Meet the Co. Derry influencer who wants to inspire women to be their own kind of fabulous

Meet Ruth Cooper, a vibrant fashion influencer from  Swatragh, Co. Derry. After starting social media in 2020 Ruth has been inspiring older women to not lose their shine and be their own kind of fabulous. Here she talks to Aoife McManus about her inspirations, the highs and lows of social media and her favourite looks.

Influencer: Ruth Cooper

Instagram, Tik Tok & Youtube: @shelikesherstyle 

Q. What does Fashion mean to you? Tell me about who/what inspires you?

I have always been interested in fashion. I have loved dressing up since I was a wee girl. 

There wasn't a lot of money when I was growing up, really. So when I was growing up I improvised a lot with my mum's stuff. When I was a teenager I would’ve used her belts and things and did what I could with what I had.

I've always loved color, and I've always loved print and pattern. I just got more confident when I got older. I started my Instagram account in 2020. My confidence really built from the support I had there. It is such a lovely community I have there. There aren't a lot of vibrant people like me out there, that’s why I started my Youtube, a lot of what I was seeing was bland and unrelatable. I want women to be able to wear colour not feel as if they have to be invisible, especially as they get older.

It’s so nice to have people egging you on to go for it. In Northern Ireland, sometimes we're too worried about what other people think. It takes a while to get outside of that. I just think, listen, this is who I am. You know? It's their problem, not my problem. Does it matter what I'm dressed in or if they think I'm too dressed up. 

So it took me a long time getting over that. But over the years, certainly, since I got older, you start to care less about that kind of thing. I just do me. 

Unfortunately, it's too bad that it takes us getting into our forties at least before we start thinking that way. If I could say anything to my younger self I would say do it, start earlier. 

I don’t think people should be conforming to dress a certain way. You live and you learn, maybe it's just something that comes with age.

Q. What trends/brands are your favourite? 

I'm not a designer girl. I'm mostly a pre-loved girl.

I'm not snobby about brands at all. I find that most things you can take and style and look amazing. So I'm a big fan of looking at a million dollars, but on a budget. 

I do a lot of videos for my YouTube, such as ‘This outfit cost me £20.’ 

So, that's my thing. I buy from the high street. I'm not a designer girl. Never was. So it's a high street brand for me. Dunnes Stores are hard to beat at the minute. I’m not really a H&M girl as they are too bland for me. I like colour. It's lovely to have something different, like a piece that stands out. That’s why I love pre-loved nobody else is walking about wearing it. 

I don't want people to dress the same as me. I want people to be inspired to try a whole different look and try to find their style that suits their personality. 

I don't really do trends, but with being on TikTok and Instagram, I see things coming through. But what I normally do is I don't rush out to buy them. I try to think because, generally, I have the things sitting in my wardrobe already. 

Then maybe it's just a matter of adding a different item to sort of bring it out, I think I do trends in my own way. I think for my age, I dress probably pretty young, but not stupidly young. 

I’ll never be an all black girl. I ordered a black summer dress a while back. It was terrible on me. My friend saw it and told me to take it off instantly, It wasn't me at all. 

I'm not one for following celebrities or anything. I was slightly influenced back in the day by Sarah Jessica Parker from Sex and the City. I just loved her style, it was amazing.

I'm also a boho girl at heart. It depends on how I'm feeling. Most of the time I plan my outfit the night before, I'm a planner

Q. Have you encountered any drawbacks to social media?

I’ve only been TikTok since April, so my account's quite new there.  I really I'm actually enjoying it, but I'm noticing that some of the girls get trolled a lot. So far, I haven't had any issues like that. 

I think you have to be quite outspoken maybe. I'm not really that kind of person. I'm just there to sort of shine in my way and try and inspire people. So, I always think, it's hard to be not nice to a nice person. 

I haven't had any detriment to any of my social networks. I'm very, very pleased with social media, but there's always a first, I suppose.

I've had one or two comments on YouTube, but they're always faceless people. I always think it's very safe for them to say whatever they want to say. But I just hit the delete button

Q. What do you love most about doing what you do?

I love the community. I have made so many lovely friends, and we're all very supportive.

I have made one really good friend in England. We talk all the time and we do style videos together. I'm over to her house. She comes over to mine. She's like a sister. There are really good strong friendships formed, just love it.

It has become my passion. I just love to dress well, and I just want everybody else to feel good about themselves too. You know, that kind of thing. I want it to be contagious or infectious.

People underestimate sometimes how much work probably goes into social media. One day recently I had to do content for a footwear company.

There are two pairs of shoes. I started filming at 11am. I didn't finish until 1.30pm and that was just me changing into five different looks. Then I spent two hours editing. That was for a twenty five minute video

Even though it is hard work, especially on top of my job, I love it. When I was younger I wanted to be a hairdresser. My parents sort of thought an office career would be better so I worked as a travel agent and ended up in an office environment. If I was to do things differently from the beginning I would've pushed more to creative side flow. 

So I'm just coming to things a little bit later in life, but, I just think it doesn't matter what age you are. I think you can reach for new things. I say I've just been working hard for five years on building this whole thing.

I think I'm quite good at it. Having people encourage you definitely helps.

Q. What would you tell someone who is thinking of making their own content on social media?

I would tell them to go for it. Just post and keep posting. You can build connections. You will enjoy it if you are a naturally creative soul. It’s brilliant. 

My catchphase is “Be your own kind of fabulous”. I think everybody can be their own kind because we're all unique.

Nobody is the same. So just do what you think. That's my mantra.

Ruth’s favourite looks

Look 1: 

Day out in Portstewart April 25: Dress Shewin collab/ Shoes Dream Pairs collab/ Bag Nephele 

Look 2: 

Sunday in Garvagh, April 25:  Dress S24 Seasalt / Shoes Dream Pairs/ Bag Nephele. 

Look 3: In the garden, Outfit for the office June 25: Outfit fully preloved / Nephele Alice bag 

Look 4: Office outfit - skirt S24 New Look / Blazer Lovely Looks Boutique/ T-shirt Droodle / Shoes Adidas / Bag Nephele