‘I’m pretty crippled with anxiety, to be honest. It can take its toll on me’
Asked to describe her style, Carol Byrne says: “Glam”.
It’s fitting ‘glam’ is a term made popular by the Kardashians, as the Dublin fashion influencer is an Irish version, albeit on a smaller scale, of the Californian sisters who have turned their following on social media into a billion-dollar dynasty.
Growing up with five football-mad brothers, budding fashionista Carol naturally veered towards all things girly, particularly stilettos. “I definitely feel more confident in a pair of heels. Because I worked in hospitality, I used to do 12-hour shifts in a pair of heels.
“Funny enough,” she says in reference to Dolly Parton’s famously tight calf muscles from wearing heels, “I’m the same, I would be more comfortable in heels than flats. I love Dolly.”
The former hospitality host — who has just released a sparkly collaboration called the Carol Byrne x Very Partywear Edit — began to attract a social media following when she started posting her stylish outfits for work in Dublin’s House five or six years ago. “It kind of just snowballed from there,” she says.
Style queen Carol Byrne has launched a new range with Very
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Now at 328,000 followers on her Instagram page, she remembers being amazed at watching the numbers explode. “It sounds so ridiculous and pathetic, but when I was nearly at 10,000 followers, I was like, ‘My God, I can’t believe I’ve nearly 10,000 followers’.
“When I reached 100,000, I was absolutely over the moon.”
Although Carol’s page is full of glossy shots of her kitted out in the latest fashions, she doesn’t try to project a perfect existence.
When she speaks about keeping in shape, she is refreshingly open about struggling with anxiety.
“I love swimming, but I do it more so because I suffer a lot from anxiety. Swimming for 45 minutes or whatever it is actually helps me a lot.
“I’m pretty crippled with anxiety, to be honest. It can take its toll on me. I started medication recently, because I was finding it so hard, and you know, you have to do whatever you have to do to deal with it.
“I definitely go [swimming] for my mind, because it manifests quite physically in me. If I’m anxious I shake and tremble and stuff. I hate that feeling, so I always have to go and swim it off. I do find it great.”
When asked if she has embraced the new trend for cold water therapy, she laughs, saying her love of swimming hasn’t extended to wild swimming. “God, no. I don’t know how people do that. I’ve such admiration for people who do the Forty Foot.”
When it comes to her own profession, she has plenty of admiration for the Kardashians — the ultimate influencers.
“I know they get a bit of flak but I just think they’re geniuses. Whatever they tried to do, they really cracked it. There’s a reason they’re as successful as they are.
“They’re smart women. I don’t understand why people give them a bit of grief because they’re anything but stupid.”
When Carol was growing up, fashion was seen mainly on supermodels on the runway or in magazines. “I loved the classics. Adriana Lima was gorgeous. I loved Kate Moss.”
But she adds: “It was all very curated.”
Style queen Carol Byrne has launched a new range with Very
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With the advent of social media platforms like Instagram, she believes women have access to all sorts of style icons.
“We’re open to everybody’s style, all different shapes and sizes, old and young.
“There’s a woman I follow, and she’s nearly 60, and she’s just fabulous. I love her style. There are girls I follow in their 20s. You can take a bit of everything from everyone.”
Now people see an outfit worn by someone on Instagram, and they simply click a button to buy it online. “It’s an easy buy and it’s a quick buy. If you like something that someone’s wearing, and they link it, it’s just there for you to buy.”
She describes the latest Very collection as “pretty versatile”.
“There are lots of full outfits, but there are lots of pieces you can mix and match with as well. There are knits, skirts, and sequins that you can pair up with stuff in your wardrobe as well.
“I was back and forth to Liverpool there a few months ago to meet with the buyers and pick out the pieces that are true to me.
“I’m delighted with all of them,” she says, adding: “I put a lot of care and attention into choosing just the right looks for all those important dates of the party season, and I’m passionate about making sure they work, whatever your shape or size.”
Carol says a red knit that pairs with a red sequinned skirt is one of her “hero” outfits in the 34-piece collection for the festive season, which offers styles starting from €28.
Her ultimate fashionista is Sienna Miller. “She’s really boho. I would wear anything she wears. I think she’s fabulous.”
Away from the camera she’s either “really glam or in leggings and tops, there is no between.”
While it’s hard to believe she has a grown-up son, it’s not surprising 23-year-old Conor has inherited Carol’s love of clothes. But she adds: “He has an entirely different style to me. He’s very arty, very much his own individual kind of style, very Harry Styles actually.”
Asked about maintaining her youthful looks, she happily volunteers: “Obviously Botox, I absolutely love it.
She adds: “I had a treatment done as well, called ultherapy, and I thought was great.
“It was a little bit sore but the results are good. It’s an ultrasound where they tighten your jaw area.”
Skincare is an avenue she is interested in exploring on her Instagram feed. “I think especially with skincare and foundations, you want to see it in real-time. You want to see it on real skin.
“I’ve never done beauty but I’ve started bringing a bit into my page. That’s the stuff I want to know when I watch people’s stories. What lipstick is that or what foundation is that? I’m trying to tap into that too.”
The down-to-earth influencer jokes she is not as enthusiastic about posting ‘before’ pictures. “I have found it quite vulnerable doing a ‘before’. You feel like ‘Oh God’, we’ll skip the ‘before’ and just do the ‘after’,” she laughs but adds: “But actually, I’m getting better.
“Procedures are just massive, it’s a whole industry. Women and skincare, I don’t think it will ever go out of fashion.
“Wanting to look better or a bit younger or fresher will never go out of fashion.”
