Kate Waterhouse is one-fifth of the cast in Fashion Bloggers, a new reality series that documents the lives of five independent Australian bloggers. Born into a prominent family of horse racers, Kate’s blog katewaterhouse.com is essentially a journal of the former fashion editor’s busy and glamorous life. She recently became a proud mother of an adorable baby girl and here’s our interview with the Aussie darling when we were in Sydney for the launch of E!’s Fashion Bloggers.
What is the best and hardest part about being a fashion blogger?
I’d say the best part is that it’s your own business. It’s running your own business and working on something that I love and that I’m really passionate about. But now being a new mum I also have the hours to be flexible and I can spend time with my daughter and also work the hours that suit me. And the worst? It’s probably that it’s constant. So there’s no off button. I think that all readers want constant updates, it just feels never ending so there’s no off button. It’s working all the time and full steam ahead but it’s what I’m passionate about.
You’ve spoken to many inspiring people – what is a recent or memorable life lesson that sticks with you from something that you’ve learnt from them?
I recently interviewed Giuliana Rancic. I spoke to her and she is someone that I’m really inspired by. I think that she’s so hardworking but she is really personable. Her personality comes across so well on TV and she has so many shows. She’s a mum as well so I said to her ‘How do you juggle your work life balance?’. She just said ‘I used to always try and give a little bit of myself to everything and I always felt like a failure.’ And it wasn’t until she decided that the days that she was working to give a 100% of her time to work and the days that she’s with her family she gives a 100% of her time to her family. There’s no crossover. I do think about that now being a new mum. So it was a really great thing to hear someone say and I learnt a lot from that.
Could you share with us the experience of the filming for the show?
It’s been crazy. You think that it’s not going to be that full on because they’re following your life – just how you would live it anyways. But it’s quite strange and surreal to have a film crew following you around and capturing every moment. I can’t wait to see what the show looks like because at the beginning I really felt that they were there but by the end it felt like they were just a part of the family and an extension of the room. So it’d be interesting to see what I say. Cause I’ve forgotten everything that we talked about.
So given the chance would you do it again?
Yeah! I love the producers and I really loved the experience so far. I don’t know what I’m like on TV so I probably will cringe every time I see myself on TV or hear what I say. But that will be a whole other side to it. But I did really enjoy the experience so far especially that it has fitted into my life and got to show what we do workwise as well. They’ve been following me into my office, my interviews, into my shoots so it’s really great that people get to see what we do. So often people don’t understand what bloggers do so I’m just excited for everyone to see what a day in the life of us is really like.
You mentioned that people don’t really understand what bloggers – what do you think is the biggest misconception that people have about your career?
People just think that you have a blog and it’s a little bit of fun and you put things up that you love. It’s just a fleeting thing where you can just pop things up. But they don’t realise every post that we put up has taken hours and hours of work. Whether it’s an interview where I spend hours preparing and then I can interview someone for 3 hours and it’s just a short interview on my blog. And I’m organising photographers, videographers, and locations. Or if it’s a ‘What I Wore’ post and I’m talking about what I’m wearing, there is preparation. I’m running around cause I don’t have an assistant so I’m getting all the clothing and styling every single look and then I’m organising a photographer, a location and the studio. And then I’m editing down all the photos. And people are like ‘Oh that was just a quick happy snap.’ They don’t realise it’s a day of work. I hope that comes across and people will go ‘Oh okay, I appreciate the time and effort that goes into every single post on her website.’
Is it strange for you that so much of your personal life is out there?
Definitely. It’s a fine line of what I feel comfortable putting out there. I’m actually quite a private person. I know that having a blog you do put yourself out there a lot but I’m quite a homebody. Even though I have this fashionable life and work life when it comes to me and my family, my husband and my daughter we’re just quite quiet and don’t really do all that exciting things. So it has been a bit daunting putting it out there. I think that the whole part of the show is showing not only your work but a little peek into your life. I thought it would be a misrepresentation if it just had me in my office. I wanted to show that my family is so important to me and it’s not just all about work for me. It wouldn’t be a right representation if I didn’t have my personal life in there too.
Have you been implementing your daughter into your work?
Yeah I have. She’s in the show. I haven’t really been putting her much on my website. My main focus is still fashion and whatnot. So I haven’t really gone down the baby side of things on my website. She’s a huge part of my life so I definitely have started to put her up on my Instagram and on my social media a little bit. Little snaps here and there. We did this amazing shoot with Australian Vogue and originally I got requests from various magazines about whether they could shoot my daughter and I was always very reluctant and I’ve always said no. But then I spoke to the editor of Australian Vogue Edwina McCann and she said ‘We’d really love to include her in the shoot and we really want to do a beautiful portrait.’ And I thought you know what, it’s Vogue and I’ll have these beautiful photos for the rest of my life. So things like that I’ve definitely been more open to. If it’s the right circumstance I’m all for it but it’s a new experience because she’s only 4 months old. So I’m at the moment trying to work it out as I go.
What do you like to do to unwind?
I’m very chilled. I’ve got such a busy lifestyle with my blog – attending lots of events, going to runway shows and styling lots of things and organising shoots for my blog so when it’s the weekend it’s very much quiet time. My husband and I we love really great food, so we love to go to really great restaurant sand cafes in around Sydney. We love to travel but also, we love the beach. We are very fortunate that in Sydney we live close to a beach and we love the water and outdoors, it’s just about unwinding just spending time together and relaxing.
Below: QT, Sydney
Speaking of relaxing, where’s a great hotel for a stay-cation in Sydney to relax in style?
In Sydney, I love the Park Hyatt. The Park Hyatt is very glamorous and you have all the big celebrities who stay there from Rihanna to Kim Kardashian so that’s like the ritzy one with the beautiful rooftop pool where you can relax and unwind. It’s got a beautiful view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. That’s definitely high on the list but it’s quite luxurious and it’s not for everyone. So if you’re looking for something fun I would definitely recommend the QT in Sydney. It’s quite quirky and cool – it’s a really young and happening place. It’s got great bars and restaurants. It’s got a great spa so it’s definitely one of our cool hotels. It just depends if you want that ultimate luxury or if you want that cool happening place.
Can you share some of your favourite beauty products?
I’m all about skin – I love having a really nice base so I love Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. I’ve used that for many years, that’s a really good one I used all year round. In summer I like to go for the Chanel Vitalumière. That’s the really nice dewy one which I find is good for summer months. I also love a bit of illuminisation so I love MAC Strobe Cream. Sometimes I mix that with my foundation to get that dewy look., YSL’s Touche Éclat pen is always a good highlighter. Then of course I can’t go pass a really great mascara. Estée Lauder have really great ones. Just a big volume one is something that I love.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I only started my website last year. I was a fashion editor of a newspaper here for many years and I started this off as a hobby and all of a sudden it snowballed and got bigger – I was very fortunate I had such a huge response from all my readersso I hope to keep growing it. I think with the show it would get even more exposure and I’m excited for that. I really want to get involved more with my readers and hopefully cater to them as much as possible. Personal life, I hope that in 5 years Sophia will have a little sibling but that’s further down the track.
What is one beauty or fashion product you always pack with you when you’re travelling?
I always take a really great lip balm. We have Lucas’ Papaw ointment which I find is the best – I use it for my lips but also if you’re travelling and you need a bit of luminizer on your cheekbones or on top of your eyes.
Catch Fashion Bloggers on Wednesdays, 10pm (Malaysia) and 9pm (Singapore) on E! (Astro Channel 712) with repeats on Thursdays, 8pm (MAL)
