YouTuber Of The Week: Charis Ow And Her "Ow"-Some Fashion Tips And Tricks
It's December and to kick off the month, we speak to Charis Ow, a chic local Youtuber who describes herself as a "full-time dork". Get to know her and her channel, here.
By Darian Goh — 01 Dec 2014, 04:17 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
According to her YouTube channel description, Charis Ow describes herself as a "full-time dork". Well this "full-time dork" is helping out many females thanks to her fashion sense. Although known for her fashion and beauty videos, Charis actually started out by posting covers of songs on YouTube.
Starting way back in 2009, she posted her first cover video of Marie Digby's "Say It Again", which led to encouraging feedback. After uploading more covers, she scored an opportunity to open for Jayesslee together with Ming Han from The Ming Thing in 2012 and Clara C and Jason Chen the year after.
As much as she loves singing, her passion lies in fashion and video production. Early this year in 2014, she relaunched her channel to pioneer Malaysia's fashion and beauty video scene on YouTube.
Charis: But, at some point, I realised that as much as I loved singing, I have a stronger passion for fashion and video production/editing. So, BAM!!!! (throws confetti) CharisowTV was revived early this year in 2014! It took me a while to kick start the channel seriously because there weren't any prominent fashion and beauty YouTubers yet in Malaysia (whom I was aware of) and I was not sure whether people will support my channel as it was unconventional compared to blogging.
One of her biggest inspirations especially on this niche side of YouTube is Jenn Im from the channel Clothes Encounters. Charis was stoked to have met her at Digital Fashion Week in Singapore as a self-proclaimed admirer and follower of Jenn Im's channel.
Darian: What inspired you to make videos?
Charis: It's more like "who" inspired me to make videos. Haha! It was Jenn Im from Clothes Encounters! I have been an avid follower of her channel for the longest time and I really admire how she is so consistent, juggling between her channel and school at the same time. I think what really got me hooked on her channel is that she does not really focus on branded goods - she goes thrift shopping and she makes it work! This definitely goes to show that fashion is not always about how much you spend to look like a million bucks.
But behind the cameras, Charis is pretty much like anyone else. She loves to read, drink coffee and travel. Apparently, she does a good impression of Smeagol from Lord Of The Rings!
Charis: Secret talent? This is the first time I'm announcing this to the world... I [can] mimic Gollum's voice from Lord of The Rings. And I must say that I do it pretty well. "Myyyyy preciousssssss!"
When SAYS asked her which video was her favourite, Charis answered unequivocally that "Valentine's Day" was for her, the most fun to work on. "The guy in the video is actually my boyfriend!"
Charis: It has definitely got to be the Valentine's Day video! I had so much fun brainstorming for it and coming up with the concept. In conjunction with Valentine's Day, basically this video shows couples of different styles (preppy, edgy, classy, street style) but, the thing that they have in common is - love - which is the main theme. And what's best about this video? The guy in the video is actually my boyfriend! Haha. Also, it was my first time working together with the amazing couple (Kel Li and Nigel) from Nigel Sia Visual Storytelling (www.nigelsia.com) who are actually wedding videographers! They were super fun to work with and they were very efficient too! To me, it was definitely a blessing to be able to work with a great team!
On advice for budding YouTubers, Charis answered, "Keep doing what you do for passion - not for fame, money". Always be willing to learn as nobody is perfect, she said.
Charis: Keep doing what you do for your passion - not for fame, money (although money is important, but don't let it be the main goal) and acceptance from others. Even though these are added bonuses, it should never be your main focus. Also, keep improving yourselves. For example, I, myself, am still a work in progress. There are so many things that I need to learn and improve on. No one is perfect!
Charis also stresses the need to have a good location for videos as it could be one of the biggest challenges of video production
Just before the interview ended, it was obvious to us what Charis would do if not for her YouTube channel. "Maybe build a fashion empire. Who knows?"
Charis: Even if it wasn't YouTube, I would still do something that is fashion-related. Maybe coming up with my own label, designing clothes and build a fashion empire. Who knows?
If you're curious to see more of Charis' stuff and learn new ways to hack your wardrobe, subscribe to her channel here?
