Cocobella is excited to announce that February marks the first post of our Guest Stylist series where we invite creative influencers to style Cocobella products in a manner that reflects their own unique aesthetics.
We launch this series with Jessica Alizzi, a fashion influencer and avid Instagrammer, whose styled images will be posted on our Instagram account over the course of this month.
In the meantime, we caught up with Jessica to get her secrets on building a personal brand.
The Cocobella office has been admiring Jess’ Instagram account for a while now. Her dreamy, minimal and monochrome (with a dash of warmth), makes us feel like everyday is the weekend. Her fresh and honest images, reflect both her life and personal style.
In addition to an impressive social presence she is currently in her final year of her Commerce/Law double degree, while also managing her hugely successful fashion blog, Jessica and Love. Throw in the mix various brand collaborations and she is one busy lady!
But how did a full-time student find herself so immersed in the world of fashion and social media?
“When I first started Jessica and Love, I simply wanted to make friends with other like-minded people. Jessica and Love was – and still is – a platform for me to take my own photos, experiment with my own creativity, and communicate with new friends who share the same interests as me. It’s everything that I love in one website!”
Jessica was working part-time as a retail assistant and a paralegal receptionist in addition to studying a double degree when she started Jessica and Love. Now only focusing on her University studies and her social brand, Jess believes that they complement each other, in that the structure of one is the harbinger of creativity for the other.
“One is so structured and academic; you are in the library, there is one correct answer. Whereas obviously blogging and content creation is so open to interpretation, there is no wrong or right answer”
Jess sites, Carmen from Chronicles of Her, Zanita from Zanita Studio, and Margaret Zhang from Shine by Three as her favourite bloggers who have inspired her own journey. “Australian bloggers have made such an impact, it was encouraging to see their success.”
Jessica has a few tips for creating a beautiful Instagram feed: downloading the Pic Tap Go and VSCO apps are a good start. Pic Tap Go lends her photos a warm, California-like mood that is still minimalistic, and VSCO gives her photos the washed-out white look that makes everything super flattering. Increase the graininess and bring down the saturation a notch and you’re all set!
Apart from fashion shots; sunshine, palm trees and flowers also feature regularly in her feed.
Holidays help to convey an aspirational way of life that hits a popular note with her audience, the generation who work hard to have it all.
Jessica recently returned from 10 days in Hawaii where she won a photograph competition for four to travel on an all expenses trip. “I took my mum, dad and brother, I figured I’d give back to them, the people that put you through your education” says Jess, laughing. Being very close to her family, she regards her mother her main style influencer “she always looks incredibly elegant and stylish”.
Another recent trip was to Serbia, “I traveled with my best friend who is from Belgrade and she took me all around town to the best pizzerias, cafes, and bars. I found everyone to be incredibly friendly, carefree and happy; work-life balance was very encouraged and everyone valued going out a lot and enjoying each other’s company.” These facets of having fun and working hard are tantamount to the values that Jess conveys through her socials and blog.
When asked about her holiday packing, the usual suspects are in there; phone, laptop and charger. However, what took us by surprise is that Jessica also takes an offline approach to memory keeping. “I always buy a diary and create a scrapbook of my holidays. At night, I glue and stick all my ticket stubs and cards in and write a little bit about the day, kinda like a hard copy of my blog”
Thanks for stopping by Jess, we loved your series of pics!
Follow us on Instagram and keep your eyes peeled for Jessica’s styled images!
