Amidst all of the pandemic mania, I somehow blinked too quickly at the milestone that is…

Back in April 2010, I started my little blog. It all began in college, when part of an assignment was to create a webpage, and my obsession with shoes was at quite the high. I nabbed top marks for that assignment, and decided to develop it further onto something a bit more editorial.

I’ve always had an interest in web design and building, I taught myself HTML, CSS, PHP and Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator, joined a host website, learned CuteNews and FTP – all when I was 10 years old. I first began designing graphics of celebrity and anime characters I loved on my fan sites, and slowly developed it into more personal blogs (back when online diaries were a thing). I was in my mid teens when my skills were really honed in, and I designed layouts for other people at low prices.

When I started Killer Fashion in April 2010, blogging still wasn’t big and WordPress wasn’t even that popular. I joined Dot TK, a website URL shortening service to help establish my blog’s name and ease of access, which really helped me in the long run. I began forming quite the following, I had my creative outlet and my online presence was growing by the day. But 2012 was a tough year. In addition my Mam passing away in April and completing my Erasmus Year in Munich in July, in October my website hostess suddenly shut down and with it all my previous content and stats. I had to start afresh on WordPress and essentially rebuilt Killer Fashion from scratch.

Killer Fashion’s first layout, April 2010

By the end of my first year in 2013, I reached over 10,000 visitors, and four months later I doubled that. My first blog award nomination was in April 2014, where I was a finalist in the Littlewoods Ireland and PR Slides Blog & Online Publications Awards in the Best Fashion Read category. Other finalists included So Sue Me, Her.ie, Evoke.ie, Angela Scanlon, Town Mouse Country Mouse, IMAGE Daily, Help My Style by Darren Kennedy, Thunder & Threads by Leanne Woodfull and Frillseeker.ie.

The blog’s numbers kept rising, and by the end of 2014 I had over 50,000 visitors, by mid-2015 I garnered over 100,000, and by 2017 I surpassed 500,000! The numbers just kept growing and my hard work earned Killer Fashion the Silver Award Winner for Best Fashion Blog – Corporate at Blog Awards Ireland 2017.

I’ve collaborated with a number of brilliant brands, including Thomas Sabo, Stella & Dot, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, Regatta Great Outdoors, Dundrum On Ice, Dresses.ie and PrettyLittleThing. I’ve been interviewed by Irish Independent and Clothes.ie, and have interviewed Kathy de Stafford for Fields the Jeweller, Marloe Watch Company, Tola Vintage and Little Kiva.

The number of press trips around Ireland and abroad have been such an honour too, where brands, towns and restaurants have taken me to places I’d never been to before. I was also chosen as one of the influencers by Revolve Marketing & PR as to why working with us influencers can be important. Killer Fashion has become a go-to for many post-red carpet events with my fashion Best Dressed Lists, while also championing Irish designers and brands.

And of course, all of the events I’ve attended in the past 10 years have been amazing. From the very first Blogger Meetup (back when they were a thing!), where I met many of the OGs to the more intimate brand masterclasses, one-on-one opportunities and bigger events and celebrations. There have been many parties over this decade!

Looking back through eight years of content (on WordPress), my writing style has grown, my blogging content changed and overall I have matured. I am just as proud of the first posts published as I am of current collaborations.

But my blog wouldn’t be where it is today without my readers, those loyal from the beginning to the most recent visitors. I have reached 206 countries worldwide, (with my top five visitors hailing from Unites States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Australia), and have published over 1,000 posts, which were always written by me.

The blogging world is very different to my peak year of 2016, when people read & wrote blogs, but I will always be proud of Killer Fashion and I will always stay true to myself.

Thank You for 10 Years of Killer Fashion!

Nirina xx

Images © Nirina Plunkett