Pearl Westwood started her blog Fashion Pearls of Wisdom back in June 2007. She's Manchester's resident fashion expert who seems to know all the right shop assistants and where the sales are, how to get the best of ebay and vintage and is a designer fashion encyclopedia. She also recently opened her own online vintage shop http://www.shopstreetstyle.com/. She does all this while battling long term health problems making her one inspiring blogger in my mind as well as a really lovely person. So let's get to know her...

Images belong to Pearl, used with her kind permission.

From your blog posts and my own experience shopping with you you seem to be a real vintage expert, opening your shop must be exciting, would you like to tell us about it?  

I think of myself as a super fan, I just can’t get enough of learning about clothes, seeing clothes from difference eras and so on. I decided to open my online vintage shop because a lot of people have said to me they adore vintage looks but don’t quite know how to incorporate them into their style. There are many people who like to do the full vintage look the 1940s is a popular era where the clothes, hair and make-up are recreated. Yet many people still want to have a modern look but to incorporate vintage elements for a unique style. In my shop I currently only stock vintage clothes which are easily styled up in a modern way, to show how easy it is to add a little vintage to your wardrobe.  

Manchester is quickly becoming my favourite place to shop with our shopping sprees. What's your favourite thing about the area and how would you describe the sense of street style and shops? 

Manchester is a real mix; there is a shop to suit everyone I am sure. The Northern Quarter has seen a big re-development over the last few years with the number of vintage shops growing. Oxford St is a great place to take a stroll for a vibrant array of vintage shops from proper thrift stores like Ryan’s vintage to Retro Rehab who rework vintage garments with a modern twist. Street style is varied to from the dolly birds who frequent Harvey Nic’s to the vintage lovers in the Northern Quarter and the High Street chicks; you certainly won’t be short of people to snap.

 What inspired you to start blogging and has your motivation to carry on posting changed at all?  

I first started blogging as I wanted to record my experiences with fashion, from bad outfits to good outfits, style tips and discovering the history of brands and trends. My motivation is still the same although I have come to incorporate a much wider range of topics such as fashion and feminism, ethics in fashion and body image.

What were the hardest challenges to solve or work round in your early blogging days? What is the very best thing from your blogging experience?  

The hardest things for me are the technical issues; it took me some very frustrating long nights to figure out certain elements. But I have found perseverance and the help from other bloggers get your there in the end. The best thing about blogging has to be the friends made along the way; you really enter into a community of wonderful like-minded folks. 

Do you feel your style has evolved at all since you began blogging? I've seen a few floral and pink things lately!

My style is constantly evolving! I think you are to blame for the floral embracing Florrie! This year my style has softened a lot, with the florals, lighter colours and more girly dresses. I think this comes from the influence of friends and designers but also from a shift in my life and personal circumstances. For a long time I wore clothes like amour, it is easy to feel safe and protected wrapped in a leather jacket, staple black trousers and sharp heels. I think this comes from working in a very competitive environment, but through suffering from ill health this past year I have started to ease out of my shell and be more open. Life is too short to spend time worrying, it is there for enjoying.  

I sense a Vivienne Westwood obsession, what is it about the designer and her brand you like so much?

I first fell in love with Vivienne Westwood many years ago. I was working as a waitress serving breakfasts in a hotel/bar and the manager and I got on fabulously. His name was Manolo (like the shoes) he was a good deal older than and one day he asked me to accompany him to buy a tie for him to wear to a wedding. This was the first time I ever went into a Vivienne Westwood shop, at the time the shop in Manchester was in a different location and it was a very long, slim building. It was like entering wonderland, the shop itself was beautiful and the treasure inside like something I had never seen before. Whilst Manolo tried on endless outfits, the sales assistant kindly explained to me all about the Rocking horse shoes which I was in awe of. The one thing that caught my eye was the beautiful crystal encrusted orb logo brooch which was to become the first piece of Westwood I bought a few years later. From then on I learnt a lot more about Vivienne, her history, her design influence and all the campaigning she does. We can learn so much from her, I think she is a really fascinating woman. 

What's the best piece of blogging advice you've been given and would you like to add some wisdom of your own?  

Be yourself. I see many blogs who seem to imitate other more famous bloggers and it never works, it always seems false. Be true to yourself and blog about things you are passionate about; don’t worry about how many followers you have etc. If you are blogging because you want to be famous or make lots of money they you will be sorely disappointed. Having one person who is truly interested in reading your blog is so much more valuable than having hundreds of ‘empty’ followers. The best advice I can give you is to write from the heart and people will read. Don’t be shy to interact with other bloggers, I don’t mean spam up their blogs with ridiculous comments saying ‘follow me’ and leaving your blog link ten times, that is just disrespectful. Read blogs you are genuinely interested in, leave meaningful comments and gradually you will build up friendships with fellow bloggers. Blogging should be fun, like everything if you don’t enjoy it your probably shouldn’t be doing it! I would also like to add that you will never know about a huge percentage of your readers, it is mainly other bloggers who comment and follow with Google/Bloglovin but check your stats, there will be plenty of readers who simply bookmark your blog. Beware that your blog isn’t private; anyone can read it and stumble across it. I can’t tell you how shocked I still get when someone says ‘Oh I read your blog’ so top tip, don’t write anything you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of a newspaper.