I've mentioned the term 'collaboration' a lot over my recently, especially when my blog turned one-year-old a few weeks ago. It's a huge part of the blogger-sphere. I think it is hugely important when creating content online. Working with other creative individuals is the way forward! It inspires you, two minds are certainly better than one, being able to see things from a different perspective is always a positive.
I've always strived to collaborate with others, ever since I began my blog. And over the last two weeks, I've been collaborating with others more than ever. Moving to Manchester has forced me to put myself out there. Only knowing a handful of people, in a new city is always going to be hard, and when you want to create content, it's even harder!
I've been lucky enough to work with two amazing photographers here in Manchester, who have helped me out massively! Obviously, photographs are an integral part of my blog, so ensuring I collaborate with others is crucial. I'll let you into a secret, I totally relied on close friends and family members when I was back home, and as they are now 130 miles away, I'm finding it tough! Filming my Youtube videos and writing posts is easy, it's the visual element of blogging which makes things difficult.
That's until I decided to try and improve my situation. Manchester is a hub for creative and interesting people, jam-packed with talent. So finding people to work with is possible, however, you've just got to ask! With that in mind, I gave it a try. Instagram has once again came to my rescue. As soon as I walked into my first bar in Manchester I noticed a few individuals who I follow on Instagram. Being the sociable character I am, I headed straight over and started chatting. It's pretty funny actually as the first question I'm actually asked is "what's you'reactual name?" It's an icebreaker! With that said, I started to ask around to see if anyone was interested in collaboration. Luckily I bumped into Rachel (@rags_renewal) on my very first night out in the city along with Megs (@meg.bury) who both happen to be bloggers too! Weirdly enough, they too seemed to be in the same predicament as I was- not being the new guy in town, but struggling to get content for their blogs!
We set up a chat, planned a place and time, all met up and shot some awesome content! How cool is that? It just shows, that if you put yourself out there, it can certainly pay off! We're hoping this becomes a regular thing, so if anyone is in Manchester and wants to join, send one of us a message!
Check out both Rachel's blog and Megan's below, I'm pretty certain you'll love there super cool style! Rachels blog click here. Megan's blog/Instagram click here.
Winter is always a very scary time for your favourite pair of boots, especially if those boots are suede! You'll not need me to tell you that the typical British winter is suede's worst enemy! So how do you protect your sexy boots from what the season will throw at them? Luckily, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, to keep your suede boots looking in tip-top shape.
This week the weather is meant to take a turn for the worse, meaning that collection of suede boots, you've carefully curated and taken care of over the years will be at risk. I always try and wear a leather boot in wet conditions, but sometimes I get caught out! Meaning my suede boots take an absolute hammering, I do however, make a point of protecting and looking after my suede beauties every time I wear them.
The best piece of kit I have for this much need T.L.C, is the simple suede brush. It was only last year I bought my first, why I'd not owned one before escapes me! This cheap, easy to use tool really brings your suede back from the edge. If you sit down with your boots, and spend a little time carefully dry brushing them, then secondly massaging the suede with the reverse rubber tool, you'll see for yourself, the suede really comes up! I've owned a collection of suede boots for a very long time, however this doesn't show in their appearance, as I always invest time and effort into looking after them. No matter what colour suede your boots are, if you follow these tips your boots will look great during the last few months of winter.
Tip two- suede protector. This coats the shoe in a waterproof layer, so if you and your boots are unfortunate enough to be caught out, the waterproof layer will hopefully stop most damage happening. Tip three- colour spray, I've coated many a boot in a black suede spray. This covers any scuff marks which are too stubborn to remove with the suede brush, or any lasting damage left over after the winter. This new layer of colour gives the boot a new lease of life and makes them look brand new!
These few simple tips make up my boot care ritual. I always stick to these three simple tips with all my suede boots. I always treat my extra special boots to one, or all of these loving processes. If you follow these tips you'll keep your boots looking good, plus you'll increase the lifetime of your go-to boots by years! I hope you've found this short post helpful, maybe it's not the most interesting, but it sure has helped me and my boot collection over the years! If you've never tried some of these tips, give them ago and treat your suede boots to some love. Do you have any unusual tips? Leave me a comment below, I'd love to hear about them.
Evening guys. So the blog has turned one, I'm now a year in, a year more experienced, a year wiser (I think) and I guess I could say a year more knowledgeable. Safe to say I've learnt a lot over the past 12 months! This time last year was the polar opposite of how I'm feeling right now. Last January was a time I was feeling pretty low, Christmas had come and gone and the new year had started, however, I'd not achieved anything! I didn't really have a job, work prospects were low, the jobs I was hearing back from, I thought anyone could get, yet I was still getting knocked back. That part was especially demotivating!
With my quarter life crisis well and truly starting to engulf my whole life & mind, I decided to do something about it. I remember mid-January scribbling everything I was interested in and loved doing, down on paper. When I glanced at the list in front of me it was pretty easy to see it was all creative. This included photography, fashion, style & writing to name just a few. I remember sitting there and thinking to myself, how can I make this list of passions work for me? I then stumbled upon blogging.
A blog was the perfect answer, something I could pour everything I think I'm good at, into. An output for my creativity, and hopefully something that in the long run, I could get a job doing. It was a risk, I knew it was, but the mindset is, and is now, I'd rather try and fail at something, than never to try at all!
I can now say, even a year in, I'm bloody thankful I did put myself out there! I wouldn't be sitting here in Manchester now if it wasn't for my blog! What has happened over the past year has opened up so many doors and I've already met so many amazing people! The crazy thing is, it's only been one year! I'm super excited about what's to come, as I continue to pursue and push myself on my online journey!
So, since you all now know where it began and now with that year's worth of work and knowledge under my belt, I have some know-how I want to share with you all. Along with of course, what I personally feel makes you stand out from the crowd in a very fast-paced, ever-changing world of blogging. I've far from made it, but I have a years worth of experience, that's better than I had last year! With that in mind, I thought I'd share some of my most valuable tips that I still use, perfect if you want to start a blog of your own! Personality is key, if you search on Instagram, YouTube, or any social media platform. Photography is a great way to project your personality to your readers.
Be consistent and organised, consistency is something you need to plan. Organise yourself, plan your posts, plan the shoots, make sure you've got the content you promised your readers, and importantly make sure the content you are creating is something you're proud of. Also, don't forget to proofread! Photography, make sure all of your photographs look professional, good quality images are a must! Community is another very helpful thing, all social networks have such a huge community behind each one. If someone takes the time out of there day to comment, comment back, say thanks, share the love! This brings me on to my next point, collaboration. Collaborating with a fellow blogger, Youtuber or photographer is such a good idea, you share a passion with someone else, build upon it, think of new ideas, create something together, and most of all, reach out and become friends.
I'll describe all of these points in more detail this Sunday across on my YouTube channel, tune in then to catch my video. I'll end this post with a quote I found this time last year, which still resonates with me now. Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. A big shoutout to Izzy for taking some amazing photograhs, find her on Instagram @izebelsdesign or check out her personal account out @izbels.
Happy 1st brithday to my blog! Its been a year! How did that happen? To celebrate my year, I'll be posting something a little different. A first for my blog, as I'll be featuring a guest, and what a guest I have lined up for you all! I thought about many ways to celebrate my one year in the blogging game, but nothing really jumped out at me, until this. I thought, how good would it be to feature someone who is a style inspiration of mine? Someone who for years, I've recognised for their individualised way of dressing, not to mention their super cool unique style.
I follow a lot of cool people on Instagram, I mean who doesn't? However, one individual has always stood out from the rest, projecting his own look and going against the grain, by forging his distinctive style and photography work through Instagram. I've always thought of this guy as the manifestation of cool, and that guy is Chris John Millington.
He's the main man. I was lucky enough to meet up with him last weekend in Glasgow, therefore Chris is the focus of my one-year blog post! Me, Chris and his brother, John (who by the way, is one super talented photographer). Check out his website here, all spent last Saturday in Glasgow city centre, checking out what the vintage stores had to offer, and sampling Glasgow's best coffee shops. We then ended our day, surprise surprise, in the pub, where I sat down with Chris, beers in-hand and asked him a few burning questions.
By this time I forgot all about this blog post and why I actually travelled up to Scotland to meet Chris. So forgive me for the lack of photographs! It felt like I was out with a mate, not with someone I wanted to feature across on my blog for a good while now! Safe to say, we got on pretty well! Thankfully I didn't forget to fit a low key interview in, over a few pints in BrewDog of course. I did begin to type his answers up, however, when I listened to the interview back, I felt it would be cooler to let you all listen into our chat yourselves, so I've uploaded the audio into a video!
We talked about our own personal styles & looks, fashion shoots Chris has featured in, favourite places he'd visited around the world, plus the odd story too. Along with his thoughts on having to constantly adapt with the ever-changing blogging and social media world! Listening back to my recording, I'm finding it as interesting as when I was in the pub sitting oppasate him. Like I mentioned, instead of writing the interview out (which I was planning to do) I thought hearing our voices would be much more interesting and personal, than simply reading. I hope you agree! It really is worth a listen, if you're a fan of Chris, or want to find out what it's like being a social media creative, then listen at the link below! Click the link below to listen to my interview with Chris.
I also want to say a huge thank you all for reading my blog over the past year, it means a lot! Here's to the future,
So, I've finally moved out! I'm writing this post in my local coffee shop with a green tea by my side while I think back to everything I've achieved over the past few days. It's been a pretty hectic weekend I can tell you that! This is the first time I've actually sat down and relaxed! I was in Manchester pretty much all of Friday, checking over and finalising the last few things on my to-do list before the big move. Saturday was very cool indeed! I travelled up to Scotland, Glasgow to be precise to meet one of my biggest style and fashion inspirations, Chris John Millington. This, as you can imagine was a pretty big deal for me and my blog, which I'll share with you all this coming Sunday. I couldn't of wished for a cooler guest to write about and feature across on my blog to celebrate The Unidentified Rocker turning one year old! I'm going to keep very secretive about it for now. I guess you'll have to come back Sunday to find out what happened when I met MR. Millington last weekend.
The whole moving process would have been a lot easier if I'd actually not been so bloody hungover Monday! That wasn't the plan, yet it happened and it was bad! My last night out in Newcastle before the move was scheduled Sunday, this turns out, this wasn't the best idea! Everything I was meant to get done, packed, sorted out, had to be done pre-move, yes, I always leave things to the very last minute! Did this happen you ask? Ha! Well I was still in bed at 3PM Monday afternoon after being unable to open my eyes because of the beast of a hangover! All self-infliction of course! Ikea happened, I think? But that was more comparable to the seven circles of hell! Avoid Ikea at all costs with a hangover, I speak wise words! Saying all that, I don't think I'd change it, I'd still go out and get as drunk now if I was to do it all again. It was just so good catching up with a few pals before leaving for Manchester!
So with none of my tasks completed, was moving out even going to happen? Well, the thought had crossed my mind the night before. However, somehow after hours of packing up all of my possessions the same day as the move, I managed it! My dad and I drove down to Manchester in a huge van yesterday and sorted everything. It all eventually worked out! I threw all my stuff in my bedroom, made my bed (which turned out, I'd bought sheets two sizes too small.) I thought I had a double, turns out it's a king size and it's huge! I spend my night last night wrapped ina bundle of material as nothing fit anywhere, but after my a celebratory drink at Jimmy's bar, it didn't seem so bad.
All that aside, I'm here, I've moved! I'm now in the hustle and bustle of Manchester and I'm loving it! I am trying my best to make things as homely as possible. I'll think you agree my rooms looks pretty good, doesn't? I'm pretty proud of what I've managed to do this morning alone. As well as buying larger bed covers! I think I've nailed the cosy vibe. It's not looking that rock 'n' roll in my opinion (yet) but I'm sure I can work the ol' magic. I've yet to connect the vinyl turntable, tuner and CD tower, so once that's all working and together I think I'll be set!
I'll make sure I give you a full tour next week. Plus I have stuck to my promise and made a short YouTube video for you all tonight, my apologies again for missing Sunday, but I now know why people say moving is stressful! Click the link below to watch my YouTube video and keep an eye out for Sunday's 1-year special!
