It's freaking me out a little bit to say that we're now in September, the past few months, actually this entire year has just completely flown by. I'm fairly sure I don't remember June or July happening and I don't think August lasted more than 48 hours, at least thats what the weather made it feel like. You can always rely on Britain for a hormonal summer. Even though time has passed at 100MPH I feel like I've learnt a hell of a lot, maybe that's down to the planets moving around so much and my horoscope telling me for the past few months to be prepared for my life to be flipped on it's side. Thanks for following through with that btw planets, throw a girl a line in September will you?
I never expected the last few months to bring such dramatic change, you may have seen me speaking about it on my insta stories a few days ago. So much happened in such a short period of time and I feel like my outlook on life matured by about a decade in the space of ten days. It's true that they say you never know how strong you are until you have no other option but to be so.
1 - my gut knows more than my mind does
you know those situations where you have the stomach turning feeling, you know something just isn't right but you ignore it and then a few days down the line you're telling yourself 'I knew I shouldn't have done that, I should've listened to my gut' < I don't know how many times we've all felt like this, hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think our gut can give us hindsight before our minds can even suss what the hell is going on. Over the past month I've really listened to what my body tells me and it's not failed me yet, it's helped me to clear my head, get rid of toxicities, and get back on the right path with a clear view. Listen to what your body tells you, if something doesn't seem right, 99% of the time it's bang on.
2 - don't feel bad for being unapologetically you
I saw a quote on twitter along the lines of 'if the one thing you learnt from high school wasn't that you shouldn't give a damn what anyone else thinks of you and what you're doing, then you didn't do it right'. I think in todays society it's becoming easier to be exactly who you are without judgement, of course there are still those idiots that will send hate via their keyboards but a beautiful button can stop that #block #getouttamyvibe. This summer more than ever I've followed exactly who I know I am, what I want to create and the path I want to pursue and you'd be amazed how freeing it is to get in to the mindset of 'you know what honey, you might not like it but this ain't your damn life and you ain't living it so, you, door, go.' BE you, DO what you want, LIVE how you wanna live.
3 - there's nothing wrong with being a little guarded
I've made friends this year that I genuinely treasure and would be at the end of the phone if they needed me at 3 in the morning, bbygal you need some retail therapy and some scheduled time for a mini breakdown, okay I got you. I've also learnt to keep my guard raised when making friendships because things aren't always as they seem to be and things will be said when your back is turned that will hurt and can never be taken back. Over the years I've learnt that to have a guard up when building friendships anyway, but it's important to know you're always able to step away from any situation when it becomes toxic and it's in times like those you realise what's good for you, and whats' not. Not every friendship you make in life is going to be sunshine and daises, it's not necessarily anyones fault, sometimes people just don't fit in each others lives and things are better left unsaid than causing any more hurt.
4 - men are not a priority.
HELL TO THE YES. guys, you're not on the top of my hit list right now. This has probably been the first summer where I haven't been involved with someone in such a long time and it's equally one of the best I think I've ever had. I used to feel like having that special someone in your life was the be all and end all, but I never thought too much about it being the RIGHT person and I spent a lot of time investing in to relationships that I knew probably wouldn't work in the long run purely because I thought I needed someone there. Being single for the past year now has given me the ultimate growing room, one of the best lessons that I can pass on is that you'll never truly be happy with someone else until you can be happy by yourself, I read that a lot on the internet after going through my first break up and I don't think it ever really registered until last year. After learning that, my priorities changed, I put myself first and I know that when the right person does step in to the spotlight that I'll be in the best place I could be in myself to make it work.
It's incredible what 8 months can do for you, what you can learn and how much you can grow. Even though the sun is going to be dimming and the leaves are going to start falling, I'm going in to autumn feeling brighter, more positive and I'm able to say I'm in a place where I can wake up in the morning and smile. Remember your happiness and health should always come first, you should always be your first priority, take care of yourselves honey bees, we all deserve self love.
PHOTOS BY Phillipa Knight / @inkaknight
I never expected the last few months to bring such dramatic change, you may have seen me speaking about it on my insta stories a few days ago. So much happened in such a short period of time and I feel like my outlook on life matured by about a decade in the space of ten days. It's true that they say you never know how strong you are until you have no other option but to be so.
1 - my gut knows more than my mind does
you know those situations where you have the stomach turning feeling, you know something just isn't right but you ignore it and then a few days down the line you're telling yourself 'I knew I shouldn't have done that, I should've listened to my gut' < I don't know how many times we've all felt like this, hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think our gut can give us hindsight before our minds can even suss what the hell is going on. Over the past month I've really listened to what my body tells me and it's not failed me yet, it's helped me to clear my head, get rid of toxicities, and get back on the right path with a clear view. Listen to what your body tells you, if something doesn't seem right, 99% of the time it's bang on.
2 - don't feel bad for being unapologetically you
I saw a quote on twitter along the lines of 'if the one thing you learnt from high school wasn't that you shouldn't give a damn what anyone else thinks of you and what you're doing, then you didn't do it right'. I think in todays society it's becoming easier to be exactly who you are without judgement, of course there are still those idiots that will send hate via their keyboards but a beautiful button can stop that #block #getouttamyvibe. This summer more than ever I've followed exactly who I know I am, what I want to create and the path I want to pursue and you'd be amazed how freeing it is to get in to the mindset of 'you know what honey, you might not like it but this ain't your damn life and you ain't living it so, you, door, go.' BE you, DO what you want, LIVE how you wanna live.
3 - there's nothing wrong with being a little guarded
I've made friends this year that I genuinely treasure and would be at the end of the phone if they needed me at 3 in the morning, bbygal you need some retail therapy and some scheduled time for a mini breakdown, okay I got you. I've also learnt to keep my guard raised when making friendships because things aren't always as they seem to be and things will be said when your back is turned that will hurt and can never be taken back. Over the years I've learnt that to have a guard up when building friendships anyway, but it's important to know you're always able to step away from any situation when it becomes toxic and it's in times like those you realise what's good for you, and whats' not. Not every friendship you make in life is going to be sunshine and daises, it's not necessarily anyones fault, sometimes people just don't fit in each others lives and things are better left unsaid than causing any more hurt.
4 - men are not a priority.
HELL TO THE YES. guys, you're not on the top of my hit list right now. This has probably been the first summer where I haven't been involved with someone in such a long time and it's equally one of the best I think I've ever had. I used to feel like having that special someone in your life was the be all and end all, but I never thought too much about it being the RIGHT person and I spent a lot of time investing in to relationships that I knew probably wouldn't work in the long run purely because I thought I needed someone there. Being single for the past year now has given me the ultimate growing room, one of the best lessons that I can pass on is that you'll never truly be happy with someone else until you can be happy by yourself, I read that a lot on the internet after going through my first break up and I don't think it ever really registered until last year. After learning that, my priorities changed, I put myself first and I know that when the right person does step in to the spotlight that I'll be in the best place I could be in myself to make it work.
It's incredible what 8 months can do for you, what you can learn and how much you can grow. Even though the sun is going to be dimming and the leaves are going to start falling, I'm going in to autumn feeling brighter, more positive and I'm able to say I'm in a place where I can wake up in the morning and smile. Remember your happiness and health should always come first, you should always be your first priority, take care of yourselves honey bees, we all deserve self love.
PHOTOS BY Phillipa Knight / @inkaknight
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Over the past month or so I've been a little quieter on my blog than I would've liked, and a lot more than I had ever anticipated. It's difficult because when you start to slip and become absent, you start to feel like you're failing and then the longer it's left, the harder it is to come back. Lately I've grown to learn that having time away from something you love, whether it's something you're pursuing as a career or a hobby, whatever it might be, if you decide to take a step back temporarily, it doesn't make you a failure.
I stepped away from my blog because a lot of my inspiration was coming visually and not written, which was fine but that left me pouring my heart in my Instagram and investing a lot of time in to my content on there. I've sent out multiple tweets with previews of shoots that I had to come on my blog ( which FYI will be coming ! ) but they never materialised because I didn't want to put out photos without the rest of the package. I've done this in the past with my visual diary but I know that the blog posts I love to read are the ones that have a face and personality behind them, not simply just photos. My Instagram has always been purely for my imagery and so to have another with the same sole purpose was a little bit null to me.
I know there's a lot of people that are in the same boat at one time or another, the pressure to stay constantly visible in this industry can become a lot to deal with but stepping away and regrouping can often leave you returning with content and ideas that wouldn't have ever materialised otherwise. Forcing yourself to continue with something that you haven't got the drive for at that moment in time can leave you falling out of love with it entirely plus you'll never be 100% happy with the content you're pushing out because you know it's forced.
I've seen a lot of people doing mini social media breaks lately which I think is fantastic and gives your mind a chance to breathe and come back refreshed and ready to create, it sounds daft to people that don't heavily invest in social media that you would need a break but for many of us, it's a job, and if anyone said they didn't ever need a break from their job, well, you'd be questioning their sanity.
I just wanted to send out a reminder that it's okay to be absent online, we all need a break sometimes. Taking time away doesn't brand you as a failure, take the time to breathe and fall back in love with what you do, we'll still all be here when you get back.
BLAZER - ZARA ( SIMILAR )
SKIRT - TOPSHOP ( SIMILAR )
BAG - MANGO ( INSTEAD OF)
Anyone who knows me knows that when I saw shoulder pads emerging from the high street stores this season I was guaranteed to lose my mind. I love a good statement suit, tailored blazers, clean cuts, I'm all over that. Looking across to the clothes rail opposite me at the moment and I can spy my favourite floral ensemble from Topshop earlier this year which I'm still absolutely obsessed with. The addition of shoulder pads to the strong cuts just stepped that game up one notch. I've always thought power dressing to be mainly linked to suits but I never realised how complimentary a power piece over something so utterly feminine could be.
The dress in these photos is from Nobody's Child, it went in to the sale a few days after shooting this which of course, one, annoyed me because who wants to pay full price when you could've gotten it cheaper and two, I can't give you guys the link for it *begs for forgiveness* but I have seen a lot of similar styles floating around the stores at the moment so don't fret!. The jacket is a slightly different story, when the shoulder pads started to make their arrival late last year I found the most insane blazer in Zara which coincidentally ALSO went in to their most recent sale, but at the time it was £80 and I didn't feel like I could justify it (she says even though she most probably went on to spend more than that on cocktails and food that week, where is the common sense). I think the restraint mainly came because you never know how quickly trends come and go and I didn't want to be stuck with a rack full of padded shoulder pieces I wasn't going to get much wear out of.
So after a lot, probably too much pondering I decided I was going to take the plunge and just do it because I knew as a person I've always loved an over exaggerated silhouette so even if it was going to go out of trend, I'd still be wearing it for months to come. The price point of said blazer was still an issue in my head but after searching online for one I could justify I realised that *DUH* the majority of men's suit jackets have shoulder pads AND they're luxurious as hell... *but Beth, won't buying a mens suit jacket be just as expensive if not more so?!..* I totally feel that however if you know where you're looking then you'll be saving rather than splurging. Don't underestimate your local charity shops, without fail whenever I go in to any of my locals I'm greeted by an array of different designs and patterned jackets, you've got to spend some time getting the size right because you don't want to look like you're drowning in material but if you can find a good fit then you're on to a winner.
I think people still way underestimate local charity shops, the straw bag in my previous post ALSO came from the same place. A given, you're not always going to stumble upon those 'WOW' pieces but damn, it's so satisfying when you do, especially when you're shaving off 90% of how much you would pay for it elsewhere.
The cherry on top of power dressing is getting to whip up an striking and equally as strong hair and make up look, I tend to opt for a sleeked back pony with a super bold lip. Don't be shy when it comes to these choices, I'm telling you now there is no better feeling than having your hair and makeup bold and beautiful to compliment what you're wearing and walking out of the house feeling empowered.
TOP TIPS
- find what appeals to you, power dressing is no good if you don't feel comfortable in what you're wearing.
- don't forget to accessorise to accentuate, pulling in a top heavy silhouette padded shoulders with a belted waist is DREAMY.
- match the outfit with the attitude and you're good to go.
TOP TIPS
- find what appeals to you, power dressing is no good if you don't feel comfortable in what you're wearing.
- don't forget to accessorise to accentuate, pulling in a top heavy silhouette padded shoulders with a belted waist is DREAMY.
- match the outfit with the attitude and you're good to go.
Power dressing does the world of good, it can give you that boost of confidence and drive on those days where you really need just that little extra somethin' somethin'.
- FIND ME HERE -
I've always had a bit of a personal vendetta with gingham, I think this goes back to when I was at school and my mum would go out for the yearly school summer dress shop and come back with a puffy beast of a dress, yes mum, I will never forget, but you are forgiven.
After a long hate fuelled relationship with gingham, we've come to a resolve. It's taken a lot of searching to find a piece that didn't make me want to curl in to a ball, often when I was trying on gingham print I'd be in fitting room wondering when in the past 2 hours I managed to put on 10 pounds "Jesus, I really shouldn't have had that 5th tapas dish..". Of course this wasn't actually the case, there was just some styles that REALLY did not suit me. I'm keen to hear whether anyone else has had the same issue with gingham as it really did take a lot of trial and error to find a piece that was genuinely flattering!
After a long hate fuelled relationship with gingham, we've come to a resolve. It's taken a lot of searching to find a piece that didn't make me want to curl in to a ball, often when I was trying on gingham print I'd be in fitting room wondering when in the past 2 hours I managed to put on 10 pounds "Jesus, I really shouldn't have had that 5th tapas dish..". Of course this wasn't actually the case, there was just some styles that REALLY did not suit me. I'm keen to hear whether anyone else has had the same issue with gingham as it really did take a lot of trial and error to find a piece that was genuinely flattering!
This dress ticked every single box for me, the bow on the back is so sweet and the button down front was definitely pulling at my heart strings. Of course there was no other bag to pair it with than a classic straw design, this particular one was from a charity shop near me (never underestimate the bargains you can find at your local charity shops ! ) but they've absolutely flooded the high street stores so I'm sure you can find one to take your fancy, I've linked some of my favourites below.
I was so torn between pairing this with white trainers or mules, it's such a versatile piece, layering with a tee is also such a cute option & if you're wanting to go a little more edgy with it, rock a leather jacket over the top with some statement earrings. I could ramble on about styling options for this dress for days, it's so re-wearable, definitely a new "keeper" in my wardrobe.
It's safe to say I'm over my gingham grudge and if any of you have the same fears I had then hopefully this has given you a little inspo to dive in head first, you can shop the look below and I've thrown in some pieces that could look insane to style it with.
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