A Canadian girl’s guide to style on the snowbelt
Photo by GreatNorthernBlonde.com
We all fashion and lifestyle blogs, that’s not a secret. But how frustrating is it when you can’t find a single blogger compassionate to our sporadic, living-on-the-snowbelt weather conditions? Doesn’t it just kill you to try and order something you see online, only to discover they don’t ship to Canada? Introducing this week’s Campus Celebrity, Marie Scholz. She’s an MIT student, a member of This Is London Dance Company, and the creator of Great Northern Blonde, a fashion and lifestyle blog dedicated to helping us freezing folk survive Ontarian climate. Within only a few months into her blog’s launch, Marie already has various fashion affiliates, blogging companions, and a generous following to boot, and she’s still no where near where she wants to be.
S: Why did you start the blog?
GNB: It kind of started out of frustration. I’d been researching blogs and looking at them all the time on Instagram, and I realized none of them were Canada-based. They were all in these sunny, beautiful paradise places, but it’s so unrealistic for people who live here. We’re in, like, three feet of snow, nobody can wear a bikini to class. I also ran into a lot of shipping and handling issues when I was ordering from the States, from blog links that bloggers had set, so I thought that something had to change. I looked at these blogs and thought, I can do what they can do. It seemed very easy to me.
S: How long have you had it?
GNB: I started it this past September [2014]. During the summer I was just researching, being sure that I wanted to commit to paying the fees, you know. I was going to pay money out of my pocket, so I had to be sure I was willing to commit. I made a plan, telling myself that by this time next year I’ll have this many followers, this many people subscribed. We’re almost halfway now, which is pretty great!
S: Are you in it on your own, or has anyone been helping you?
GNB: For the first three or four months I didn’t have a lot of help. The last two months, though, my boyfriend has been helping me a lot because he’s really good with designing. He has a gift for how to create a lifestyle on Instagram. In order to be successful on [social media] you have to be consistent, and if one post is left field, then you’re going to run into an issue. People can pick up on it, so he keeps me in line, keeps me on track.
Photo by GreatNorthernBlonde.com
S: Your blog has other categories within it not necessarily pertaining to fashion. Why did you decide to expand it to these topics as well?
GNB: I realized I had a lot more to say than just what I was wearing. Having other topics like Lifestyle and Recipes helped because when it’s weather like this *gestures to the ridiculous snowy outdoors* it’s kind of hard to get out and take pictures. So that’s how I came up with the DIY/Lifestyle section, and spiraling off of that I was thinking health and fitness, as well.
S: That’s great for people who have zero motivation to do anything in winter because of this weather.
GNB: Yeah, I did a lot of brainstorming for what I wanted for the Lifestyle portion. I wanted to focus on doing more to stay fit, being more adventurous. I found I stayed in a lot first year and there’s so much to do, so much to see, despite the weather being so bad. So over the break I explored a bit in my hometown, went places and ventured out to other cities. I explored places that you would normally not go in -10 degree weather. It just occurred to me like, “okay if I can drive half an hour and end up in a beautiful place in my hometown, I could do that in London, too.” I’m going to be adventuring into different places in London, places that can be considered hidden treasures.
S: So if you could describe your style, how would you describe it?
GNB: I’ve been trying to describe my style for so long and it’s really hard because so many things inspire me. I used to be really inspired by the hipster look, but then the hipster look became a trend, so it wasn’t really hipster anymore. I’ve recently been very much into the preppy look, like collared shirts, layers. I really like colour, even though I sometimes regret how much I like colour because neutrals are so great on their own time. My style is very versatile, I would say, very functional.
Photo by GreatNorthernBlonde.com
S: Who are some style inspirations for you?
GNB: Lauren Conrad, she created such a brand for herself. As for others, there’s an Instagram called @StyledSnapshots, and I really like how the girl behind it brings that preppy New York style anywhere she goes. She’s really inspiring. Julia Engel, she’s a blogger, she’s beautiful and she actually goes places and finds adventure. Barefoot Blonde is another one, she does a lot of braids and makes these tutorials and she lives in New York, too. I’m not really inspired by celebrity stylists, professional stylists or anyone like that, it isn’t real for me. I want to go out and do things, wear things that are nice but not falling off my head, right?
S: Have you ever made any cardinal style sins? In first year I wore acid-wash jeans everywhere.
GNB: I went through the Abercrombie and Hollister phase, and I totally regret that because it was really expensive. Don’t get me wrong, some things are great there, but I had those classic t-shirts with the huge moose on it. I probably had 10 of them, and it was so obnoxiously A&F. I think that was the worst time of my life, fashion-wise. It must’ve been in grade 7. It was those figuring-it-out-years.
S: What do you hope for the future of your blog?
GNB: I would love to have my own brand. I have a huge blog crush on Kiel James Patrick, it’s like a nautical, adventurous blog as well. They wear cool sweaters and go to cool places every day. They were in Canada, and then New York, and then out East. It’s crazy what they do. This guy has developed his brand so much and so well that something as simple as selling a bracelet with an anchor on it suddenly acts as a way of trying to buy their lifestyle. I would love to own my own brand and learn from people like that, who’ve been so successful with it. I definitely want to develop Great Northern Blonde into it’s own entity; I’d love for people to recognize me as Great Northern Blonde. If that happens and I’ve succeeded then that definitely would be the completion of my long-term goal. Integrity is really important to me, as well, so as far as profit goes I want it to benefit charities more so than myself. There’s one brand, Jacob’s Scarves, that put half of their profits towards educating kids in third world countries, so I want to be able to push those types of things on my blog as much as possible, even though I’m only just starting.
Photo by GreatNorthernBlonde.com
S: How do you think your blog has become what it’s become? Anyone can really create a blog, but you’ve managed to do pretty well with yours already. What would you say differentiated you from everyone else?
GNB: I never gave up. There were definitely a couple times when I thought, “This isn’t going anywhere, this is discouraging, I feel like I’m putting more effort into this than I’m getting back.” And you really have to remember to persevere through that. You also need to be so involved in your blog that it is you, and you need to be involved in your readership. What makes a successful blog is how well it translates to its audience, so if you don’t make that connection to your reader they aren’t going to remember you. You really have to be creative, unique, and you have to know what other people are wondering about. Every time you make a blog post you have to think to yourself, what is this offering to my reader. Talk about what you know, not what you don’t know, because people can see right through it. There’ll always be someone who thinks they’re smarter than you, too, just don’t let it discourage you.
Follow Marie on Instagram at @MarieScholz to check out the newest updates on her blog!