Outfit: The Awkward Truth About Outfit Photos…

Here’s the thing about me and outfit blogging. Outfit posts are actually my favourite posts to write. They are, in fact, pretty much why I started blogging in the first place. I just love clothes and shoes and putting outfits together, and had always been inspired by the blogs I followed. Not actually the glossy fashion blogs – although I did, and still do, love dropping by to gaze at their beautiful photos – but the ones that were written by girls like me. Girls that shopped in the shops I shop in, that had real lives and real families and the same day to day challenges. I loved learning new tricks and ideas from them, whether it was a great sale tip, or a new way to style a piece I owned, and they quickly became my go to place for style inspiration rather than the fashion magazines I used to read in my youth. More than just that though, the more I read, the more I started to notice how others interacted with those posts, and found myself joining in and quickly starting to feel like a little community. It was basically like a group of friends showing off their new dresses and shoes, just like you do with your real life friends, and I loved it!

Eventually, after much wrestling with my inner wallflower, I decided I wanted to give it a go to. Because let’s face it, we all love that feeling when the girls at work coo over your new shoes, don’t we? We don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. It feels nice, even for those of who don’t like being the centre of attention! So I did give it ago, and I’ve loved every minute. I’ve learnt so much over the last couple of years I’ve been blogging, not just about writing and being a part of the bloggosphere, but about myself as a person. It’s been an incredibly positive experience so far, yet there is one part of it I still really struggle with.

Outfit photos.

It’s hard as it is just remembering to take photos of what you’re wearing, never mind getting decent ones in a country where natural light is not abundantly available, at least not when you work a 9 to 5 job 5 days a week, anyway. But on top of that, for those of us who are more than a little self conscious, the act of posing for photographs just doesn’t come naturally. I’ve kind of gotten over my chronic insecurity of my mug being put there in the infinite Internet universe. Sorta. But even though I’ve started to feel more comfortable with that element as my following and confidence has grown, something in the back of my head still just feels wrong when the camera comes out, and I have to stand there and pretend I’m totes fine with everyone looking at me. That’s why a large amount of my outfit shots are taken against the very uninspiring background of my garden, where I’m safe in the knowledge no-one is watching and thinking, ‘Who the hell does this bint think she is, getting photographed as if she’s Kate Moss or something!’

And that is why a lot of my pics end up looking like this:

Oh, the awkwardness! These were taken on an evening stroll in the city as I wanted to capture this rather lovely skirt. Obviously in the UK’s second largest city centre, there aren’t many places you can go where there aren’t a large volume of bystanders, and you can just tell by the look on my face that I just wanted to die inside! These pics are so cringey I almost didn’t post them at all, but then I decided no, I said I wanted to be one of those real girls, the ones you can relate to, so here I am! Awkward, embarrassed me, who feels the need to apologise for my existence a lot of the time for no real reason, and yet still decides putting pictures of herself all over the Internet is a good idea! I have no idea if that makes me relatable, or just a weirdo, because none of you lot ever look awkward to me, you always look gorgeous, but hopefully some of you might know what I mean!

Still, it’s a nice skirt though, right??

Love,

In this post: Floral Skirt, Grace Karin – White Top, Primark (Similar) – Nude Bow Flats, Glamorous (Similar) – Tan Saddle Bag, Dorothy Perkins (Similar)