Violet LeBeaux is the author of one of my favorite blogs of all time.  I first came across Violet’s site last year, and was totally blown away by this post she wrote about turning old socks into a pair of bunny slippers.  Violet’s blog is a glittery whirlwind of hime gyaru fashion, craft tutorials and snapshots.  She also has a library of easy-to-follow hair and makeup tutorials that show you how to create the most adorable style imaginable.

Violet moved to Melbourne earlier this year.  Since then, she and I have met up plenty of times, and have shared plenty of jokes and advice via email.  She’s probably the most awesome person I have met through my blog so far, and I know that I’m always going to have an fabulous time whenever we meet up.  Violet is even cuter in person than she is on her site.

 

Violet is more than just a pretty face though.  She’s a fiercely motivated businesswoman, with a creative wisdom that blows me away.  Not only has she built up a widly popular website, she also runs a design business with her partner.  Violet published a book earlier this year called Blogging in Style with Violet.  She has also recently launched a new project called The Registry, which is a comprehensive list of Australian blogs by category.  She’s been one busy cookie!

 

 

 

I decided to interview Violet about blogging and fashion, as part of an ongoing series of interviews with fashion bloggers.

 

 

What prompted you to start writing your blog?

I was at home a lot during a persistent illness and I wanted a way to entertain myself that wasn’t too taxing. I had been reading other people’s blogs and blogging via livejournal for years and I thought it would be a fun way to catalog all the crafting I was doing at the time too.

 

 

In your opinion, what is the best part of blogging?

Getting to meet so many new people that have similar interests that I probably would never have met without my blog! I cannot tell you how many wonderful people I’ve met through writing. Even you, I probably would never have met you had I not been online and now I would consider you a really good friend  You meet all types online and in my experience the good out weighs the bad 100 to 1!

 

 

 

What is your least favorite thing about being a blogger?

Having to work to deadlines! Sometimes it can be really hard to write well consistently and stick to deadlines (either self imposed or set by others) especially when you just aren’t feeling creative. I find at those times it’s best to ask others for suggestions for what everyone wants to read because it can be the smallest things that will inspire me all over again.

 

 

What is the most daring fashion purchase you have ever made?

Probably my leopard print dress/top, while it probably doesn’t seem like a daring purchase for most people it’s much shorter than anything I had previously worn and much more I suppose sexy XD. For so may years I was in to Lolita fashion which is all about being cute and covering up so making a purchase like that was so far from what I was used to that it was really scary to take that leap!

 

 

How do you get dressed in the morning? Do you plan your outfits in advance, or do you make them up as you go along?

When I know I have to get up really early I try to think about it the night before but to be honest most of the time I’m disorganized and tend to go with whatever I can find in the morning! I usually pick one piece like a dress or skirt and plan the rest of the outfit around that, though that usually changes when I find out I don’t have any clean matching stockings hahaha!

 

 

What is the best beauty tip you have ever heard?

Using hair pieces for volume or instead of teasing isn’t cheating, it’s just saving your hair from being damaged.

 

What do you do to get out of a style rut?

Sulk XD haha no that’s what I do when I’m in the rut! To get out of the rut I try to do something completely different, wear something that I wouldn’t normally wear or get inspiration from friends. I try to mix things around in my wardrobe so I don’t get bored as easily but there are some times when nothing seems to look right so the only cure is a shopping trip!

 

 

 

 

What are five items in your wardrobe that you couldn’t live without?

-Pink chiffon floral dress

-White stockings

-White cardigan

-Hair flowers

-Leopard print beret

 

 

Can you name a couple of your personal heroes and tell us a little about why they inspire you?

Argh there are so many *_* I think I’m inspired a lot by growing up in the 90’s and the cartoons and comics I used to read. One of my biggest personal heroes is Kirstie Allsop because she not only dresses impeccably but she has a fantastic sense for business, speaks her mind (with a wicked sense of humor) and above all enjoys creating things by hand. I think I tend to admire people less for their style than for their ability to work with what they’ve got so most of my heroes are my friends or people I know directly. While it’s not too difficult look lovely when you have the budget to hire a stylist, make up artist and hair stylist I am more impressed by regular people like my friends who are fantastic all by themselves ^_^

 

 

 

 

 

What is your idea of ‘the perfect day’?

Hmm waking up at a reasonable hour, catching up with friends online then spending the rest of the day relaxing with James just the two of us doing something special. We’re hoping to visit the Melbourne Zoo soon so that is going to be so much fun!

 

I want to thank Violet so much for taking the time to do this interview, especially at this busy time of year.  I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together.  If you have a few spare minutes today, you should slide on over to Violet’s site and check it out.