03-05-2025
Style Fairy Naomi Clarke tells why she wears her insulin pump ‘with pride'
Naomi isn't shy about showing off her medical device and says she aims to empower women by sharing life with diabetes and her Nomi brand.
Naomi Clarke, or the Style Fairy as she is better known by her online following, doesn't gatekeep when it comes to accessories, especially when they are the life-saving kind.
The stylist and fashion guru, who has just launched the third collection in her clothing label, Nomi, has been living with type 1 diabetes for more than 25 years and says her insulin pump keeps her alive.
Empowering women to look and feel good in their skin, the mum-of-three, who lives in Cavan with her husband and three daughters, was diagnosed with diabetes when she was just 15.
Explaining how it has been an enduring journey to accept herself just as she is, the 41-year-old talks leaps of faith, leaning into the chaos of family life and why she's always learning on the day job.
'I wear an insulin pump and it is attached to me via canula in my stomach. It's a bulky thing and it's quite ugly — it's not the prettiest device but I don't hide it anymore,' Naomi says.
Naomi juggles her work with being a mum to her girls
'You don't see it online but in person a lot of people think I am wearing a mic, but no, I am not filming a secret reality show,' laughs the stylist and businesswoman as she takes our call from her sofa in Cavan.
While the devoted mum has learned to live with the life-long disease that prevents your pancreas from making insulin — a vital hormone that we cannot function without — navigating the diagnosis hasn't always been easy.
'Often a lot of young girls don't want to use an insulin pump, even though it is the best technology to keep us healthy and well, because of how it looks. I can relate to that.
'I was 15 when I was diagnosed and I really rebelled against it. I didn't want to tell anyone about it. When I started college I was almost embarrassed to tell these new people that I was a diabetic, which is ridiculous and I feel sorry for that girl now.
'But you don't want to be different in any way when you're a teenager. So to have a condition and have to wear a device is overwhelming. It is a life-long condition and that's terrifying, which is why I talk about it.'
Naomi with her pump
Speaking openly about her life with type 1 diabetes to her 200,000 plus Instagram followers, Naomi also proudly puts her pump on display in her much-loved fashion posts to normalise life with the device.
'I think it's really reassuring for mums to know that their kids are going to live a perfectly normal life. I have worked and travelled and had three kids. I used to be self-conscious about it but now I wear it on show — it is a lifeline. It also doesn't stop me from wearing what I want.
'Nowadays, I would instantly tell a stranger I am a type 1 diabetic — 'if I am acting funny or faint this is what you do'. I am longer living with it now than without it.'
While Naomi admits that life with the condition can sometimes be overwhelming, she also says the life-saving accessory helped give her the best gift in the world, her three beautiful girls — Annabelle (9) Luna May (6) and four-year-old Kaia.
'The reason I got an insulin pump, previous to this I would have been on multiple injections a day, was to get pregnant on my first girl. I am wearing it ten years now.
'I never in a million years thought I was going to be lucky enough to have three kids. Having type 1 diabetes is a big risk factor. I was monitored very closely and in Holles Street every Friday and all of the girls were born at 36 weeks.'
She adds: 'They were higher risk pregnancies, and I had a difficult time with my second baby and she was in ICU. The fact that I have three healthy kids, I am so incredibly lucky.'
Of course, life with three girls is now nothing short of chaotic as the fun-loving mum balances home life with her blossoming business.
'Three is mental. I could say 'oh no it's fine', but it's wild,' she laughs. 'They are absolutely unbelievable though. They are at a stage now where they play together, they also kill each other too. But it is a lot. Everyone has their own different needs and quirks. Mentally it is a lot to take on.'
While motherhood can build you up and break you down in the most unexpected ways, the style icon says in building her brand she has found herself again.
Naomi, centre, with models wearing her creations
'After you have your kids you kind of feel different, there is kind of a sense of feeling a bit lost and losing who you were and I think I went through that.
'Mine are nine, six and four now and I am starting to feel like me again and finding myself again — that's probably especially through chasing my dream and doing Nomi.'
But chasing your dreams also means striving and sometimes failing at finding that perfect work/life balance.
'I wanted to do this for so long and it was always a case [of] the kids are too little. Was now the perfect time? I don't know. My youngest has just turned four and since she was born I have been in the background working on this. I don't think this is ever a perfect time, it's always tricky.
'I do suffer from guilt sometimes that I am not present enough for them because I am chasing my dreams.
'I tell them 'girls, this is what mummy has always wanted to do.' I tell them why I am working and that this is my dream and I think that is really important.'
From its inception to the launch of the label in 2024, Nomi has been a dream realised but like any new venture it has also been a journey plagued with self-doubt and what-ifs.
'It's a massive, massive risk and that's terrifying' admits Naomi. 'I obviously thought about this for a long time and how I would do it and how I would finance it, but when it comes down to it you have to take this huge leap of faith and that is single-handedly one of the scariest things I have ever had to do. Saying, 'OK, I am going for it. I am putting all my money into this.' And it could very well fail.
'You don't know if people are going to love your pieces or buy them. The risk is massive.'
But the risk has so far paid off, and witnessing people wear her label is still very much a pinch-me moment for the stylish mum.
She says: 'I am not cool about it all yet, I'll literally run up to people, 'Oh my God, you are wearing Nomi.'
'I am so proud of it but there is months and months of work and detail involved. I suppose the word I would use is 'sacrifice', that's gone into getting the brand where it is.'
Speaking of her perfectionist nature she adds: 'In every area of my life I think I've always been a perfectionist. But when it's your baby, when it's your name and when it's your brand, I don't want anything else less than perfect or as perfect as I can get it.'
Opening up about the changing landscape of social media and her gargantuan online following — 230,000 followers to be precise — Naomi admits: 'I think if I thought about that number of people standing in a big open space I would freak out. If you thought about the number, you would never share anything because it's too intimidating. I never envisaged it was going to get as big as that.
'I started the Style Fairy in 2013, I am such a dinosaur in this game, I am 41, but I have probably over the years gotten a little more guarded because of the kids and I think a little bit more about what I share.
'Since they've started big school, I share them less and less. I share the odd photo because a lot of women have been on the journey since I was pregnant with Annabel.'
One thing that has grown with her following is her newfound confidence.
'Being on Instagram and being a fashion creator you are judged all the time about what you are wearing and I used to take the criticism to heart but I truly don't care anymore.
'I am 42 in September and the older I get the less s***s I give, there's something freeing in that.'
At the core of what she does, Naomi simply wants to empower women in their lives and their wardrobe.
'So much of us are going through something: whether you're feeling lost after having a baby or going through cancer treatment, wearing a stoma bag, or an insulin pump like me, we all have our hang ups,' she says.
'Clothes have the ability to transform how you feel and boost your confidence and that's powerful.'
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