What’s your blog name?
The Borrowed Babes
Where did the name come from?
The Borrowed Babes was an idea between myself and a friend because we lived our BEST lives by using Rent the Runway and various rental services before it was mainstream. Everyone thought we were totally insane, a little weird and probably a little gross because people were new to renting and returning clothing. We talked about starting a blog all the time but never pulled the trigger. However, in September of 2016 we SAW THE SIGN. We entered an Instagram contest to attend NYFW and joked about what we would do if we won the trip and how we’d become BFF with all the big bloggers and brands over cocktails and then kept on living life. Then one Tuesday afternoon of Fall Fashion Week 2016 I received the email saying I’D WON. I was going to NYFW with Rebecca Minkoff. I invited my BFF and we hopped on a flight on Thursday night and we were off to NYC. We knew it was meant to be so we started The Borrowed Babes Fashion Blog the Friday night of NYFW in 2016 and have been blogging ever since.
Where do you live?
Newport Rhode Island
Tell us more about you and your blog
The Borrowed Babes, written by Stephanie Mack Kearney, is a Fashion blog focused on looking luxe for less. She uses wit, southern sass, and the occasional awkward photo to give the fashion world a humorous take on utilizing high-end clothing rental services mixed with wardrobe staples from your favorite local boutiques to slay the everyday runway. Stephanie started blogging in late 2016 after winning her way to the front row of NYFW courtesy of fashion designer, Rebecca Minkoff and hasn’t looked back since. It is her goal to make fashion more fun for everyone and uses her blog as an outlet for creative fashion freedoms that don’t always fit the 9 to 5 bill.
What people don’t realize about blogging is…
Blogging requires far more creativity, tech-savvy knowledge and financial backing that most people ever care to consider. The women you see writing about fashion are some of the most intelligent, independent, and confident women you’ll meet and more people should understand the amount of work they put into it.
What are 3 things you wish you knew about blogging before you started?
- How to Ask for Help Sooner – most bloggers are more than willing to give you pointers…just ask. Some will respond and some won’t; but it’s better to ask than to sit around doing the same incorrectly thing over and over but expecting a different result.
- Just How Hard it is to Look Great in Photos – No really…it’s tough. If someone had taught me at a younger age to understand my body angles and how to not look like Quasimodo in pictures that would have been WILDLY appreciated. Since starting my blog I’ve met tons of bloggers who offered lots of helpful tips on what they do to get the best pictures and it’s been life-changing and confidence boosting.
- Not Everyone Plays Fair, But That Doesn’t Mean You Can’t – It’s disheartening but as someone who works for a brand and is also a blogger I’ve learned so much about ways people can work the system. It will downright deflate your salils so quickly when you see someone that started a blog 2 days ago with 50k followers. But at the end of the day this is about doing what you love and not getting Insta-famous. If you are working hard and working the right way, things will eventually work out. So you don’t have 1m fake followers? So what? The 500 followers you do have are real and they engage and that’s worth far more to you and a brand, than any bot can offer.
What’s been your most memorable moment as a blogger?
My favorite memory is a toss-up between attending NYFW which is what helped me start the blog. Plus, being asked to guest on a podcast because of my blog. I had an odd dream as a child growing up that I’d be the next Elvis Duran and that was the closest I came to living out that dream.
Books or Podcasts? Tell us your favorite.
Podcasts! The Lady Gang, The Gary Vee Audio Experience, & Jax radio babe podcasts, Babecast & But First, Brunch.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee
What’s one product you can’t live without?
My toothbrush. It literally goes everywhere with me and I keep several of them in several convenient places like desk, car, purses, clutches, pockets, etc. You get the drift.
What’s been your favorite post you’ve worked on?
My favorite post was a partnership with a local non-profit called Rethreaded. (I split my time between Newport, RI and Jacksonville, FL…Rethreaded is in Jacksonville.) I have always been active in the community by serving on several non-profit boards and just volunteering whenever I can, so when they reached out to me I was so psyched. Their business model is amazing and the work they are doing to help raise awareness and support victims of human trafficking is second to none.
We love our apps, which ones do you swear by for your business?
My favorite blog related app is Cut Story. I love posting videos to IG stories but don’t like to film them in 15-second intervals so I film them and use Cut Story to chop them on based on whatever platform I am posting them on. Saves tons of time.
