Fear And Self Loathing In Blogging

About three weeks ago I very excitedly bought myself some flares. My good buddy MissionStyle tipped me off to them and when I tried on in-store I thought 'praise the freakin' lord, job done'. I deffo felt they contained my flab, were the right length and had a decent comfort factor. Tick, tick, tick. Then I shot them. And errrrrything changed. These two meagre frames were the only ones I could salvage from that disastrous SS Titanic of a shoot. And even then- let's be honest- I look horrific. Having to bin a set of a pictures is priddy heartbreaking, and I've gotta confess- the whole débacle made me wanna quit blogging (and not for the first time). I guess we've all been there. You kinda feel 'why am I bothering?', 'why am I so fat?' and 'why does every shoot I do not remotely turn out like I hoped it would?' But I thought I'd disclose these lame-ass shots anyway in order to delve a little more into the wretched thought patterns that whirl round the mind of a fashion blogger, and see if there's owt to draw from them.

Comparison Anxiety

I recently saw an interesting piece in Grazia about a girl who had to get therapy for her instagram 'problems'. Seriously though. She was literally driving herself insane with thoughts that all her friends were leading amaaazing lives and she wasn't. This is basically where logic leaves you and paranoia sets in. It's at times like this I like to revisit a bit of Susan Sontag. If you haven't read her, get on it.

The Girl Can't Help It

There's no getting away from it- I'm short and fat. Whilst my logical mind knows this, I still seem to harbour a very weird misguided notion that when I shoot a look somewhere along the way I will magically turn into Chiara F, Camille C or Gala G. As a blogger you are constantly faced with images of yourself and your physical shortcomings, which is unfortunately where ever decreasing circles of negativity start to fester. 

Style Blackouts

I got it realllly wrong with this outfit. So so wrong. The mirror told me one thing, the camera lens another. I should've worn a shirt and a heel. Probably. And as usual my insistence on wearing a hat didn't help matters either. I used to wear flares allllll the time about five years ago. I remember wrestling a girl in Liberty to the ground for the last pair of 18th Amendment jeans (yes, them!) in a Size 25 and absolutely luvin' them. And I also recall going to Westfield (in Shepherd's Bush) the first weekend it opened wearing a Topshop pair and trotting into Donna Ida only to have the shop assistant declare undying love for my denim. (You know you're doing something right when a girl that works with £200 + jeans all day every day likes your thirty quid jobs). But I guess I was thinner then. 

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

I have to admit I hate shooting, I hate looking at pictures of myself and I hate competing. Which makes it ermmm, quite tricky to be a blogger. But I love clothes. I love them in a way I can't even express, and despite having a face like a bag of spanners and a body like a pre-gastric band patient I don't think I can jump off this kerrrrrazy rollercoaster just yet. Catch you soon (hopefully) xx 

PS Don't hate the flares, hate the player

Skinny Rib- Topshop//Jeans- Topshop

Bomber- Topshop//Fedora- Catarzi//Boots- Gap

Thin Red Line

Green is my favourite colour, but dark red runs it a very close second. (What no black? Well, obvs, that's high up there too, but let's talk colour for a second). Aside from being the bestest shade for Autumn (that's official!), it has so many freaking good names: burgundy, maroon, wine (we like wine), claret (we like claret too), merlot, shiraz.....hang on....we seem to have gone a little vinocentric here. Anyroad, you get the idea :) I currently find myself lusting after that burgundy suit from Topshop (sadly not in stock currently, but it looks a lot like this...oh wait...here's the trews), a maroon bomber from H&M (s'like this...although this green is deffo speaking to me...and I wanna flex that Glamour voucher badly) and, of course, the Acne Canada (yum yum, come to mama). So, back to Zara/reality. This jumper is literally the best thing ever. I'd love to be dropping 45 quid on all their various knits, but this little beaut suits me just fine at 20 of yer English. Job done, stick a fork in me. In retrospect, a skinny jean may have worked better here, but I do love these Girlfriends (even if they make me look like I've been on the pies AKA Lemon Polenta Cake from Melrose & Morgan). Catch you soon dolls xx PS Face. Lolz. Soz.

Knit- Zara//Jeans- Topshop

Shoes- Mango//Hat- Catarzi at ASOS

The Wool Pack

These knitted pants are without a doubt the biggest blogger must-have of the season. So hot are they, that they're almost over. But if you were gonna wear something over in auld Social Siberia, then I'd recommend these. Coz you will not need a coat, gloves or a bowl of Ready Brek all winter long in 'em. (Am I making any sense? No? Ok, good). Also, after having shot these pics I now realise why the best thing to wear with these Woolly McPants is the matchy matchy skinny knit that goes with them. Basically, we're talking coverage. Coverage of the bit of camel that resides in the foot area. Otherwise we be seeing all sorts of tingz we don't wanna. (Half of the photos I shot for this look had to be discarded coz it looked like I had two strings coming out my va-jay-jay. Right. Sorry. TMI). I threw on this sweatshirt trying to be all inventive and shit, but it dint really work. And if you're thinking 'She looks like she rolled outta bed in her PJs' I can only agree. Laterz chicks xx

Pants- Zara//Sweatshirt- Zara

Sneaks- Stan Smith//Hat- Catarzi

The Overall Outlook

I've wanted some black dungarees for freaking ages, so when I saw these babies in H&M I pounced. I've got *ahem* quite a few Bretons that'll go under 'em nicely, and then when the weather chills down I'll employ a cardi. I can't find my ones on-line (plus ca change), and ASOS have sold out of their nice denimy/cottony ones, but these are priddy cute. Are you feeling dungarees? Lemmie know :) xx PS There's a Magic Mike 2? WHY DID NO-ONE TELL ME? PPS I've lost my Other Stories sunnies. Cry Face x 10. PPS Still, Magic Mike 2 eh?

Dungarees- H&M//Tee- Zara

Boots- Zara//Hat- Catarzi

Love Fool

It can't have escaped any fashionista worth her salt, that the cardigan is back. The Don, The Daddy, The Sickest Of The Sick is, of course, The Acne Raya. But for those of us with skinny little purses with nowt in 'em but loyalty cards, stamps and a Sainbury's voucher that expired three weeks ago, there are some cheaper alternatives flying around. First up, there's the one I've gone for here, from H&M. It's probably the most expensive thing I've ever bought from there, but I essentially see anything that keeps me away from being very reckless down in Dover Street as a bargain. There's also this beaut from Topshop, which is verrrry similar to the H&M one; and there's also this stunner from Other Stories- which makes my heart beat really quite fast. And while we're talking about cardigans, and love fools, and beating hearts- any news on The Boy I hear you ask? Well yeah. Loads, as it goes. But all I'll say for now is- he got me flying, don't ever wanna come down :) Catch you soon xx

Cardi- H&M//Tee- Topshop

Shorts-Forever 21//Hat- Catarzi

Sneaks- Adidas//Sunnies- Topshop & ASOS

Partners In Crime

Two of my absolute fave go-to staples over the summer have been this Breton and this pleather short. I've paired them together so frequently that they've become besties :) The top was one of those randoms that you find rummaging around in H&M, never to be seen or heard of again. The shorts however, are still available here. Annnnd....these Zara shorts are also realllly tremendous, as is this boxy top. And how nice and slouchy is this Wood Wood top? I would :) I'm also in Crazy Stupid Love with this Zara shopper, so much so that I may just have bought the blue too. I know I know. Just call me a replicatory moron. (If that is even a word, which it probably isn't, in which case call me an illiterate one too). Catch you soon xx

Top- H&M//Shorts- H&M

Sneaks- Adidas//Hat- Catarzi

Shopper- Zara//Sunnies- ASOS

Burgundy Blues

You know when you shoot a look and your face looks uglier than a very ugly thing, in like, every freaking frame? Well, this happens to me most weeks. But when I snapped these shamazing culottes, the visage was looking even worse than usual, so I've basically had to chop my head off in most of these pics. I'd apologize, but I'm sure you're as relieved as I am :) So, back to the culottes. They are sick. And we deffo don't want no minging face detracting from their incred, inherent beautness. I also took my Man Gav out to shoot for the first time- I was getting myself in a right tizz that I'd wreck it- as trying to take photos is always treacherous in terms of- scratching stuff, breaking stuff, dropping stuff, losing stuff. You name it, it goes wrong. And finally, I have to give bare props to my new Catarzi fedora. These hats are simply the bomb dot com. Catch you soon xx

Vest- Topshop//Culottes- Topshop

Slides- Topshop//Bag- Mansur Gavriel

Sunnies- ASOS//Hat- ASOS

True Player Way

It was love at first sight with this playsuit. It's super-soft and super-comfy and just generally super-ace. In fact, I love it so much I might get the stripe version too. And I really can't give enough props to this American Apparel clutch either- it's the perfect size, shape, everything. Speaking of perfect- life has been very much less than that for me recently. Brace yourself for an #epicwhinge. First, I crashed my car. Everyone was fine, but me jam-jar is now crunched. Then my phone died. Whilst frantically Googling how to make said phone un-die I spilt a boiling hot mug of tea all down my leg. And on my bed. And on my (sister's) iPad. Then I smashed a plate whilst doing the washing-up (from The Conran Shop no less), missed the DHL man by micro-seconds (anyone else ever seen him driving off- heartbreakingly- into the distance?) and dropped my nail varnish remover down the loo. And there was me thinking bad luck only came in 3s. Plus, I now have zero, nish, nada text history with The Boy. Maybe that's a good thing. (If so, then why does it feel BAD?) Hope your luck is going better than mine at the minute, catch you soon xx

PS I wasn't actually wearing frosted pale pink lippie a la Claudia Winkles in this shoot, it just looks like I was. In case you were wondering.

Playsuit- Topshop//Slides- River Island

Hat- Catarzi//Bag- American Apparel

Sunnies- ASOS//Necklace- Orelia