Sydney Collier, a Texan who recently relocated to Boston University, is an undying lover of all things fashion and food. In an attempt to express her adoration for creating the perfect outfit, she began an Instagram page dedicated to showcasing her favorite clothing and statement pieces almost two years ago. Explain the roots of her profile, Sydney explains that she “just started looking at other fashion blogs and really liked what they did. I had support from my friends who were telling me that I should start one too, so I did.”
She began building her page by following other fashion Instagram accounts, gaining insight about the mechanics of running a fashion-based profile as well as finding inspiration through her feed. And as her page grew, so did her style. “I would say that when I first started the account, [my style] was really preppy. But it has molded into something else…I’ve become a lot more relaxed. I’m now really into relaxed things that are still really cute or that you can dress up and down. I also love taking one piece and being able to do a lot of things with it.” As Sydney grew up and moved away from home for college, her style inevitably changed. She has been going along with the changes and allowing herself to experiment in order to find her true style.
However, merely a year into posting fashion content to her Instagram page, the pressures of social media became too much, and she took a hiatus from posting. “I felt like I was constantly thinking about my next outfit and who was going to take the picture. I felt obligated to spend a lot of money on clothes, and so I just didn’t think it was a very good mindset to be in. So I stopped for a really long time, almost a year.” However, she recently began posting again, proving her love for fashion is deeply rooted. Once again, the unwavering support of her friends gave her the extra push to start posting. “I had support from friends who relieved those fears of having to spend money. They kept telling me that it wasn’t a big deal if I posted something like the same shirt multiple times but mixed it up.”
In fact, upon reactivating her account, Sydney has added another aspect to her content: food. “I love food. My friends call me a food snob! I’m not picky in terms of the type of food I like, but I can be picky about quality. So eating in dining halls is hard.” In an attempt to combine both of her passions on one page, Sydney is adamant about exploring all of the best restaurants Boston has to offer and documenting her experiences for her followers. She currently has a long list of prospective locations that she want to visit and is eager to frequent them all.
At the moment, her meal of choice is brunch. “I’m obsessed with brunch. So that’s my current mission right now, to find the best brunch place.” So far, she has found brunch bliss at Tatte Bakery & Cafe in Brookline and Neighborhoods Coffee & Crepes in Fenway. She loves Neighborhoods Coffee & Crepes particularly for their reasonable prices and unique menu. “They have all of these different crepes that are really, really decently priced. They have sweet and savory, and they have a ton of different coffee and different types of lattes. And not just basic options like vanilla lattes, they put their own twist on it. I once had a latte with honey, cinnamon and nutmeg in it which was really good.”
Along with her Instagram page, Sydney expresses her love for food and fashion through writing for those respective sections for The Buzz, BU’s lifestyle and culture magazine. “I really love [writing for The Buzz]. I think it’s a classy magazine, and they really do a good job with the editing. It’s definitely given me a really cool way to get out in the city and try new foods in different restaurants and to just be creative.”
To top it all off, she has an active blog on WordPress about her opinions and insights about the world in general, veering away from her typical food and fashion topics. And while she is pursuing a psychology major, it is clear that writing is an integral part of Sydney’s life. “I know I didn’t want to write for a living. But, I feel like having a blog is a really great in-between. It’s just a great side hobby, like something I can do for fun and a way to express my opinions. And, people aren’t harping on me to get articles in, it’s something that I can do in my free time.”
So what does the future have in store for Sydney? She in the midst of pursuing a dual degree in psychology and public relations and strives to obtain a job performing behavior profiling of criminals for the FBI. “It’s a very hard, almost unobtainable goal,” she says, laughing. “If I can’t join the FBI for any reason, I would love to do non-profit PR. So I guess the PR is the portion that fits in with the blogging and social media life, because that’s so big in public relations.” No matter what Sydney does in the future, we know she will do it in style!
You can follow Sydney on her WordPress and Instagram for more of her content!