I’m at the airport on my way home from my holiday in a beautiful all-inclusive resort on the stunning island of Rhodes. It’s exactly what you expect from an adults-only hotel – no kids squealing to ruin the ambience (half miss it, half love it), comfortably modern, supersoft loungers, plenty of space in-between and sunbed drinks service throughout the day. The sister hotel next door is the family version with basic sunbeds because, let’s face it, no-one is getting chance to sit on them for longer than ten minutes, we on the other hand have spent a solid 8 hours on ours, omitting dips in the pool. I’m not saying all this to brag, I’ve earnt my stripes – I’ve spent many a year dancing in the pool to ‘chocolaté’ and playing family bingo in the evening. I’m telling you because my form of entertainment this year is Influencer watching. My favourite part of the day is sat on my balcony, in my plush hotel robe, mini-bar wine in one hand and ready salted crisps in the other, watching the amateur photoshoots in the hour before dinner.
Please don’t get me wrong, I am not against an influencer. I believe that the concept of getting everyday people to promote your stuff is genius, and from the influencer point of view, why the hell not! And maybe a few years ago I might have aspired to be one, however I’ve discovered that it’s not an easy ride. It’s a lot of effort. Not only do these women have to be unrealistically fabulous looking – that’s a LOT of maintenance, but they’re also probably wearing stuff they don’t really like, or they buy stuff so that they’ve got something to tag, all in the hope that they’ll gain likes and followers. And then maybe, just maybe brands will take notice of them. And perhaps they’ll get paid, or they’ll just get a load of free stuff that they don’t want or need adding to the already massive pile of clothes in landfill (I refer you to my blog about fast fashion https://www.mrsstylewright.com/slowing-down-the-world-of-fast-fashion/). But what really gets me is that it’s so fake. What kind of world are we in, where posing unnaturally to get the best angles, shining ourselves in the best light so that people like it and believe that they too can look like that. Here’s news – you can’t because it’s not real! When I’m watching the shoots, it’s a constant backwards and forwards to check if the photo is right, and then the retaking, and taking again. What happened to candid photos catching someone laughing (because something is genuinely funny not because someone has said “pretend to laugh!”), pulling a funny face (I’m told this is called a ‘mug’ these days) or doing something that isn’t set up for the aesthetic, because that’s what’s real.
I’m not immune, of course I am on Instagram and of course I have posted my outfits. I’ve also conducted little photoshoots, and I’ve taken pictures purely for the purpose of the ‘Gram’ but if it takes longer than 30 seconds, I’m not here for it. Some of you will already follow me (https://www.instagram.com/mrsstylewright/ if you’re interested) so will know that it’s mirror selfies as I’m dashing out the door, most of my stuff is Vinted or old and as a result I don’t have a load of followers. Whatevs. To be honest, it used to bother me, and I was very happy to break the 1000 followers mark, but life is too short and quite honestly, I find the whole thing kind of cringe. The influencers I like are the ones who keep it real, who show us all sides and don’t stick to a script or passing trend. I scroll past accounts with highly filtered, unrealistic photos of people in unwearable outfits. Or the influencer who was promoting one moisturiser one week and another the next – how much moisturiser do you use?
Authenticity is a word that is thrown around a lot, and many claim it as their mantra. I wish it were true. Truly authentic is beautiful, I love to see someone’s true self. Please just be yourself, because everybody else is taken.
