Let’s take it back to the 4th grade. The year my Indian parents decided to drop everything in their tiny little home in Dubai and immigrate to Canada. The year was 1996. I was an awkward 9-year old with hand-me-downs for clothing, and big, unruly curly hair that couldn’t be tamed.
Immediately I was the centre of attention in the classroom. And not in a good way. My skin colour was different. I had on clothes that we’re clearly from Value Village. You could say I had an accent. And I’m pretty sure my parents made me a typical Indian lunch for my first day of school. Sorry, they did not know PB&J sandwiches existed.
We can say elementary school was not the highlight of my life. The “popular” kids made fun of me, the cute guys in school pretended to like me, and EVERYBODY laughed at the way I dressed. One time I wore yellow tights to class and the cutest guy in school said (loudly) “nice yellow pants…” in the most sarcastic tone that every person in the classroom laughed. Yea, not my finest moment.
Skipping forward to high school, my awkward, scrawny-girl phase had passed. I had figured out how to properly style and tame my curls, and there were LOTS of new people on the grounds. My confidence was shot, thanks to elementary school, but I was ready to give high school a try. I realized then I never wanted to be a popular girl in HS. They were mean. So, I hung with a good crew.
At this point in my story you’re probably wondering where is this all going? Well, moving along to University, I was in a Fashion program at Ryerson, surrounded by creative, smart, stylish, and cool people. (They would have appreciated the yellow tights…) Being around all these creative people made me want MORE. More creativity and more inspiration. So, I went to the internet. And found nothing. No blogs, no Pinterest, NOTHING.
After a year of thinking about starting a fashion blog, a classmate of mine pushed me to JUST START IT. There we were, in a graphic design class, and I popped open Blogspot.com and created “These Shoes Were Made For Talking” – a fashion blog by Kimberley Marquis. It was scary putting myself out there on the internet. So public. Everyone will see what I’ll be writing about. It made me think of all those kids who made fun of me in elementary school. I was afraid of the same type of people making fun of my blog. I didn’t want to relive that.
But then I decided to give it a go. I put out my first blog post. Which by the way, was a review on the Chanel S/S 2011 collection. It got over 150 readers in the first 24 hours. OKAAAAYYY! Instant confidence! After that I started blogging whenever I could. I wrote everyday after classes. It was my creative outlet. I was being invited to more fashion events, gatherings, and networking events. I met more bloggers who were doing the same thing as me. It was fantastic.
I blogged all throughout my 4 years of university without making a dime off it and then towards the end I became my own worst enemy. I started asking myself “why am I doing this?” “Who is actually reading my content?” “Do I even know what I’m talking about?” A typical case of imposter syndrome.
Once I completed university, I got a full-time, 9-5 job and I quit the blog. I stopped writing for two years and focused on my job. I thought about the blog all the time, but never wrote. And after two years I decided to bring it back to life. But this time the blog was called www.KimberleyMarquis.com. It wasn’t just a fashion blog. There was going to be more to it. But I didn’t quite know where it was going.
With the start of this new blog, I struggled to find my voice. There were LOTS of bloggers on the scene doing what I was doing now. Fashion and beauty bloggers exploded while I was busy with my full-time job. I kept going. Kept on researching.
And finally, The Chic Confidential was born. A blog for badass women who want and NEED to be inspired. A platform not just about fashion, but health and wellness, beauty, home, lifestyle, food, and more. A space for non-judgemental women who empower other women. This is my space for YOU.
I’m a no-bullshit, tell-all, real life, over-sharer. The Chic Confidential covers taboo topics like mental health, infertility, sex, botox, faith, uncertainty, relationships, and so much more. We go deep. And we always keep it chic. This platform is for the girl in the yellow tights. Who didn’t know her style back then, who struggled to find herself, but came out strong in the end. That girl believed in herself.
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