I was touring with a group of travel journalists last month, and during dinner one night we realised that none of us was an influencer. Just writers.

One of the guys in our group was pretty handy with a film camera and knew his way around time lapse, but most of us just took shots of things on our iPhones with varying degrees of success, and we asked a lot of questions.

In this spirit of curiosity, I asked one of the marketing women who was accompanying us where the influencers were.

“Oh, we need to separate the trips,” she said briskly.

“They require different things to traditional journalists. They spend longer at meals, for example, because all the dishes have to be set up on the table and photographed first before anyone can eat.”

I nodded in agreement, shovelling the entrée into my mouth.

“They also bring quite a few changes of clothes, at least three or four a day, and spend a lot of time just capturing a shot of themselves walking across the road, or in front of a background,” she continued.

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Wow. That requires a lot of forethought. I take my hat off to them.

I’m sure I would look a lot more stylish if I allowed myself time to think about my outfit before I got dressed in the morning.

I mean, I do give it some thought – these jeans will be fine with a navy sweater, these sneakers are good, where’s my camel coat? – but if I dedicated just a few more minutes, I could add the details that make all the difference.

They are in my wardrobe, those look-changing accessories, but once I put them away I promptly forget about them. 

I feel like I should be accessorising, boldly. My mother always taught me to match things, and it’s something I have to consciously unlearn because it’s boring.

That’s why I’ve always loved the fashion shows, and the way really clever stylists mix things together in ways you wouldn’t think of – say leopard print with florals, stripes with spots, odd and unexpected colour mixes like violet and green, or pink and mustard, sea shell necklaces with evening dresses.

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I have collected beautiful pieces over the years, but I really would love someone to come in and show me new ways to put them all together.

I decided to have a practice run myself earlier this week – I was wearing jeans, a blue-and-white striped oversized shirt and tan leather loafers. Black handbag. All fine, but boring.

So I allocated twenty minutes to go foraging in my own wardrobe.

I found some fine gold hoop earrings with keshi pearls.

I pulled out a pretty pink leather handbag that felt a bit more spring and transferred all my belongings into it.

I then discovered a beautiful long piece of indigo blue Italian linen, a sort of fab scarf/wrap I bought in Bangalow one holiday when I decided I was going for the rich hippy look.

I popped on a leopard and gold cuff and voila – much more interesting.

For most of us, it’s probably not more clothes we need. It’s time to think.