Good morning, good morning! I hope that you’ve had a fabulous start to your day!
So sorry I wasn’t able to join you last week! I went on a little adventure to Northern Spain with my Mum’s side of the family! Every year all fourteen of us pack our suitcases and head off for a dose of sun, sea and sand! However, we were all holding our breath this year as the weather in northern Spain is VERY hit and miss! BUT after keeping our fingers (and toes) crossed we were very fortunate and lucked out with the weather which we were very relieved about!
Anyways enough from me!!
This week on CCT I am VERY excited as I am joined by a young teen blogger who has just landed her FIRST fashion design collaboration! Tolly Dolly Posh aka Tolly Gregory has teamed up with Dutch wellie brand Mooi en Lief to design her own collection of socks.
Mama C and myself first became aware of TDP just after Circus started and met Mooi en Lief at this year’s Bubble! Mooi en Lief are going to be presenting their SS15 collection at our SS15 press day in September and when we heard about the collaboration we just couldn’t contain our excitement!!
Soooo…please join me in welcoming Tolly Gregory and Jacquelina from Mooi en Lief on the show today!!
Tolly! Thank you so much for joining me today! It’s great to have you on the show! Can you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself…
Hello! I’m 14 and I’m an aspiring fashion designer. I live in France from time to time, and I write the blog Tolly Dolly Posh Fashion.
I love your blog!
Thank you…Oh and I have a black cat called Paloma… she’s cute.
Where did your love for fashion come from?
My mother was a designer at Mulberry before my siblings and I were born so I’ve always been influenced by her passion for it. I also just love wearing clothes to express myself.
I love Mulberry bags! What a fab company to design bags for! What made you decide to start your blog? How old were you when you set it all up?
I wanted a project to do over summer, as well as something to possibly help me gain a few more skills for the future! AND for becoming a fashion designer. I was 11 when I started back in March 2012.
Wow 11 years old! That’s amazing! Tell us about your journey so far! How have you gotten to where you are today?
I started out doing really simple posts, from outfit posts taken on my parent’s iPhone’s to composing outfit ideas, and then I started improving my writing skills.
It sort of snowballed after I was featured in the Telegraph Magazine. It was such a great boost of motivation! From then on I went to feature in some of my old favourite girls magazines as well as on BBC Radio 4. I think hard work and dedication really does pay off 🙂
I completely agree! I remember when you were featured in the Telegraph Magazine! That’s where we first came across you at Circus! AND you were shortlisted as ‘Teen Fashion Blogger’ in the Company Magazine blog awards. What an achievement! How did that feel?
Crazy! Especially as Company is one of my favourite magazines of all time. The team are so supportive of me, and I’m happy that I have been able to be involved 2 years in a row… fingers crossed for 3rd time lucky!
What a fantastic achievement! I shall be keeping my fingers crossed for you! So you have just announced a collaboration with Mooi en Lief! How did this opportunity come about?
I started working with Mooi en Lief on their lifestyle magazine! They were so lovely and offered me lots of opportunities! They then asked me if I wanted to work with them, and of course I said yes! I love brands who really see things in people! It shows that they don’t just want it for publicity.
We came across Tolly through her good friend Anna Heledd, who is another young talented blogger running thelifeofafashionnerd.blogspot.com.
We invited them both to join us in creating our first lifestyle magazine which was an incredible success! During that project we were impressed with her artistic talent, professionalism and her fantastic social media skills.
For us, it was not just about her amazing talent as a fashion designer. Rather, we love her expressive and quirky style and recognise the wider package that she has, to enable a commercial success out of such a collaboration.
That’s amazing! I think it’s great your giving Tolly this opportunity and Tolly congratulations for earning it! How did it make you feel Tolly to be asked by Mooi en Lief to design a collection for them?
I didn’t really realise how exciting it all is until I announced the news. It made me feel super proud and it showed me that I am actually doing a lot of work and putting a lot of effort in if things like this can happen. Thanks Mooi en Lief!
Can you tell us any exclusive info about your ideas for the collection?
Hmm, not quite yet! The collection is being released at the start of 2015 so we still have a bit more work to do before we can say anything! Although, I’m pretty certain there will be some sort of TDP style bold prints involved… shhh!
That’s what we like to hear! I can’t wait to see the final product! How would you describe your style?
I don’t know really… it’s very up and down… sometimes I like pastels, sometimes I like boho and sometimes I just want to be casual. I’d mainly say preppy though as I love stripes and textures.
Becoming a fashion designer is from what I understand your dream – what type of clothes would you design?
I would want to design clothes which are wearable but totally unique. Of course trends make clothing popular, but I would want to also have pieces which aren’t anywhere else. I love brands that do that, it’s inspiring to see.
How do you juggle school and all of your outside commitments?
It’s all about time management, scheduling and organising things so you have it all planned perfectly! I find that, that works wonders!
I agree! I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t write lists to help me organise my time! What are your favourite fashion brands?
I absolutely adore ASOS. Although, they also sell other brands on their site! It’s my go-to online destination. They have good prices and good styles! It’s perfect!
So Tolly – your journey is just beginning! Do you have any goals that you are working towards?
I guess I just want to keep working on my blog and improving my skills and possibly getting more awesome opportunities like this!
Well you’re doing a fab job! Again…a huge congratulations on your exciting news! I can’t wait to see the collection! Thank you so much for joining me on the show today! It’s been great hearing about your journey so far! I’m sure that you have inspired many!
Join me next week for lots of chinwagging! Many thanks again to both Tolly and Jacquelina for joining me today! <3 Kate xox
