Blogging Sisters: Chloe and Claire Lee

Having a sister entails two things: looking after each other and learning that “sharing is caring.” Isn’t that how it usually works? Sisters fight, make up, and do it all over again the next day. Whether we like it or not, we’re stuck with them for life. However, it doesn’t always have to be a bad experience. Take bloggers Chloe and Claire, of Pear of Heels and Cachet de Chloé, respectively, for example. Although they own two separate blogs, they’re able to bounce back ideas to help each other excel in their careers.
Chloe, the older sister, created her blog after reading a Teen Vogue fashion blogger spread and being inspired by fellow blogger Justina Sharp of A Bent Piece of Wire. For two years, she was fascinated by Sharp’s content and finally asked herself, “Why not me?”
Claire’s story is a bit different. She attempted blogging, and even vlogging, during fifth grade only to shut down the project completely soon after. Three years later, she turned to blogging as her private world for herself due to the unpleasantries that come during middle school. (We’ve all been there, so we know what that’s like!) Even after someone had revealed her secret safe haven throughout the school, she decided to keep at it. Besides, she was leaving Chicago for Andover, anyway!
And Andover is where we are today with the girls. Specifically, Phillips Academy Andover. You might think attending a boarding school would be extremely hindering to their efforts at maintaining a blog. Well, you thought right. According to the two, it’s difficult to balance their studies, extracurricular activities, and social lives.
“We treat blogging as if it’s an elective,” they said. “It’s not a core course that requires constant attention, but it’s still important and we have to set aside some time to take photos for each other and write up our blog posts.”
Not only do the two master time and task management, but they can add ‘successful sellers’ to their resume. A majority of their shopping money comes from the popular buyer-seller app Poshmark.
“We were starting to blog more seriously and we needed money to buy new clothes,” Claire explained. “We were funding all our clothing purchases by then, so we basically sold things in our closet to buy new things.”
Fashion comes and goes, and so does their wardrobe! Through selling, they’ve learned about the secondhand clothing market, consumer taste and buying habits, negotiations, customer service, and more.
“Babysitting, tutoring, and selling lemonade required Claire to be physically up and working the entire time. Internet business seemed ingenious,” said Chloe. So far, they’ve made over $13K. There’s a life hack to remember the next time you’re hustling for extra money.
With so many talents under their belt, we had to know where these two wish to see themselves in the future. For Chloe, she’s considering going into business, but she cannot deny the fact she loves French literature. (Oh yeah, did I mention they both know how to speak French?)
Although fashion will always be a staple in Chloe’s life, she knows she wants it to be there in addition to something else. “I want to figure out how to fuse several disciplines I enjoy and am good at,” she said.
Claire, on the other hand, is still testing the waters since she has a few more years before choosing her intended major. She seems keen on heading towards the business side of fashion like her sister. “I think there are lots of opportunities there because EVERYONE needs/wears clothing,” she said. “There are lots of inefficiencies and redundancies in the fashion industry, and I’d like to be that person to find solutions to those problems.”
You’d think having a sister with a fashion blog at the same time as you would be a bit troubling when you’re posting about a piece of clothing you both adore. This happened once when they were able to purchase Kendall Jenner’s Alexander McQueen jumper from the RealReal.
“It was tough to negotiate, but we eventually came to a conclusion and Chloe got the opportunity to post it. I got the short end of the deal and I still sometimes use this against her in convincing her to let me wear one of her major pieces,” Claire laughed. Besides this incident, they’re able to style their clothing so differently that you’ll rarely notice when you’ve seen one item on the other. Just like most sisters, they have the ‘open closet’ policy, which isn’t really a problem since, according to them, they have completely different personal styles. Chloe describes her look as “more outlandish” than her little sister. You can catch her with the holographic, glittery, and colorful pieces with a touch of major accessories.
On the other hand, Claire describes herself as more feminine with an edge. She goes on to say, “Our styles are very different, but we are good judges of taste. We are each other’s harshest critic and will offer the most brutally honest opinions about how things look. We will knock down each other’s ideas routinely, but we are both stubborn in our own way and don’t always listen to each other. If we really believe in something, we will often override each other’s opinions.”
The blogging community could seem like a scary thing to newcomers, so the sisters have a few lessons they learned that Chloe shared with us. “Being fashionable is not about wealth or weight,” Chloe said. “Before blogging, I thought expensive equaled fashionable. After years of blogging and seeing how other bloggers dress, I realized that this is not the case at all. Looking good is not a privilege afforded only to the rich and skinny, but to all of us who are seeking self-improvement. As we all know, when we look and feel good, confidence emerges. And this is the point we are trying to get across to our followers. A designer label does not always equal fashion forward. The key to looking good is trying. If you put in some effort and thought, you can change the way you look and, most importantly, how you feel.”
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Photos Courtesy of Chloe and Claire Lee