So anyone who frequents any image based social media such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram can’t have failed to notice a brand new hashtag is trending all over the place. It’s called #WayBackWeek and invites members to share childhood photos of themselves. For what reason, nobody knows, BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT, OK?? I’m not really one for social media trends. I’m not really one for social media truth be told, though I know I need to up my game if anyone is ever going to read this stuff (STILL haven’t posted anything on Instagram! Must. Do. Better) but I must say I’ve enjoyed scrolling through all the pics of my favourite people as chubby little cherubs way back when, and it inspired me to take a peek at some of my old pics too.
Something stood out to me as I looked through these pics – something other than the fact I was a very odd looking child, with an AWFUL haircut. Turns out, I have always been incredibly stylish! You stop by this blog and flick through my terrible, blurry outfit shots and think ‘Gosh, this lady must have spent HOURS putting together these startlingly similar combinations of tea dresses with ankle boots or 50’s style frocks and skirts….’ don’t you? Mais, non! It is actually not a hard learnt and complex skill, wearing pretty much the same things over and over, it’s actually just genetic. Something I was lucky enough to be born with, and now you’re lucky enough to have me share it with you – talk about a win win situation!
As you can see from this very early pic, my outfits were created through a very selective process known as ‘Wearing Whatever Your Older Sibling No Longer Fits Into….’ I learnt an important lesson here – never be afraid of hand me downs. I’m still a faithful bargainista now, and have scored a few massive wins by seeking second hand alternatives in charity shops or from eBay. Who knows, keep an open mind and you too could find yourself the proud owner of some delightful brown corduroy dungarees too?!
Now, some people will tell you you should avoid looking too matchy-matchy, it’s just not considered ‘fashionable’. Much better to throw together the most garish clashing prints you can find. The more like you’ve been dragged through a haberdashery backwards, the better, if you want to be a true style icon. Well I say piffle to that. I’m no stranger to ‘colour blocking’ and the like (yeah, I know some stuff) but I say if you want to wear the red shoes with the red bag and the red belt and the red lipstick, go for it. Here I am demonstrating this beautifully by wearing ALL THE PINK:
Yep, I was rocking coordinating leisure wear way before Paris hilton got into Juicy Couture doncha know. These days my tastes are a little more feminine, but I’m still not afraid to pull on an entirely monochromatic ensemble.
See, I told you I have always been a fan of a flouncy skirt! And with stripes and a matching cardigan – I would basically wear this exact outfit today.
As I would this one too, in fact I’m actually quite sad I don’t own this dress anymore. Also note, this appears to be where I first started to try my hand at perfecting the classic blogger outfit pose – look at me, nonchalantly pretending to admire the rhododendrons! These days I prefer a less cringey ‘look at the camera and smile’ approach!
It wasn’t all fun times though, and sometimes tough lessons are learnt early on. Here we see me running into that dreaded situation when someone turns up in the same outfit as you! My advice in this situation would always be to hold your head high – why be embarrassed when you clearly both have exquisite taste? I think you can tell by the smirk on my face here that I didn’t feel threatened by Santa. I knew I was rocking the red with white trim just as good as him! It’s just as well I’m comfortable when this happens – it’s still a pretty regular occurrence these days. Yeah, thanks for that, Primark.
And finally – breton stripes with red footwear? Well, there is really no more that needs to be said, is there?
Love,
Picking the Day 