Sarah Jane Adams: A woman of influence
Words Emma Vidgen // @emma_vee
Sarah Jane is an Aries sun, Aquarius moon and Aries rising
I’ve been interviewing high profile people for more than 15 years, and for the most part, the digital disruptors and influencers of today usually approach interviews with the same cautious, measured approach that pop stars once did.
So when I call Sarah Jane Adams, the woman behind the 190k- strong Instagram account @saramaijewels I am stunned, refreshed and just a tiny bit intimidated, when she speaks directly and without a hint of caginess.
When I ask how she’d like to be credited, she replies “I’m an ordinary person. I’m not a fashionista, or a model. I’d just prefer you put ‘human being, trying hard to live her best life’. Simple.”
“The title of my recently released book, ‘Life in a Box’, is a comment on how we are all expected to live our lives in various boxes. I have spent many years trying to break free of the boxes that people have wanted to put me into. Especially, with regard to some of the more recent boxes, the book was an attempt to do that.”
An antique jewellery dealer by trade, Sarah Jane’s life changed when her daughter posted a photo of her wearing a red adidas tracksuit on Instagram with the #mymumiscoolerthanme in August 2014. Ari Seth Cohen, the founder of Advanced Style was in Sydney at the time, spotted the photo and made a beeline to Sarah’s place to photograph her for his blog.
Much to her bewilderment, the photo went viral. “All the subsequent craziness that happened with Instagram, this ‘second voice’ I seem to have been given - which, by the way, I often find challenging - came during my menopause, which coincided with the period of my second Saturn return,” Sarah Jane says.
“I really was starting the process of clearing out, simplifying life, cutting down, cleansing, whilst at the same time dealing with how all this, plus the new public attention, was therefore turning my world and my family’s world upside down. We’re all incredibly close and we stuck together but it was a pretty interesting time.
“Our experience didn’t fit a standard idea of how to navigate life, but getting rid of many possessions did somewhat clear the decks, prepping for the upcoming adventures of life. Concurrently the @saramaijewels Instagram page, (which was started as a business page to showcase my jewellery), went crazy and everyone seemed interested in ‘this person', basically it seemed, because of the way I dress! I found this very strange and confronting, as I was soon being put into a series of other boxes, constricts of other people’s choosing.”
“All the subsequent craziness that happened with Instagram, this ‘second voice’ I seem to have been given - which, by the way, I often find challenging - came during my menopause, which coincided with the period of my second Saturn return,” Sarah Jane says.
Almost overnight Sarah Jane became a poster girl for everything from over 50s fashion to Adidas. “I made it very clear I didn’t want to be the hashtag for ‘women with grey hair', or for a ‘certain type of woman’ who is ‘in her later years’- sometimes labelled #instagran - rather my Instagram page shows how I live my life and not how I identify,” she says.
“The bigger @saramaijewels grew, the more challenging it became for me to stay connected to this public persona, who, since it exploded, had become the creation of mass media, held up as representing some things which I am absolutely not.
“I realised that somewhere amongst all that, people were basically attracted to my attitude, and the knowledge that you can be far more disruptive by just quietly living your life”.
“One day, whilst travelling in India, I started my second Instagram page, @mywrinklesaremystripes , the same name as a hashtag #mywrinklesaremystripes which had come to me some time earlier.”
As we chat, I’m captivated to hear what life is like on the other side of a high-profile insta grid. “I’m an ordinary person who throughout life has been a ratbag, a rebel. I’m fearless. I’m adventurous. I’m brave. I question, I’m bolshy, I get stroppy.” Sarah Janes says. “When people ask the question ‘are you an influencer?’ I say ‘No I’m not an influencer. I hope that by my speech and attitude I influence people to live their own great authentic life, fearlessly, and healthily’.”
And so, the irony of the title of her new book Life In A Box. “I didn’t want to write the traditional autobiography, spilling my guts, warts and all. People don’t need to read that shit, and I didn’t feel the need to hang out all my dirty laundry,” she says.
And a traditional memoir it’s not. After being approached several times to pen an autobiography, Sarah Jane agreed to take a different approach. The book follows the format of an auction catalogue, a nod to the time in Sarah Jane’s career when she ran the jewellery department in an auction house. Each entry in the book lists items including a very personal selection of letters, photos, jewellery, clothing, trinkets and keepsakes from various times throughout her life.
To flip through Life In A Box is to get a true sense of the woman behind the colourful squares of Instagram. It is deeply personal, fiercely honest and incredibly stylish. As I pore through the pages in preparation for our interview, it evokes a feeling somewhere between reading someone’s diary and the thrill of discovering an amazing vintage find, only better because the story behind each keepsake is shared.
“My life prior to Instagram was very much lived outside the box. And that was my first voice, pre-Instagram. I wanted to utilise the book to speak and reveal that first voice,” she says.
The book chronicles Sarah Jane’s life, from the enduring heartbreak of losing her twin sister at birth to growing up in England in the 1960s and beyond. Sarah’s disdain for conformity was evident from an early age. She was labelled a “difficult” child, recounting many adventures, including one particularly amusing occurrence at boarding school
“We were not allowed to receive phone calls at school, so I was in shock when I was pulled from class one morning to take a telephone call in the principal’s office. I assumed I was about to receive some dreadful news. This feeling was compounded when I discovered who was at the end of the line – a representative of the Young Communist League.”
Despite being stamped with the fashionista label Sarah Jane rarely shops. “Even my Adidas collection I’ve bought second hand off eBay. I don’t shop new. I don’t really shop. Never have done,” she says. Her approach to life is far from the flat-lay focussed, #haul culture clogging social media. “I haven’t ‘renovated’ my house - I don’t need three bathrooms and two car spaces and a plastic kitchen with loads of gadgets.
My daily practice starts with getting up around 5.30am, a quick shower, and then my yoga practice – an hour and a half of yoga most mornings. Just simple living, quiet living. I live a lot outside,” she says. “I don’t have a TV, only occasionally do I listen to Radio National” Sarah Jane says. “I shower out in the garden, under the stars, and I have only an outdoor toilet”.
“I don’t need three bathrooms and two car spaces and a plastic kitchen with loads of gadgets”
The book documents Sarah Jane’s enduring love affair with India, a place that has shaped her philosophy and approach to life, “on so many levels, in so many ways.”
“India showed me how to live simply. For example, in my dress I am always covered, my use of colour, of knotting fabric, the way I fold and store things, the way I drape, the way I layer, the way I mix things together, that’s very much influenced by seeing how people of all castes and creeds in India wear their clothing,” she says. “My clothing is very utilitarian, it has to be comfortable because I am always doing different things.”
Staying present, focusing on simplicity and authenticity is a constant – particularly during these strange days. “Today I’m feeling tired and old, But you know, I’m different on every day, as we all are,” she says.
“I think that many people are questioning the status quo and the concept of ‘going back to normal’. The way we were going through life wasn’t fucking normal. It was absurd. It has been absurd for many, many years, so the idea of going back to that is horrific and terrifying for me.”
“I do think about quitting,” Sarah Jane says of her Instagram fame. “I want to take the hologram of Sarah Jane Adams ‘fashionista’ down and replace her with the person who’s in the book.”
If the age of the influencer is a Covid casualty, that’s a natural evolution for Sarah Jane. I never gave up my day job,” she says. “To me Instagram is, and always will be, a tool. When things go awry an ungracious human blames the tool, so it’s up to me to be gracious and thankful for the second voice that Instagram gave me, whilst simultaneously being ready to move on.”
When I ask if she thinks about quitting Instagram, she answers without hesitation. “I do. Often.” she says. “I would love to be able to replace the ‘fashionista’ perception with the person who’s revealed in the book. Although I realise that in this world of commodification, algorithms, projection - that is a big ask. Who knows…”
For our sake, I hope Sarah Jane decides to stay. The world needs more people like Sarah Jane.
Life in A Box ($39.99, Murdoch Books) is available now
