonna send

9:43

me this for free, you know, I just thought

9:45

I struck gold So I was

9:48

like, yes, please I just thought was amazing. I

9:50

remember saying to Michael. Oh my god They're gonna

9:52

send me this for free. Can you believe it?

9:54

Like just this wide-eyed innocence of not knowing

9:56

that, you know, really you should be

9:59

paid but you know at the time I didn't know

10:01

and I loved it and I think I'm glad I went

10:03

through that process. But

10:05

then as time progressed and I

10:07

was doing it, you know, I would, brands

10:09

would start to ask for like deliverables, like,

10:11

oh, could you post this and could you

10:13

wear this and post it and this, you

10:16

know, and I was thinking, hang on a

10:18

minute, okay, so this is like work, you

10:20

know. But then also, I started to hear

10:22

about, you know, other content creators who were

10:24

doing it and you could, and you could

10:26

get paid for it. I didn't have a

10:28

manager at the time, I wasn't represented, it

10:31

was just, it just sold me. So, you

10:33

know, I figured, okay, so you can, you should

10:35

ask to be paid. But then of course, there's

10:38

the obstacle of what's your value? How do you

10:40

know your worth? How do I know what to

10:42

ask for? And it was the wild west. So

10:44

I would just pull any number out. I couldn't

10:46

think, I didn't know what to ask for. And

10:49

I was scared. I didn't want to run them

10:51

off. And when you're new to this, you always,

10:53

I think you devalue yourself and you undervalue yourself.

10:55

So you don't realise how much you actually worth,

10:58

especially when no one professionally has told you. So

11:00

you just come up with anything, ask for like

11:02

a couple hundred dollars, cross your

11:04

fingers, they'll say yes. That's

11:07

how it was, because I didn't know. But

11:09

that was how I learned slowly. Yeah, you

11:11

mentioned that there were a few other folks

11:14

in the space. Did you ever, you know,

11:16

get mentorship from any of them? Did you

11:18

talk to them? Did you ever ask like,

11:20

hey, what are you getting paid? Yeah, you

11:23

do after a while you do. Yes, you

11:25

do ask this while I start to exchange

11:27

notes. But that wasn't that wasn't for a

11:30

while for me, I kind of worked

11:32

all by myself. So I was really

11:34

just doing research of looking online and

11:36

see what was what was going on,

11:38

what was out there and, and reading

11:40

any articles that were around about content

11:42

creators and bloggers and pay and how

11:44

much to be paid and stuff like

11:46

that. And it also started to slowly

11:49

speak to managers as

11:51

well. But that didn't happen for a while. When I say

11:53

quite for a while, I mean, I mean, a good two

11:55

or three years or so, you know, so in the beginning,

11:57

it really was Wild West for me and just like, just

12:00

figuring it out myself until I started

12:02

to speak to people like that and

12:04

they give you an idea of like

12:06

rates and just having the concepts of

12:08

rates and how the structure of that

12:10

is because it really was just learning

12:12

and understanding from the very, very, very

12:14

beginning. And I think for most people

12:16

who are starting, especially in my particular

12:18

job, you don't know. Although now because

12:20

it's legitimized as an actual career, I

12:22

think there's much more information out there

12:24

you can just find immediately on rates.

12:26

And if you're a disemount of followers,

12:29

you charge this and if you got

12:31

this, you charge this. That wasn't there

12:33

in the beginning. You really were one

12:35

of the OG influencers. Yeah. The OG

12:37

fashionistas. You mentioned, you know, how things

12:39

have changed. Like what's a piece of

12:41

advice you would give to someone who

12:43

has a huge passion for style and

12:46

fashion and wants to break into the

12:48

space now? Good,

12:50

very good question. If they already know

12:52

what they love, first of all, which

12:54

that starts everything off. And if it's

12:56

fashion like me, for example, but this

12:59

will apply to any genre that

13:01

they're interested in. Pick the platform because there

13:03

are many now that they feel the strongest

13:05

and most comfortable in. Some people like to

13:08

chat. So places like TikTok and YouTube are

13:10

perfect. If you've got a personality, show it.

13:12

Because I find like the space now is

13:14

very crowded. There's a lot of people who

13:17

do this, but there's always room for the

13:19

standout and no one can be you just

13:21

like no one can be me. So you

13:23

have to lean into what makes you you

13:25

and try your best, although

13:28

it's tempting to not copy what others

13:30

are doing. Try and remember that your strength

13:32

is who you are. There is something about

13:34

you that makes you different. And also don't

13:37

be afraid to put excuses in front of

13:39

you because I get a lot of friends

13:41

will say to me, Oh, I can't do

13:44

it because I don't like I'm

13:46

not skinny. I'm not 20 years old. I'm not

13:48

this. I'm not far. I'm not pretty. I'm not.

13:50

And they say all the knots where what they

13:53

don't realize is those are

13:55

the very things that their power. So

13:57

because you are 15 years old, because

14:00

you're not this skinny blonde person, you're actually

14:02

going to attract your tribe because there are

14:04

many thousands, if not millions of people who

14:07

are thinking the exact same thing you are.

14:09

So you're going to actually stand out because

14:11

they're going to see someone for the first

14:14

time that's like, Oh, finally, someone actually looks

14:16

like me or I can relate to that

14:18

is your strength. That is your power. So

14:20

I think they need to flip it. I

14:23

love that. And your answer was very profound.

14:26

And it reminded me of something you

14:28

actually said when you and I were

14:30

speaking together at the Marshall Good Stuff

14:33

Social in LA. You have a

14:35

very strong ethos of how to define

14:37

personal style and what style

14:39

versus fashion is. Can you

14:42

explain to the VFS listening,

14:44

how they differ, what makes

14:46

your style special? And, you

14:49

know, if there are any like rules that you

14:51

think we should follow when choosing our personal style?

14:53

Yeah, I mean, I have guidelines. I mean, at

14:55

the end of the day, I don't believe in

14:57

rules so much, because I don't like to encourage

15:00

people to sort of feel like they should have

15:02

put themselves in a bucket and say, Oh, I

15:04

am this person, I am this person, because you

15:06

can cross over into all different buckets, which

15:08

is like a magpie, which is what I

15:10

feel I am sometimes. But I think as

15:12

a general rule of thumb, if you're really

15:15

like a novice and like, you know, I'm

15:17

a blank slate, how do I really what

15:19

do I do? Tell me, give me some

15:21

pointers. There's a few things which I do

15:23

suggest. There's like a couple of questions that

15:26

you should ask yourself. One is, what is

15:28

your aesthetic? And that to me is, you

15:30

know, you could almost think of the characters

15:32

of like, you know, Miranda, Carrie, you know,

15:35

Charlotte and Samantha, because they all

15:37

have their own aesthetic, right? So it's

15:39

the same principle. Are you girly? Are

15:41

you tomboy? Are you more than minimalist

15:43

person? I am more boho. So kind

15:45

of narrow down into what one of those buckets

15:47

are you and you could be more than one

15:50

or you could be all of those. So don't

15:52

think you're only one of those because I'm not

15:54

only one of those. But that helps to narrow

15:56

down the type of clothes and aesthetic that you

15:59

tend to. to gravitate towards.

16:01

Another one is, and another test also find

16:03

out what your aesthetic is, is if someone,

16:06

a friend, was to call you and say,

16:08

let's go meet for a drink in an

16:10

hour at this place or whatever it is,

16:12

what is your emergency outfit, what does it

16:14

look like? Sometimes it falls into one of

16:16

those I just described. That already is starting

16:19

to give you an idea of your kind

16:21

of aesthetic because you comfortably go towards it

16:23

and there's a reason why. Another thing I

16:25

say to ask is, what is your lifestyle?

16:27

Are you a student? Are you a corporate

16:29

person or do you work from home? That

16:32

also is another layer to add on

16:34

because that helps to define the functionality

16:36

of the clothing that you're going to

16:38

purchase. You can start to

16:40

roadmap because you can start to say,

16:42

okay, you know those things that come

16:44

down? I don't even describe those as

16:46

flowcharts where you say, okay, it's Karen

16:49

at the top, then underneath, are you?

16:51

Romantic, tomboy, minimalist, maybe minimalist, underneath minimalist.

16:53

Okay, so what's your lifestyle? Are you

16:55

a student? Are you a corporate? Are

16:57

you this? Like a pyramid. Like a

16:59

pyramid. So

17:02

I just feel like those sort of help

17:04

to define you. It's

17:06

very rough but I think it's very helpful. So if

17:08

you walk into a shop, you've already got that in

17:10

your brain. So you're not just looking at everything. You

17:14

already know the kind of person you are, the kind of shopper

17:16

you are in terms of like your aesthetic. So just shop for

17:18

those things. That's what I do. I know what I like when

17:20

I walk into a store, I I

17:23

know what I like. So I'm just

17:25

gravitating to those things only. Can I

17:27

ask, these days, do you prefer to

17:29

shop in person or online? Good

17:31

question. It

17:33

depends on the item. So because

17:35

I feel like there's certain things

17:38

that I just, I

17:40

don't need to try on. For example, certain,

17:43

like I literally just bought, there's

17:45

things I just bought today online.

17:47

Because like there's things that I will buy. And

17:50

it could be like a pair of sneakers, for

17:53

example. And if it's a brand that I recognize,

17:55

then I don't need to try them on. I just already kind

17:57

of know my sizing. It's just my pick in the car. I'll

18:00

just do that. But there are certain

18:02

things where I just like to go

18:04

into the store and I

18:06

just like to see in person. I like to see the

18:08

fabric in person. So there are those as well.

18:11

So I think it's a bit of both. It just

18:13

depends on what the item is. Got it. Okay.

18:16

I do want to pivot us into a little

18:18

bit more advice and community and chatting about that.

18:22

As Marshalls partners, you and I were recently together

18:24

at the Marshalls Good Stuff Social Club event in

18:26

New York City. And you spoke about your blog

18:28

and community founded. And I think

18:30

it was a great example of what Marshalls

18:33

strives for, cultivating a community and

18:35

resources for everyone to be their

18:37

best self and have access to the

18:39

good stuff. And in your opinion, why

18:41

is fashion such a big community driver?

18:43

Like, why can you and I bond

18:45

over the cutest pair of shoes? Yeah,

18:48

that's a great question. And I think it's

18:50

because I've thought about this myself. And I

18:52

have noticed that. And I think it's because

18:54

it's a universal language. It's like when I've

18:56

stopped people in the street when I do,

18:58

where did you get that for YouTube, the

19:00

street style? It is a universal

19:02

language. I can I know, because I've proven

19:04

it over and over again, but I'll stop

19:06

someone else. Oh my gosh, I love your

19:08

coat. It doesn't matter. It's a complete stranger.

19:11

But I can literally excuse me, where did

19:13

you get that coat? As soon as you

19:15

say that, they're going to answer you back,

19:17

they're not going to walk off. And that

19:19

was that, you know, because you're

19:21

paying them a compliment. And

19:23

so think about it, if

19:25

I said that to you, you know, you'll be

19:28

like, Oh, thank you, right? I got it from

19:30

Marshall, you know, whatever you got it from.

19:32

And then that snowballs into a conversation. It's

19:35

like, Oh my gosh, what what recently? Yeah,

19:37

I just got that sense of pride now.

19:39

Oh, yeah, I just got it like the

19:41

other day, it was just there, I couldn't

19:43

believe it. And it was only you know,

19:45

and I've literally had these conversations with people.

19:47

Sometimes they don't even speak their first language

19:49

isn't even English. But they know what I'm

19:52

just asking them, because I'm pointing to it.

19:54

And they know that Oh, you know, like,

19:56

literally, that was like body language, they know

19:58

what I'm talking about. But and And

20:00

I will literally have a conversation with them

20:02

and they will say where it's from. And

20:04

I just think that it's really incredible that

20:06

there are certain topics in this world that

20:09

are truly universal languages. And I think fashion

20:11

is one of them. Yeah. And

20:13

when you got up to people on the street and being like, you know,

20:15

where did you get that? Has anyone

20:17

ever been rude to you? Um,

20:19

that wouldn't necessarily, well, yes, a

20:21

little bit. I've

20:24

been like, you know, that, well, I've had, out of

20:26

everyone who I speak to, I would say,

20:28

um, eight out of 10 stop

20:31

and talk. There are those

20:33

that too that won't, that they will

20:35

say they'll either just ignore me or

20:37

they'll be like, they'll just give me

20:40

a look. Like, sorry. No, I don't

20:42

want, I'm sorry. Sorry. They'll

20:44

just say no. They must think I'm doing a survey or

20:46

something, but this is weird. So maybe

20:48

they think that's what it is. I'm just doing like

20:51

a pickup line to be able to start to stop

20:53

them. But I just honestly, no, I'm honestly just

20:55

want to talk about their outfit. So they'll

20:57

just, they'll just go, they'll just go by.

20:59

But you know, I've even stopped celebrities who

21:01

I don't even know are. And because like,

21:03

I'll post on my YouTube about, I'll just

21:05

post the videos of me talking to people

21:07

and their outfit and then I'll, I'll, I'll

21:09

head to the comments because I love reading

21:11

comments. And, um, and it says, Oh my

21:13

God, Karen didn't know that was blah, blah,

21:15

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh

21:17

my God. She's still so

21:19

insatiable. I think honestly, I actually love

21:22

that because it shows that that personality

21:24

genuinely knows I don't recognize them

21:26

one. Yeah. Genuinely knows

21:28

I truly am interested their outfit. I don't even

21:30

give a, you know, I don't care what they,

21:32

what, who they are. Yeah. I

21:35

care about what their outfit is. And

21:37

this happened with a very well-known designer,

21:39

Jerry Lorenzo. I bumped into him in

21:41

Paris and I didn't realize at the

21:43

time that he was a very big

21:45

designer for some really big names he's

21:47

collaborated with that we all recognize and

21:49

know some which are also sold at,

21:51

at Marshall's. I didn't, I had no

21:54

clue and he was coming towards me. He has an

21:56

amazing outfit. Oh my God. It was so cool.

21:58

And I would just say, I'm so excited. Oh

22:00

my God, your coat. And so I just saw him

22:02

coming towards me. I thought, should I stop him? Should

22:04

I stop him? Because sometimes I get nervous. I'm like,

22:06

oh, he's so cool. Should I? Should I? Should I?

22:08

And then my husband, Michael, said, Come on, just go

22:10

on. You know you want to. So I

22:12

did. I went, Oh, sorry, excuse me. And

22:15

he had a mask on because we were wearing masks

22:17

at the time. And I said, I'm so sorry to

22:19

stop you. But I actually love that coat. Where's it

22:21

from? He says, I made it. And I went, you

22:23

made that coat? I literally said it like that, like

22:25

disbelief. But he's a designer. So of course, I made

22:28

it. But I didn't know it. So and he knew

22:30

I didn't know. So I just asked him about everything. He

22:32

was wearing his shoes. He goes, What are your shoes?

22:34

Because I made those. You made those too. Do

22:36

you have a website? That's like asking a

22:39

major runway designer if he has a website. So

22:41

he chuckled and said, Yes, I do have a

22:43

website. And he told me it. And then at

22:45

that moment, the light bulb went off. And he

22:47

could see because my face is very transparent. So

22:49

he noticed that I recognized I realized

22:51

in an instant who he was. I went, Oh,

22:54

and he went, Yeah. And I went, Oh, okay.

22:56

Well, I really like your outfit. So

22:58

it was funny. That is

23:01

really funny. And I love that. Because like, it's

23:03

such a bonding moment. I'm sure that you went

23:05

and like went off the coffee or went to

23:07

lunch or dinner and like told someone like, Oh,

23:09

you'll never guess what just happened. Ha ha. Exactly.

23:12

Like I bought to ever meet him again, I

23:14

would literally remind him and I bet he would

23:16

remember me because I don't think there are many

23:18

people who have not recognized him. Yeah. And I

23:21

stood out as one who didn't. It's like saying

23:23

Beyonce, you don't recognize it. You just like, you

23:26

know, she's probably gonna remember you. Yeah. So

23:29

good. I love your quick take before

23:32

we get into recommendations for the holiday season.

23:34

What are your thoughts on buying

23:36

fast fashion versus, you know, spending

23:38

a little bit more or you

23:40

know, getting a higher quality piece

23:42

but buying fewer of them? I

23:45

think there was room for both. I think with

23:47

the fast fashion, you just do you treat it

23:49

differently. So with fast

23:51

fashion, because I own both in my wardrobe.

23:53

So I think with that side of things,

23:55

you make it slow fashion. So I hold

23:57

on to things I've had for a long

24:00

time and I think you purchase better.

24:02

You purchase, I might say purchase better,

24:05

you purchase quality over quantity. Just because it's

24:07

cheap doesn't mean you should buy it. I

24:09

think it's more about looking in your wardrobe

24:11

because your wardrobe is finite. This doesn't have

24:13

an infinite amount of space and neither are

24:15

doing in the whole world when you think

24:17

about it. So you buy pieces that are

24:20

long-termers in your wardrobe versus anything that's

24:22

just trendy and I think that slows

24:24

it down. That's happened to me already

24:26

with things I've bought with fast fashion

24:28

which I've had for years and I still

24:30

own them because I bought that way. They're staples

24:32

and you can do the same with higher end

24:35

as well. I like that. That's

24:37

nice. You get to have a little bit of that.

24:39

Yeah, exactly. Fashion, accessories,

24:42

decor are all-important ways of expressing

24:44

yourself. We've established that. What

24:47

is on your holiday list this year?

24:49

Tell me so I can copy your

24:51

list. Also, what are some of your

24:54

top gifting recommendations for this holiday

24:56

season? Good one. Speaking of gifting,

24:58

the holidays don't have to be stressful

25:00

if you let our advertising partners at

25:02

Marshalls help you out. Marshalls has high

25:04

quality on-trend merchandise ranging from the best

25:07

seasonal fashion and home decor to all

25:09

the self care for you and everyone

25:11

on your holiday gifting list and it's

25:13

always at a great price. During the

25:15

jolliest of seasons, Marshalls is your go-to

25:17

one-stop shop making gift giving at a

25:19

great value a breeze. Now that you

25:21

save on holiday shopping, invest those savings

25:23

into your self-care journey. Whether it's items

25:26

for your yoga practice, morning skincare routine

25:28

or relaxing fragrances for nighttime, you deserve

25:30

the best self-care you can get. I

25:33

think that for myself

25:36

personally, what would I

25:38

like to give to

25:40

self- gifting? I personally

25:43

like, I mean, I've done this because I've gone

25:45

into Marshalls and they've got, I saw these boots.

25:47

They're still ingrained in my memory. I don't think

25:49

they were my size. Although they were the other

25:52

day and I didn't take them and I'm kidding

25:54

myself, kicking myself because I went back and my

25:56

size was gone. But it was just this cool

25:58

boot. They were like mock croc. and I

26:00

knew the designer. I was like, what? I can't

26:02

believe this is here. And I was like, holy

26:05

crap, I want this. And I should have bought

26:07

them. Now I'm starting to get upset again. But

26:09

anyway, so I would self-give to myself something

26:12

like those because I just thought they were

26:14

special. They were multicolored, very unusual, but really

26:16

classic design. So something like that. Also outerwear

26:20

as well. I'm a sucker for

26:22

something. Always looking out to it. Oh,

26:24

and like slip dresses and I love and

26:26

slip skirts. I love stuff like that. Like

26:28

to mix and lay. You can wear them

26:30

as is for like a party going out.

26:32

Like lay. The last time I saw you,

26:34

you were in a slip dress. I was

26:36

in a slip dress and also I had

26:38

it as well for a recent Marshall's Good

26:40

Stuff club event. I just realized, oh my

26:42

God, it was the same. I wore a

26:45

slip dress for both occasions. I can't believe

26:47

I did the same thing.

26:49

I just love the slinkiness of them.

26:51

I'll pair them with boots or I

26:53

can pair them with a heel. They

26:55

look good layered on top of a

26:58

thin turtleneck, which is one way I

27:00

love to dress them. Yeah, they look

27:02

really, I've never thought about that. Yeah.

27:04

Instead of showing like all your

27:06

chest out, your bare skin out and your arms

27:08

out, just get like a really thin knit polo.

27:10

And there's loads of them at Marshall's and just

27:12

layer that slinky slip dress on top of it.

27:14

And it just creates like a really cool effect.

27:16

And then you can add like a really cool

27:18

pair of boots, like knee-high boots. And now you've

27:20

got this full look going and then layer this

27:22

underneath a long line

27:25

coat, single-breasted. And now you've

27:27

got this whole vibe happening.

27:29

So that's for self-gifting. But

27:32

for other people, I was

27:34

in Marshall's recently and I was honestly, I

27:37

was really impressed by the amount of gift

27:39

sets that I saw. So they've done the thinking

27:41

for you, which is genius. And

27:43

they split it right in sections.

27:45

So you can have sections for

27:47

like your girlfriend, like beauty sets.

27:49

Like I saw like flat iron

27:52

and stuff. Actually, sorry, I self gifted

27:54

myself with flying. But you know, you

27:56

took everything off. had

28:00

like gifted sets, already beauty set sets done.

28:02

And the same for like geek,

28:04

like tech, you know, they

28:06

had headphones and stuff. Did you just call

28:09

tech geek? I'm dying, that's so good. Sorry,

28:11

you know what I mean though. Gadgets,

28:15

you know, gadgets. You know,

28:17

I know that Michael will probably like love. So

28:20

they had those as well. So

28:22

they, and the stuff at the home as well,

28:24

they had like, just like, so they create in

28:26

store, like these little vignettes, these areas, like gifts

28:28

for the home. You're not like running around like

28:30

a headless chicken. But you know, this made

28:33

it easy for you to like, just go to

28:35

like categories that you're thinking of and just

28:37

to give you suggestions and, you know, ideas

28:39

you never thought of. Yeah. And do you

28:41

have any tips aside from

28:43

shopping the bundles to really, really

28:45

find the highest quality items? Like,

28:47

is there something that you specifically

28:49

like look for? Yeah. For example,

28:51

I'll look for, if

28:53

I was in a clothing section, I looked for like fabrics,

28:55

like cashmere, like you can

28:58

find like wolves, which they really do well

29:00

on. So I look for things like that.

29:02

Also, I look for like class, just classic

29:04

design. For example, I love, like I said,

29:06

I love a good men's shopping in the

29:08

men's section of Marshall. So I've also got

29:10

like a men's suit. So if you have

29:12

a girlfriend or who's into that same vibe,

29:15

has like a minimalist vibe, she would be

29:17

so impressed if you used to get her

29:19

a men's suit. Honestly, especially because I have

29:21

a friend of mine who likes the same

29:23

stuff as me. So when I buy it,

29:25

she likes it. So I know what to

29:27

do. I just pretend I'm shopping

29:29

for myself. Because if you do that, guaranteed

29:31

she's going to like it because you pretend,

29:34

I go into a shop and go, okay, I'm not

29:36

even thinking what does she want? I just think what

29:38

do I want? And I buy that by give it

29:40

to her. Because I know that is what she is

29:43

going to want. See, that is a tip that I'm

29:45

giving to you right now. Shop for yourself, but

29:47

for other people. Other people, yes. Especially when

29:49

you know this style is the same as yours. That's

29:51

how you do it. That's actually a

29:53

really, really good one. It's a good one, right? I

29:55

do like that one a lot because I feel

29:57

like all of my girlfriends when they come over.

30:00

they're like, oh, this is cute. And I'm like, want

30:02

to borrow it because I know you're trying to ask me

30:04

right now. That's that's exactly

30:07

it. So yeah, that's that's, and I've

30:09

been doing that for a bit now.

30:11

And I found it's not, it's never

30:13

proved me wrong. I like that. Okay,

30:17

into our final section of

30:19

the podcast, speed round lightning

30:21

round. Just give

30:23

me the answer off of the top

30:25

of your head. Don't overthink it. First

30:27

and foremost, what is your favorite fashion

30:29

piece or trend right now? I'm loving red.

30:32

That's like I'm just coming just letting

30:34

it come out naturally. I do love it. I love

30:37

I at the beginning, really, but not now

30:40

I'm like, actually, no, because I saw it

30:42

during fashion month. And it's really taken a

30:44

hold of notice for this trend for this

30:46

season. And I do have pieces that are

30:48

in red. And I've noticed that you can

30:50

get them marshals. Well, I saw they've got

30:53

it literally scattered throughout. So you can you

30:55

can literally shop that trend. And in general,

30:58

I just love outerwear. I am

31:00

so Oh my gosh, I just I

31:02

can't tell you enough. Karen, can

31:04

I tell you, I

31:06

started that red trend. I wanted

31:08

everyone at my upcoming wedding to

31:11

wear red. But my

31:13

idea got nixed by my fiance

31:15

because he said it was going to be too

31:17

matchy matchy. But I'm just saying I want to

31:19

put it out there. I started this red trend.

31:21

It's certainly when when when was that when

31:23

we were planning the wedding like months and months ago,

31:26

I'm obviously I don't

31:28

think I'm just saying I don't think

31:30

any of these ultra high end couture

31:33

fashion houses came up with it. I

31:35

came up with it because I wanted

31:37

it to be the main color in

31:39

my wedding. All of these designers they

31:41

have location scouts, they go out there

31:44

and see what's trending anyway. So we

31:46

set the trends, they just we set

31:48

the trends. I

31:52

would love to ask what is your favorite

31:54

blog to follow aside from yours, of course.

31:57

Oh my gosh. Who am I

31:59

following? I'm not really looking at blogs as

32:01

much as I used to. I'm looking more, if I

32:03

had to be honest, I'm looking just more like

32:05

online. Okay, wait, wait, let's pivot

32:07

the question. Who is your

32:10

favorite follow? You're

32:13

gonna do it! Wow, one person!

32:15

Wait, wait, wait, wait, you can give me like three. This

32:17

is like a hard question. Oh yeah, this is, yeah, this

32:20

is. I love,

32:23

I have a girl crush on Tessa

32:25

Thompson. I think she's- Okay.

32:27

Yeah, she's just got the most incredible

32:29

style. I love following London Girl NYC

32:32

because her style is just unbelievably

32:34

good. It's just so epic. And there

32:36

was a guy I follow and

32:39

his name is Ali Yun on, and

32:41

these are all on Instagram. His style

32:43

is insane. And again, it's not

32:45

to men's way, right? So,

32:47

but he just does it in such

32:49

a cool contemporary way and he's so

32:51

sleek. So I think those

32:54

are the three that come to mind instantly. Of course

32:56

there's more, but you know. Yeah. All

32:59

of your other fashion friends are now mad at you. I

33:02

know. Okay,

33:04

so I give you $200. What

33:08

are you spending it on? And you can't get

33:10

out of wear, sorry. Ah,

33:13

I can't get out of wear. Okay, if I can't

33:15

get out of wear, it's $200. What

33:20

would I, what would Karen

33:22

honestly get? I want

33:24

to be as truthful and as

33:26

kind of natural as possible. For

33:29

$200, I'll tell you where I'll

33:31

go to section wise because that's just how I am.

33:33

I don't necessarily have a thing in mind. I

33:36

know what sections I go to. Okay. And

33:38

I love going to, I just haven't seen

33:40

for shoes, sorry. So I will go to

33:42

shoes because I will just look to see

33:45

his peruse through the aisles and see what's

33:47

there. And then if I

33:49

don't see anything from there, then I'll pivot and

33:51

I'll probably go to dresses because it

33:53

is the season right now. Yeah. So,

33:56

and I've seen, like I said, I've seen so

33:58

many that I've liked as well. I

34:00

remember, like I said, you know, I love slip dresses.

34:02

I've told you that. I've worn them. You see me

34:04

wear them. So I would go to the, honestly, I'll

34:06

probably go to the, in fact, I'll go this best.

34:08

Screw the shoes. I'm going to dresses. That's the first

34:10

place I'm going. Yeah, shoes,

34:12

really? Yeah. I mean,

34:14

I love shoes. I have so many. I mean, who

34:16

doesn't, right? So I'm going to go to the, I'm

34:18

going to go to the dresses first. I'm as

34:21

specific as the type of clothing category. And it's

34:23

going to be dresses. Because I know I can

34:25

just dress them up or down. And I just

34:27

have a soft spot for them. Cool. Okay. What

34:30

is your favorite item to style around? Like

34:32

what can really pull a look together? That's

34:36

a great question. Oh,

34:40

quite a lot of things. I feel

34:42

like I can style around almost anything,

34:44

but my favorite thing to style around.

34:46

Wow. Maybe just

34:48

a pair of jeans. But you could leave it

34:50

on. What? Because yeah, because you can style around

34:53

jeans so easily. It'll just den them as a

34:55

category. Okay. You know, I feel like because everyone

34:57

can relate to den and we all have it.

35:00

And I think you can truly, it's

35:02

the one thing that you really can

35:04

dress up or dress down is jeans.

35:07

And I've really been into baggy jeans. I

35:09

have quite a few wide leg baggy jeans.

35:11

I'm just in love with those. So I

35:14

can just see me coming up with lots

35:16

of different ways to just dress them up

35:18

or down. Yeah, that's me currently right now.

35:20

Yeah. Can I tell you what I thought

35:22

you were going to say? Well, a belt.

35:25

Oh, wow. Yeah, a belt is a

35:28

good one. Why did you think I

35:30

was going to say about? Because when

35:32

I was wearing a like

35:34

a pink dress and you

35:36

were like, you know how you can elevate this swap

35:38

out this belt that it came with with a different

35:40

belt. And that's what he called me personally is

35:43

like, it's just advice for my life. Every

35:46

time when I take the belt off of clothing

35:48

and put a new on. Yeah. And that is

35:50

a really good piece of well, she says, putting

35:53

herself on the back, but that is a piece

35:55

of advice because it is

35:57

true because that's the under.

36:01

Oh my god, speaking of belts, sorry, I

36:03

just had to add this in because you

36:05

started off the belt, so I'm going to

36:07

like continue. Honestly, from the men's sections of

36:09

Marshalls, I got this belt and it is

36:11

black on black. So the buckle is not

36:13

even silver or gold, it's black. So the

36:15

leather, the belt itself is

36:18

black, but the belt itself is a

36:20

black hardware. So the whole belt is

36:22

black. Black on black. Black

36:24

on black. And it's... It's a matter of shiny

36:26

black. Ooh, it's not even a shiny black either.

36:29

It's like a sheen, like a sheen to it. Ooh,

36:31

okay. And it looks so expensive. And

36:33

I've been belting that over like blazers,

36:35

like I'll just overlap a blazer and

36:37

I'll cinch the belt. Well,

36:40

cinch it with the belt, so it has like

36:42

a peplum effect with the blazer. Yeah. And

36:44

it just makes it look so cute with like a midi

36:46

skirt or a midi dress, like the slip dresses. Yeah.

36:50

And it's such a vibe. It looks so

36:52

cool. But that belt looks very expensive and

36:54

you don't know where it's from. And that's

36:56

like a... That was a massive... Those are

36:59

my favorite belts I bought recently. I love.

37:01

And you know, you've talked about a couple pieces

37:04

that you are just obsessed

37:06

with. So menswear, blazers, slip

37:08

dresses. What are the three

37:10

most important pieces in a capsule

37:12

wardrobe? Because I'm trying to minimize a

37:14

little bit. Wow, the three, like three.

37:17

Again I don't like to... Because it depends on the

37:20

type of aesthetic you have, remember? Yeah. Because

37:22

what is the three... Okay, wait, what about me? You know

37:24

me-ish, like enough. I've been

37:26

wearing clothes a couple times. Like,

37:29

it will be my three. Okay,

37:31

yes. All right, so your personal

37:33

three. Capsule

37:35

three. I would do the dress for

37:37

sure because you can truly... That's versatile.

37:39

You can really make that go up

37:41

and down and show me different directions

37:44

with belts, whatever. Layering

37:46

over it, under it. You can

37:48

tell you... So wait, wait, what color is the

37:51

dress? I don't know what your personal favorite color

37:53

is, but whatever that is, I would... Go black. Okay,

37:55

I thought you were going to say red. Yeah, anything I want. But

37:58

yeah, let's go black. So

38:00

black and black is good because you can, it's

38:02

really a versatile colour anyway and it's year round.

38:05

So that black dress and you

38:07

don't have to be a little black dress,

38:09

you know, it can be whatever the dress

38:11

silhouette is that you most comfortable in. So

38:13

that's the one. Two, I'd probably pick that

38:15

right boot. I think that that right heel

38:18

boot is also extremely versatile because it can

38:20

go with so many other things in your

38:22

wardrobe, whether it's trousers, jeans, it can go

38:24

with the dress, you know, etc, etc. And

38:26

then the last thing is because it's my

38:29

personal favourite too, it's just outerwear. I pick

38:31

that one outerwear piece. Okay. Yeah, I would.

38:33

Whether it's a jacket or a longer

38:35

coat, probably a blazer, I would think, because

38:38

I think even a blazer is one of

38:40

those items that's in a typical capsule wardrobe.

38:42

I think there are so many different cuts

38:44

to blazers. There is a cut for everyone.

38:47

So it's a matter of picking the right

38:50

cut for you and not just

38:52

picking a blazer because it doesn't look like them.

38:54

It's got to be the cut that you like

38:56

because the kind of blazer I might like is

38:58

a different one that you would like. Let's pick,

39:00

let's make you more individual and that's the key.

39:02

Okay. I like those and I think you picked

39:04

right because those are three things that I

39:07

have been trying to buy more of lately. So

39:10

I love that. Okay. Well, thank

39:12

you so, so much for joining me today

39:14

and giving all of this style

39:17

shopping, holiday event,

39:19

cute outfit advice. Can

39:22

you tell everyone listening where we can find you and

39:24

how we can support you? Oh, thank

39:27

you. Well, first of all, thank you so

39:29

much for having me. I love this chat.

39:31

This is brilliant. You can find me. My

39:33

name is Karen Britchick. So Karen and then

39:36

Brits like British and Chip like chicken. So

39:38

Karen Britchick. Oh,

39:41

what a word. And it's the same

39:43

everywhere. So on YouTube, my TikTok and Instagram,

39:45

my blog is called Where Did You Get

39:47

That? But for those posts, those last, the

39:49

first three, it's Karen Britchick and that's where

39:51

I am everywhere. I love that. Thank you

39:53

so much for coming on. Oh,

39:55

thanks for having me. This is fun. I loved it. On

39:58

behalf of myself and my advertising. I'm your

40:00

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