Aurélie vandekerkhoven

The cute vlogster and instagrammer

"What ya all looking at? Kylie Jenner has hips too"

Hello Aurélie,

First of all, thank you that you wanted to be a part of our project.

You have a lot of followers on Instagram and started one year ago a youtube channel.

How did you do to have a lot of followers on Instagram? Was it a goal you wanted to achieve?

"Ok, I’ll be honest with you guys... When I was 14 years old, I followed random people and then unfollowed them. I realized that this couldn’t be the way that people gained followers. So I started to share other people's accounts in hope that they would share mine too. In that time, I didn’t really look at it as a goal, I just wanted people to see my posts and inspire them. Nowadays I just try to be nice on Instagram. When you like someones pictures and they think that you have a nice account, they automatically follow you back. It isn’t my goal anymore, my goal is to inspire people and learn them to accept themselves."

When and why did you get the idea of starting a Youtube Channel?

"I look at a lot of vlogs myself. I like to see what people are up to. In a certain way it learned me to respect influencers. At first, I thought that they had an easy life. But a vlog shows you that they need to work hard en that it isn’t always easy.

In the past, I've got a lot of comments myself and I am not even an influencer.. In this way I wanted to show people who the person is behind the pictures on Instagram. I’m also addicted to makeup! I like to share my makeup looks and show people how to create them."

What are you talking about in your vlogs? Do you try to bring self-acceptance in it?

"In my vlogs people get to see my projects, my trips or just a simple day in my life. The self-acceptance part is more a thing on my Instagram account. I’ll tell you some more about this in the following questions."

What do you want to transmit to people with your Instagram & vlogs?

"Like I already said, I want to inspire people. When I see a pretty girl on instagram who has also cute pictures, it just makes me really happy. I liiiiiiike looking at pictures and just scroll through all of these Instagram posts. I also want to share my outfits. My clothes are my own way to express myself. When I’m sad I’ll wear black and when I’m happy I’ll wear my yellow Tommy Hilfiger sweater and my jeans with a lot of flowers on it. AND not to forget, my Stan Smiths! I also mentioned that I want to show people who I really am with my vlogs. I expose myself without makeup, which makes me very fragile. Sometimes I get to work on a certain project and you get to see the results of it. But people never know what I had to do to get to these results. You can look at my vlogs as a way to communicate with my followers and the people who are interested. "

Do you pay attention to which photos and descriptions you choose to post?

"YES! I am and will always be a girl. I am someone who literally takes 100 pictures and thinks that there’s just one great pic out of them all. I used to edit my pictures with the fade option on Iphone. Don’t ask me why, but they removed this effect with their update. I was really upset.. I know this sounds ridiculous but I used this effect through the years. All my pictures were matching and I just couldn’t use it anymore. I decided to get the VSCO app and started to explore it. When you go take a look at my account, you can see that I use different effects now, but I kind of like it. I am not this busy with the descriptions under my pictures. When I have a good one in mind, I write it down. But sometimes I just post a picture without using a description."

You write under a lot of photos things like “What ya all looking at? Kylie Jenner has hips too” and “Kzen ni van de smalste, maar alez ik kan wel door de deur” As we can see from these descriptions, they are made with a funny touch. Why did you decide to do it that way?

"I know that I’m not that skinny, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t look cute. I know that it isn’t an easy process to accept yourself. Last year, I gained some weight myself. I found out that my thyroid worked to slow. Now I take medication to make it work normal. It is not easy to lose these pounds. I tried but I had to work reeeeeally hard for it. BUT I also need to be honest with you guys and tell you that I’m a food lover. Food just makes me happy and I enjoy the dinners with my boyfriend, parents or friend. And that’s what’s important! Do what makes you happy. And if food makes you happy, then just fucking enjoy your burger at Mcdonalds!"

Why is it so important for you to show people your self-confidence?

"I always get to hear ‘but you look so confident’. Guys I AM NOT CONFIDENT. I just try to make the best of it. And most importantly, I just want to show people that they can’t get me down just because I don’t fit a size one. Everyone has the right to feel good about themselves. And I like to create cute outfits to make myself look nice. And that’s what I’m confident about."

What was the inspiration you had to think like that?

"Iskra Lawrence !!"

What could we do in your eyes, to feel better in our skin and in front of a camera?

"It all starts by yourself. Take a look in the mirror and start to see what you have instead of what you could have had. Take care of your skin! If you don’t feel good about yourself, start to do some sports. NOT to lose weight but just to be proud of yourself that you just found the courage to do it. And don’t forget that no one gets better when they're faking their self confidence. Talk about it with the people you love! And then you can start being a little more confident in front of a camera and share your beautiful self!"

What is your motto or most important lesson in life?

"My motto has nothing to do with fashion. I am a huge fan of cats. So just si hi to every cat you see."

With whom person would you change your life for a day and why?

"I would like to change with Danique for a day. She has her own shop named Most Wanted. And she’s working on a second one. She reached this all by herself! She can be so proud of herself, she has to be! I want to know how it feels like to have your own shop. I’m sure that it’s a lot of work but that’s okay."

What would you like to tell all girls and women? Do you have some advice for them?

"Support each other! Don’t try to get someone down. I know that you can’t love everyone but just step away from people who don’t make you feel good. And always do what you love and don’t think about what other people (could) say. People are jealous and don’t want you to work on yourself. But they can’t be the reason you stop loving yourself and stop what you do."

What are your future projects?

"I am going to make a video with Cato Coenen. You can find her on Instagram and Youtube as ‘Bits&Bobs’. Are u curious yet? Then stay tuned!"

What is your dreamjob?

"My dream is to start my own webshop. And maybe even start my own popup. Because I like food, maybe I can create something where you can shop AND eat.. I don’t know yet, I have still time to think about it. First I would like to finish school."

Thank you very much for your time Aurélie and we wish you a lot of success for the future!

"Always go for an outfit who matches your needs! My boyfriend took this picture while drinking a latte @ Kiss my coffee. We took some time for ourselves and went to Oostuinkerke for two days." (My T is from Zara)

"Go for glitter to sparkle up these cold days! (and a latte)"

"This was my favorite outfit during summer! I Could wear it all day and even not be ashamed." (Boots from Twinset / dress & bag from Liu Jo)

This picture was taken this summer. I went to Spain with my boyfriend and his family. I had a really nice time. This is a perfect outfit to wear on vacation. And I’m not sorry for the slippers ;) (dress from Zara / slippers from Lacoste / bag from Karl Lagerfeld / sunglasses from Dior)

Check her stylish Insta & vlogs!