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What To Do If You Don’t Consider Yourself ‘Fashionable’

So, you don’t consider yourself fashion. There are no rules out there really as to what ‘fashionable is’. You might look at somebody wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans and think they’re fashionable, while somebody else might look at the eccentric outfits of Carrie Bradshaw for inspiration. If you don’t consider yourself fashionable but you’d quite like to be, here’s what you can do:

Overcome Any Self Image Issues – Maybe you don’t consider yourself fashionable because you have self image issues. Everybody has these to some extent, so don’t beat yourself up. The key is to make sure you try to work past them. Where have your self image issues come from? What do you believe about yourself that might not be quite true? By making sure you’re consistent and work on your self image issues each day, in no time your thinking might just begin to change. Your mindset is everything! One thing many people like to do is listen to subliminal messages as they sleep. You could also try reading many self help books on the subject.

Work Out What Clothes You Really Like – Make sure you figure out what clothes you really like. Maybe you don’t really like that shirt and jeans you wear all the time; you just like them because they hide your figure, which you’re conscious of. You need to get over things like this if you’re going to start enjoying the clothes you wear. Here are some tips for figuring out what you like:

  • Decide which clothes you like the look of on your body best. What shapes and styles suit you?
  • Decide on your own personal color scheme. What makes your look radiant?
  • Which clothes make you feel unstoppable when you wear them?

Take A Look At The Celebs – There’s probably a tiny percentage of celebrities out there who actually dress themselves. They pretty much all have personal stylists, so take a look and see who’s style you like best. You can find them in trending stories on the internet and on the news. Buy a few magazines and make a collage. Doing this will help you to figure out the kind of styles you love the most, and it’ll be a big indicator of what you should be wearing. Don’t feel envious of other styles, wear them!

Don’t Compare Yourself To Others – Stop comparing yourself to others. Finding fashionistas that inspire you is a great thing to do, but comparing yourself will only get you down.

Take Pride In Your Uniqueness – Start taking pride in your uniqueness. Love your unique look and body shape. Your unique personality. There’s only one of you in the world. Emulate this with your clothes and see how you feel!

Experiment – Experimenting could help you to improve your confidence a little and get used to wearing new styles. Sometimes all it takes is trying out something new for your eyes to be opened.

Try these things and you might just start considering yourself to be fashionable sooner than you think!

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Five Cheap Ways To Update Your Wardrobe

One of the best things about welcoming a new season is getting to see the new fashions and maybe indulging in a new outfit or two. But, as much as we want it, we can’t all afford to buy an entirely new wardrobe every time the season changes, *sad face*. Fortunately, there are several ways to update your look without paying designer prices.

Thrift Shopping – It’s all very well setting yourself a fashion budget and promising you’ll stick to it, but you can’t always ignore the call of that tempting summer dress that would be just perfect for that upcoming event you’re attending next week. Luckily, you can give in to temptation for a bargain if you shop exclusively in thrift shops. If you want something of a higher quality, go to shops in upscale neighbourhoods and get something absolutely stunning for a fraction of its high street cost. If you’ve found an item you love, but it’s too big for you, buy a matching belt to take it in a bit, or work your own magic on it if you’re handy with a needle. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t find anything in the first shop you visit. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find buried treasure.

Clothes Swap – Of course, why spend money at all if you have friends who are about the same dress size as you. Chances are you’re not the only one who can’t afford to spend money on new clothes this season, so the best solution is to get a group of friends together and organise a clothes swap. Perhaps there’s a shirt or dress of theirs that you’ve always admired that they don’t want anymore. Maybe you have something that no longer fits you that would suit them perfectly. The more friends you invite, the more options you’ll have. It’s also a fun way to spend a day together.

Invest In The Basics – Some high street stores have a ‘basic’ line, which includes shirts, skirts, and trousers that have no enhanced designs or patterns. These are cheaper than items with patterns or creative designs, but the upside is that these are often updated along with the rest of their seasonal lines. With the right combination of shoes, bag and belt, even the most basic outfit can be transformed into a fashion statement.

Get Creative – If you’re good at sewing and you have a creative flair, you can just update your existing wardrobe by customising it. If you have items of clothing that you still love, but are a bit worn out, simply repair the holes and wear them again with pride. However, if you have perfectly good items that just don’t match your tastes anymore, you can use your sewing skills to transform the item into something you’d be proud to wear again.

Check The Back Of The Wardrobe –Buried deep in the back of your closet are incredible items that you love but you haven’t worn in years. Get looking, you’ll be amazed at what you had forgotten about! 

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5 TIPS FOR SPRINGTIME DRESSING

Phew! Now that we’re pretty much over the peak of winter, a lot of us are gonna have our minds fixed on one thing: when will we be able to crack into our spring wardrobe, pleeeease? Soon enough, you’ll be able to ditch the tights, sit outside for lunch, forget the gloom of winter and get on with the year ahead. Hurrah! The days are already getting longer, so get into that fast lane by sorting out your spring style now. Here are five tips for the months ahead…

Discover the Duster Coat, or Something Similar – Duster coats have a lightweight design, ideal for wearing over the garb you have now. Just make a point to ditch your chunky knit jumper, as the extra layers can create too much bulk for a piece of clothing that’s all about looking smart. Various different labels have put out styles that are great for dressing down or going to occasions, and spring usually has a lot of both. A good duster will smarten up your jeans, and present a refreshing change to winter’s short jacket/dress ensemble. If you want something a little more cosy and understated, long cardigans are a good alternative. Here’s a great post on how to style a long cardigan. Whatever your tastes, a duster coat, mac, or similar piece is going to be totally essential for your spring wardrobe.

Stick with Long, Lean Hemlines – Now that it’s getting almost too warm to go out wrapped up in a dozen layers, you’re gonna want a transition, and get used to feeling a breeze around your ankles again; lush. It may sound too simple to be effective, but longer, leaner hemlines are a great way to make the change. The best way to do this is to lose your tights, but keep a long skirt or dress so that you don’t feel too much of a shock. Soon enough, you’ll be ready to start wearing summer’s airy, flirty skirts once again!

Crack out the Florals – Flowers are just totes synonymous with spring. They sum up the fresh starts and beauty we associate with the season, so start digging the florals out from the back of the closet. A floral dress is sure to be the trophy piece, but while the weather’s still warming up, you may want to put it off until you can say with absolute certainty that it’s summer. Still, the weather’s going to be comfortable enough for skirts, tops, jeans and so on. This will get you more tuned to a warm mindset, and get you ready for all the sun that’s on its way, yaaaaaay! 

Let Craft-work Back into Your Life – This is another seasonal tradition that isn’t going to go away any time soon. You know that spring’s arrived when the crochet and lace starts appearing on skirts, blouses, and the hems of dresses. In a few weeks, it will be time to let them all out to play again! While we’re still in the transition period, make sure you’re easing those frills in. Add too much in too short a space of time, and you’ll just over-saturate your outfit. Instead, start off with some touches here and there to give yourself the perfect level of spring dressing. Like, you could go looking for understated decorations on a jacket, and combine the piece with a simple black t-shirt, or a roll-neck. Sleek trousers, either skinny, cropped or wide-leg, but always in a neutral colour, can also be great for balancing out the craft-work in your outfit.

Bare your Feet – You’ve had your feet shut up for long enough. Dip a toe into those fresh spring waters with a good sandal. Gladiator styles are still in massive demand, but these will be better when the summer rolls around. Now, a more standard style will work better, combined with cropped trousers to keep yourself firmly in the right part of the calendar. If you can’t handle these, there are some a lot of boot-sandal hybrids currently on the market which might pique your interest. It can be pretty hard to make these mesh with the rest of your outfit when the days are still fairly chilly. However, they’re always going to beat socks and sandals! Let your feet breathe a bit now, and you’ll be all set for slipping into your favourite heels in the summer.

Getting your spring wardrobe right is all a question of balance. Lighten or lose a few layers, compensate where you need to, and above all else get comfortable and ready to feel a little sun on your face!

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DAVID FERREIRA, MY FASHION CRUSH

 

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Be still my beating heart.

Yeah, I know, London Fashion Week was a coupla weeks ago now, but, I’m kinda still in the honeymoon phase of it all. Because not only did I have an exceptionally ace time over the 4 busy days, I also kinda fell in love. Yup, I fell slap bang, head over heels, heart thumpingly in love with the fashion of David Ferreira. I am totally love sick. I reviewed this dazzling show in detail for PlusMinus magazine but, seeing as (like a love-struck schoolgirl and her heart-throb crush) I can’t stop thinking about it, I wanted to share my love over here too. And, it gives me the sweet excuse of filling my blog with images of all the looks from the collection. Preeeetty! Now, I loved everything about London Fashion Week, truly, even the cold and hangry moments, because the fun and fast pace of it all keeps you thrilled, but, something about the David Ferreira show made it stand out as THE best part of the entire week for me. I didn’t know what to expect from Ferreira, I was a complete virgin to his work so had no clue what was about to hit me. We got reeeally great close-up seats for this show and as soon as the first model came out, boom, my heart picked up the pace and I was giddy with awe! I was fizzy with glee for the whole show, each model showcasing another outfit which made my knees go weak, I mean, wowzers, would ya look at the colours here, not only are they a mix of my faaavourite brights, but heck, they just come up and smack you in the face with their bold lushness. Like a party popper in the face. Ferreira’s designs blur perfectly the line between art and fashion, the theatricality of it all is sublime and, I dunno, I’m still new to fashion shows but I think really, when I see a runway show I wanna be overwhelmed by the sight of it all. I can look at pretty dresses, sure that’s nice, but I kinda wanna be blown away, and Ferreira achieved that fully. This AW17 collection was titled ‘The Freakball’ taking inspo from old freak shows and circus acts, celebrating uniqueness and confidence in being your own true self. These designs aren’t all totally wearable to the average gal, I get that, but loooook at the structure and shape, and the COLOURS!!! Goodness, I cannot stop looking! The dresses I would TOTALLY wear are the two long bias cut 30’s style ones, they are pure bliss. And, if I had an event, well heck yes I’d throw on the pink tulle number. And, ya know what? I reckon I’d feel a billion damn bucks in it too. Oh man, Ferreira is now my full on fashion crush and I cannot wait to see what he brings next season.

I, am super smitten.

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Photos by Simon Armstrong, by kind courtesy of Forward PR

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Confectionery Cuteness from Billie Jocobina at London Fashion Week

I got lucky. It made me a happy girl. I got given a DREAM job of attending London Fashion Week to write up the shows for ace new magazine PlusMinus. Woweee. I guess good things do happen, if you put in the hard work and positive vibes. I hit the big smoke for 5 days, expectant, nervy and excited with notepad and laptop in hand, and, maaan, it was even better than I could have hoped for. It was pure ace. The gang I worked with became brand new besties over the week, spending 24/7 together in cold queues, rushed coffee shop eatings, all of us marvelling constantly at what surrounded us… some of the ego’s at Fashion Week….say whuuuut?! Crikey. We musta seen around 22 shows in our time there, each one a thrill in its own right. The music, the models, the damn prettiness and skill of the fashion. Yup, a happy gal was I.

One of the first shows I saw and fell in love with was a presentation by new graduate designer Billie Jacobina. The presentations are a slightly smaller scale affair with a neat and petite collection which packs a punch and basically, the models pose and parade around a room for a while rather than take part in a big boom-boom runway show. They are kinda cute things these presentations, they feel intimate and you can get real up close to the clothes and models. Heart shaped eyes on me, I tell ya. My heart was pumping outta my chest a bit when the Jocobina one began as it was ALL PIIIINK and pastels, pom-poms, faux fur, jumbo doll jewellery; a sparkly explosion of saccharine kitsch, with, hello?… a Hello Kitty handbag in the mix too! Oh my.

As a graduate of UCA Rochester, Billie showed at Graduate Fashion Week 2016, and went on to be awarded The British Council GFW award which gave her the opportunity to collaborate with a brand in Jakarta and show at Jakarta Fashion Week. She sure is on a winning streak, as she also won the Fashion Scout’s One To Watch Award for SS17 which is a certain sign that she’s only just at the start of a shiny future. Her slogan for this collection was 100% SASSY, and that it was, superbly so. This collection tickled me pink and set off my LFW experience with perfection.

 

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