Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Poles.
Hi Kathleen , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Kathleen, and I am the creator of Mary J. Blige Fashion Book.
I have been a fan of Mary J. Blige since day one. I’ve followed her music and career throughout the years, but the idea for Mary J. Blige Fashion Book came to me in 2019 when Mary was on the Royalty Tour with Nas.
During that tour, I started paying much closer attention to her fashion. Her looks were different, flashy and exciting. I was fascinated by the boots, hats and all the different outfits she wore from city to city. I connected with other fans on Instagram who were just as interested, and I found myself following every tour stop to see what she would wear next.
I started looking for posts that identified the designers behind her outfits, along with her stylist and glam team. I followed the fashion throughout the entire tour.
When the tour ended, I realized all of those amazing looks were scattered across social media. If I wanted to find a particular outfit again, I had to remember the designer, search through old posts or hope her stylist had posted it. There also wasn’t one place dedicated to Mary’s fashion throughout her career, including so many of the iconic looks fans remembered from years ago.
That’s when I came up with Mary J. Blige Fashion Book. I wanted to create the kind of page I had been looking for myself a place where fans could find and revisit Mary’s fashion through the years.
I launched Mary J. Blige Fashion Book in October 2019. What started with me following the fashion from one tour has grown into a community of thousands of followers across social media, and I’m still adding to Mary’s fashion history one look at a time.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it hasn’t always been easy. The biggest challenge is finding information about Mary’s older looks. Today, designers, stylists and glam teams are often tagged on social media, but many of her looks from years ago don’t have that information readily available.
Some of my older posts take a lot of digging. I search through old photographs, articles, archives and anything else I can find trying to identify a designer or get more information about a particular appearance. Sometimes I can spend hours on one look and still come up empty.
That’s probably the most frustrating part because I don’t like guessing. If I can’t confirm something, I’d rather leave the designer unknown than put incorrect information on my page.
It has also made me appreciate how important it is to preserve these details. Fashion is part of Mary’s history too, and once some of that information is lost, it can be very difficult to recover years later.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I actually have two very different worlds. I work full time as a Contracts Specialist for a private company, where I work with contracts and a lot of Non-Disclosure Agreements. That work requires me to pay close attention to details and accuracy, which probably carries over into how I run Mary J. Blige Fashion Book.
With the Fashion Book, I focus on the details behind Mary’s looks not only what she’s wearing, but the designers, shoes, jewelry, stylist, hair, makeup and other members of the team when that information is available. I cover her current fashion, but I also go back through her career and bring older looks back for people to see and remember.
I think what sets my page apart is the amount of detail I try to provide and the fact that I care about getting it right. It’s not just about posting a beautiful picture of Mary. I want people to be able to come to the page years later and learn something about that fashion moment.
I’m most proud that I created something in 2019 because I couldn’t find it myself, and now thousands of people follow it. I’ve also made some wonderful connections along the way.
One of my proudest moments happened when I met Mary during her Las Vegas residency in 2026. When I told her who I was and mentioned Mary J. Blige Fashion Book, she recognized the page and thanked me. After all the years I’ve spent building it, that was a moment I’ll never forget.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
A lot of people don’t know I’m the person behind Mary J. Blige Fashion Book. Most of the people I work with at my full-time job don’t even know I run the page.
What’s also funny is that over the years, I’ve had people think the page is actually run by Mary or connected to her officially, and they’re surprised when they find out it’s an independent fan page run by me.
I think part of that comes from how focused the page is on Mary and her fashion. I don’t make myself the center of it, so unless someone knows me personally, they may never know who’s behind all of the posts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Maryjbligefashionbook.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryjbligefashionbook/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19NowqhxSa/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@maryjbligefashionbook?feature=shared
