Focus: The Carlson Sisters

The year is 2015 - Drake is my favourite artist, I have an orange foundation line round my chin, Amanda Steele (Makeupbymandy24) is my favourite youtuber, and I'm trying to convince my mum to buy me a Wildflower phone case in order to be one step closer to being the youtube it girl of my dreams.

Anybody who watched American youtube knows about Wildflower phone cases - they were covered in crazy patterns and jewels and if you had one on your phone you were automatically cooler than everyone else. Wildflower gained popularity after Miley Cyrus met two teenage girls sporting phone cases customised by their mum, and expressed an interest in wanting her own, and encouraged the family to create their own website and sell their cases to a wider audience. Suddenly, Michelle Carlson, along with her daughters Devon and Sydney, had their phone cases on almost every teenage girls phone in America, and if you didn't have one you were definitely trying to convince your parent to buy you one.

Fast forward to 2020, and Devon and Sydney Carlson are two of the most iconic 'influencers' on social media today. I am absolutely obsessed with the two of them, they are the two people who influence my style the most and thanks to both their youtube channels and their Instagram accounts, I feel like I'm actually friends with them. The sisters are both very different when it comes to style and personality, yet I am still in love with them, and I'm going to convince you to be too.

Let's start with Devon.

Devon's youtube channel is full of vlogs of her at different events, in different countries, doing hauls, showcasing her adorable dog Marty, or on tour with her pop star boyfriend and his band The Neighbourhood (I'm not even kidding). Her personality is incredibly endearing, and her vlogs allow us an insight into her lavish lifestyle without ever coming across like she is bragging or ungrateful - she speaks to her viewers like we are friends and she genuinely wants you to be a part of her day, something that is somewhat rare on youtube these days.

Devon takes very clear inspiration from Y2K fashion, whether it be the tiny shoulder bags and kitten heels, or the various animal prints and flared trousers. She can often been seen swapping clothes with her boyfriend Jesse, who shares a similar style to her and often appears in her vlogs, and even writes and produces original music for her to play throughout her videos. As Jesse is a pretty low-key person, and isn't on any social media, it feels really special to have this insight into their relationship. And I'm trying my best to not be dramatic here, but if they ever break up I'll probably never believe in love ever again. Devon's youtube channel is like a warm hug to me, I've literally seen every single video about 15 times yet you'll always find me watching one of her videos at least once a day.

Devon's most active form of social media is Instagram (@devonleecarlson), which I would say is my favourite but honestly I'm incapable of choosing a favourite. Here you will find her posting outfit pictures, photos of Martyn and Jesse, any magazine features etc. This is the best way of keeping up with what she is doing, as she only posts on youtube about once a month. I personally love Devon's Instagram as often you can find influencers, or even normal people in general, are really caught up in how others see their lives, and often post only their best bits on social media (something even I'm guilty of). Although I don't know Devon personally, it's pretty easy to see she uses her Instagram as a way of connecting with her fans rather than showing off her incredible life - most of her pictures are pretty unedited and she has no shame posting pictures with no make up on, and even posts pictures sporting a face mask from time to time. Her outfit pictures are my favourite posts of hers, and I have made an embarrassing about of mood boards out of only her posts - I often say if I could trade lives with anybody in the world it would be her.

Now lets talk about Sydney.

Sydney Carlson is probably the coolest person I have ever laid eyes on. Much like Devon, Sydney also has her own youtube channel where she posts vlogs about once a month. Sydney's vlogs are incredibly different to Devon's - she is often filming the antics her and her friends get up to, out clubbing, or being fed Dom Perignon by Megan Thee Stallion in Mexico. Sydney also never comes across as though she is bragging or trying to make her viewers jealous of her incredible lifestyle, it's like she's bringing a friend along to enjoy all the madness with her. Her hilarious sense of humour combined with her iconic and scandalous

friend group means you're guaranteed for a bundle of laughs when watching her vlogs. I'd probably describe Sydney's style as 'hot girl,' and she definitely takes a lot of inspiration from high fashion models and early 2000s icons like Paris Hilton (who even comments on her pictures) - I sometimes look at her and think about how she's essentially a human bratz doll. She's often seen in Jordan 1s, low rise jeans, and bikinis. I'm also incredibly jealous of her ability to pull off the 'thong poking out of jeans,' look. Her make up style is a lot more snatched and 'beat,' and she quite frankly has the best eyebrows I've ever seen in my life. Much like Devon, Sydney's main form of social media is Instagram (@sydneycarlson), however she is not an incredibly frequent poster like her sister, and probably posts about once every two weeks.

Her Instagram consists of pictures of her basically living her best life, whether that be sunbathing with a coconut in hand on a beach, or pictures of her before heading on a night out. She is the absolute master of posing, I've never seen anyone perfect taking instagram selfies quite like her, and I really try model my pictures after her (try being the key word here). One of my favourite parts of Sydney's Instagram is her highlights - these really allow us a deeper insight into her personality and act a bit like a mood board. They are filled with quotes, pictures of celebrities that she is influenced by, pictures of herself, the sky, and her dog. She also often posts vlog type videos on her stories, so even when she's not vlogging for youtube she's always keeping us updated on what she is up to and staying engaged with us all.

I really love these girls, like really love. I think they are a very fresh take on the influencer brand and you can tell they are incredibly authentic and don't let anyone's opinions impact how they act, or dress etc. They often appear in each others vlogs and it is so fun to see their dynamic and how they bond together even though they are both very different, and it is clear to see they both take inspiration from each other. Also the fact they are both girl bosses who juggle multiple careers is very inspiring for us females who wish to make our own way in the world. Seriously, if you don't follow these girls then WHAT are you doing !!!!

Drop out

When you're in your final year of high school, teachers start putting the pressure on you to decide what university you want to go to and try to get your applications completed and sent off ASAP Rocky. I know from my experience, which might not be everyone's experience, I was given very little support in terms of what the best path would be best for me, all I knew is that I HAD to go to university, because it was either that or live the rest of your life working a shitty minimum wage job because nobody would hire someone with no university degree. I was a pretty average student in high school, didn't really put much effort in and got B's in basically all my subjects, I didn't excel in any areas and all I knew was that I was bad at anything maths and science. My favourite subjects in school were RMPS and Philosophy, classes which I was pretty good in (or so I thought until I found out I failed my higher RMPS exam lol), so I thought 'yeah, I'll apply for that,' and after one incredibly traumatic interview and a few months of waiting, I finally had offers from some of the top universities in the country to study philosophy. As much as I was, and still am, very interested in this subject, I knew my heart wasn't in it from the start - I failed most of my exams in sixth year and did not meet my conditions for getting in.

So there I was, sitting with no plans for further study in September, no job (I frantically quit my part time job at McDonald's a few weeks prior because it ruined my life), and absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with myself. But I still knew I knew I had to go to uni, right? So, I started applying to courses in clearing - I found an architecture course at Edinburgh Napier and decided to apply to that. I've been massively interested in architecture for many years and it's something I am still very passionate about, so again I thought 'yeah I like that I'll apply,' without really thinking much of it. September rolled around and before I knew it I was a student at Edinburgh Napier. And I absolutely hated it.

The time in which I started uni was probably the most difficult period of my life for many reasons, and the anxiety that came with being a uni student in a city I barely knew made things increasingly difficult for me. I absolutely hated being there, it was making me resent something that I was passionate about and I very quickly became uninterested in studying and doing work. I had no idea what to do - all throughout high school we were told university is the path we have to take, and the though of dropping out scared the shit out of me because I thought I'd never get anywhere in life without a university degree. I felt so unbelievably alone at this time, but luckily I had the most supportive friends, family, and boyfriend around me, who reminded me that no degree is worth running yourself into the ground for, and that it's okay to not have your life planned out. At the end of the day, I had just turned 18, and the idea that you need to know what direction you want to take your life in at such a young age is pretty strange to me. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people do know what they want to do with their lives at that age and that's totally fine, it's actually pretty commendable considering I was completely clueless, but its okay to be confused and unsure. So, I dropped out of university.

Dropping out of uni and not having any job or anything to fall back on, and no plans for the future, was a pretty ballsy move in hindsight, but after a few days of searching on Indeed I managed to get myself an interview for River Island. It couldn't have been better timing, I had literally dropped out of uni a few days prior and desperately needed a job in order to fill my days and generate some sort of income for myself. I was given the job and decided to use my time working there to save up some money and assess all my different options for further study and where I wanted to see myself in the future. I still work there two years later and I absolutely love my job, as well as all my friends who work there - it's true what people say, you have a totally different relationship with your work friends, and they gave me massive amounts of help throughout my year off. It was a incredibly beneficial to have a year of life experience working in retail, as not only did I build massive amounts of confidence (due to having to stand up for myself when customers try do my job for me), but I also built an interest in the business side of things. In January I decided to apply to college to study a HND in business and human resources, which is what I'm now doing.

I'm currently close to finishing my first year of my course, and I am so happy and proud of myself for taking that year out - the girls I've met at college are some of my closest friends and I'm really enjoying the course, turns out I'm actually rather good at something I once had absolutely no interest in. I've even managed to get into uni to study risk assessment, which is something I actually want to do and can see myself having a future in. What I've learned over the past 2/3 years is that there is no correct way to do things once you leave high school - it's okay to drop out of university, it's okay to take time out to figure yourself out, and it's okay to not go down the paths that your high school pushes on you. If you're unsure about what you want in life, take some time to figure yourself out, and don't let anyone tell you what you're doing is wrong.