Interview | Style by Dillan

When I came across Dillan's blog and social media, I couldn't resist wanting to have him as a feature on this blog.  His style has even inspired me, because I find myself putting pieces together in my wardrobe that I never paired together before.  Dillan had a passion and thrived towards it with a determination we should all follow.  His posts not only discuss garments but the importance of health, wellness, motivation, and self-development to name a few.  

After just a few of his posts, you will be hooked!  There is a plethora of information that is perfect for any audience available alongside his gorgeous instagram which couldn't scream goals given how aesthetically pleasing each picture is.  Keep reading to learn more about this up and coming stylist!

Follow Dillan!

Youtube: StylebyDillan

Instagram: @StylebyDillan

Blog: www.stylebydillan.com 

Twitter: @StylebyDillan

What motivated you to go start a mens fashion blog and platform? 

I have always been interested in Fashion and growing up I would get a lot of people complimenting my style and asking me for style advice. I had an Instagram page before my current page which I used to post outfit flat-lays on.

Long story short, I wasn’t enjoying my job and after a nudge from a friend I decided to start my own page which initially was just on Instagram. After about 6 months on Instagram I decided to start my blog so that I could give more depth on specific topics.

How would you describe your style?

I don’t know if I really have a specific style, some people dress really smart and others like to dress in more of a street style. I personally love to dress all different ways. If you look at my Instagram where most of my outfits are posted, you can see that sometimes I like to dress super smart and other days I like to wear more oversized clothing in a street style.

I guess you could call my style random depending on how I am feeling on the day. I have noticed that as I get older I am favouring the smart tailored looks more but that doesn’t stop me from dressing super street at times.

Who/what inspires your outfits and style? 

My inspiration comes from all types of things and people. Instagram is full of incredibly stylish people and it seems everyday I find someone new who’s style is incredible. My street style inspiration comes a lot from hip hop culture and also Kanye West. I know a lot of people aren’t huge fans of Kanye but he is incredibly creative and I think his style is so DOPE!

When it comes to smarter and classier looks Mariano Di Vaio is someone who usually inspires me. He is an incredibly stylish guy and is definitely someone that inspires some of my outfit choices.

What is your proudest moment?

Hmm that is tough I still feel like I am a work in progress and still not anywhere close to where I would like to be. I feel proud every time I receive a message/email/DM from someone saying that I have helped them with something. Whether that be their style or something else that they have been dealing with in life.

What are you looking forward to in the future? 

I am looking forward to creating bigger and better content and working with large brands on campaigns. I really enjoy the process of creating dope stuff, I am going to be exploring this more as I create more travel and lifestyle content as well as fashion and fitness. I would also like to continue to bring value to people and to help more and more people going forward, the reason I started my personal brand was to bring value to people and this is something I will continue to try to do!

What is something you wish more people knew about you?

This is a tough one, I am not really sure to be honest. I guess I would say that I was not always the confident and outgoing person that I seem to be now. Back at school and during University I was outgoing but mainly to people I knew. You would have never seen me standing in the middle of a road packed with people having someone take my photos. I think what I am trying to say is that whenever you do something it helps you to grow. Stylebydillan has helped me to grow and helped me to become a better version of myself.

When I first started YouTube my videos were terrible I felt really shy and awkward talking to the camera. Over time you overcome this and slowly become more confident until you don’t even think about it. I think too many people worry about these small things, the best way to overcome them is by doing and learning as you go!

What advice would you give youngsters for achieving their dreams? 

The world is changing, find your passion early and follow it. Do whatever makes you happy it doesn’t matter what this is because in this day any passion can be turned into a career. Who would have thought 10 years ago that people would earn millions of dollars a year playing video games?

Learn to be humble, grateful and kind. Society draws us into thinking we need things which we really don’t need. You don’t need a Mercedes, or 20 pairs of Yeezy’s and they will most definitely not bring you happiness. When you decide that you don’t need these things then you will make better money decisions which will in turn help you to pursue your dreams. I find that a lot of people use the excuse of not having enough money to start a business. However, you will see them driving a brand new Mercedes and they will have the newest iPhone every 6 months. There is a difference between wanting nice things and needing them, live humbly and build, then buy those things later.

I started Stylebydillan whilst working a 9-5 job. In the evenings and on the weekends when most people watch Netflix or spend money hitting the club I would work and create content. Whatever time you have now make the most of it because trust me, later in life you will wish you started earlier.

What is one lesson you learnt while pursuing your dreams? 

I have learnt a lot of lessons, the main ones I think would be to be consistent, persistent and not to expect things from others. When you start to pursue your dreams it is likely that people that you thought were close to you do not support you. Don’t let this get you down, your true friends and family will always be there for you. Just keep working and never give up.

Consistency and persistence are super key too, sometimes you can feel like you are doing great things but nothing great has happened. Just keep working because great things will come, you never know how close you are to that big break and you don’t want to quit when you are literally a day away from it!

Patience is also SUPER important, nothing happens overnight, anything great and long lasting will take time and effort to build. I know you only asked for one lesson but I want to try and pick out some main ones so that anyone that reads this has as much help as possible haha.

Another big lesson is to stop caring about the opinion of others. People will tell you that you can’t do something because they can’t do it themselves. It is also common to have people close to you such as your parents not agree with what you are doing. In Asian culture is less common for people to follow their dreams, most people follow a similar path in life of GCSE’s, A-levels, University and then a Job as a Banker, Accountant, Dentist or Doctor. So when somebody decides to do something different it is usually frowned upon because people don’t understand it. Follow your heart and do what makes you happy!

Fun fact about you?

After University I spent 3 years working and studying simultaneously to become a Chartered Accountant. During this time, I was also in the process of building ‘Stylebydillan’. I recently stepped away from working as a Chartered Accountant to follow my passion.

Number one fashion tip?

My number one tip would be to follow your own style and dress however makes you feel confident and happy. My motto is ‘look good, feel good’ because I think the way we dress plays a big part in how we feel. Also, I would say don’t worry about expensive clothes and brands if you can’t afford them. It is more about how you wear the clothes, fit is so so crucial so whatever you are buying and wearing make sure it fits you properly. You can have a $3,000 suit that doesn’t fit well or a $100 suit that fits perfectly and the $100 suit will look better every time!

Follow Dillan!

Youtube: StylebyDillan

Instagram: @StylebyDillan

Blog: www.stylebydillan.com 

Twitter: @StylebyDillan