Fast Fashion or Timeless?

I feel like it's a common misconception that there are only two types of fashion - fast or timeless. You can either be that cool Instagram girl rocking the latest Primark trends or the classic Pinterest one oozing effortless Parisian chic in her cashmere sweater she owns in five colours. Well I, for one, am neither of these. Maybe that's why I feel like I don't have a distinctive style identity, but I think it's also why I never get bored of getting dressed. My wardrobe isn't full of this season's latest trends, but it's also not filled solely with style classics I could wear over and over. It's a bit of both and that's the way I like it.

Another common misconception is that fast fashion is a waste of money so you should spend a bit more on the basics that will never go out of style because it'll be a better investment. I agree that good quality basics are an excellent investment for your wardrobe (to some degree - you're never going to find me spending double figures on a white t-shirt), but I also think that the amount of wear I'll get this year out of, for example, my cheap gingham top from Primark makes up for the fact that I might go off it next year (although it's also hard to imagine that I will). In short, I tend to wear my fast fashion items a lot in a short space of time, I won't wear my timeless classics as frequently, but will have them for much longer and keep going back to them. So basically, I support both sides of this common debate.

Another thing I find happens to me is that sometimes items I would have considered fast become timeless when I realise that instead of being a passing trend for me it's actually something I'm going to love for years to come even if it goes out of fashion. So maybe you clicked on this blog post because you wanted an answer to the question I posed in the title - fast fashion or timeless? Well, I'm here to tell you that I love both, you shouldn't have to choose and perhaps it doesn't have to be such a big debate after all.

I feel like I've got a mixture of the two in this outfit - stripes are always going to be a timeless classic aren't they? The check blazer though is very much a trend at the moment so it's probably something I will wear to death in the coming months, but less in the future. I love the slight print clash of the two together though so it's a combo I can see myself wearing a lot. When I first got dressed on the day I took this set of photos I popped on my red trousers before deciding that I looked a little too much like Charlie Chalk and changing into some denim instead. The red trousers were going to be my example of an item that's not necessarily seen as a 'classic staple', but one which I've had in my wardrobe for years and still wear, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Blazer - Bershka (here) | Jeans - Monki  | Top - Boohoo  | Shoes - TX Maxx (old)

Amy x

Getting Back Up After a Confidence Knock

Whether you're a shy little bean like me (not quite sure where that description came from, but I'm rolling with it) or a super confident sass queen, we all suffer the occasional confidence knock (I mean, if you are a shy little bean like me then you probably suffer more than an occasional one let's be honest). Knocks to your confidence aren't the nicest thing - personally they leave me with a knotted stomach of doubt in myself and a whirring brain of self critical thoughts, ranging from 'I should never wear a short skirt again because ew legs' to 'I should probably just quit my job because I'm clearly not very good at it.' As someone who is getting fairly used to these little knocks of confidence I've built up a few ways of getting back up after them and carrying on.

P E R S P E C T I V E | Usually it's the little things that we can get bogged down in isn't it? Maybe you overheard someone saying they don't like your dress, maybe you were told that there was room for improvement in a task you did at work or maybe you just spilt coffee all down yourself just as you were about to leave the house (the latter happens to me more than I care to admit). These little things all have a bigger impact on our mood than they should so it's always a good idea to look at the bigger picture. The thing that has knocked your confidence is tiny in the long run, will probably be forgotten down the line and might even make you stronger.

B R O O D | Have an evening in on the sofa with blankets, your cats (if you have them, if you don't I would recommend getting some as they're particularly helpful in this situation) and a big bar of chocolate. Let yourself feel rubbish for a bit because the ritual of treating yourself to a night off will benefit your mood in the long run. Reflecting on what has knocked your confidence will quite often end up making you feel better as you begin to put it into perspective too. 

S E G M E N T A L I S E | I totally thought I'd just made up a word, but it turns out that segmentalise is actually in the dictionary so no points to me for that one. I like to think of my life in segments. There's a family segment, a friendship segment, a relationship segment, a career segment...you get the idea. So hey, maybe someone rained on your parade at work, but are you healthy? Do you have a loving family and friendship group? I always find it helpful to focus my energy on the good segments when I'm not feeling my most confident. 

S A S S | Almost as if you've just broken up with a guy and want to show him what he's missing, the next day throw on your favourite dress, some red lipstick or just whichever outfit makes you feel like the best version of you then head out with the sassiest attitude you can muster because if you can convince other people that you feel great you might just be able to convince yourself too.

What do you do to make yourself feel better after a confidence knock?

Amy x

An Autumnal Glamping Trip and Staying Real

If you follow me on Instagram (hey shameless self promotion I'm over here if you don't) you may have seen that on Monday night I went glamping with some of my favourite girls. We went to Soho Farmhouse, which FYI is just as dreamy as everyone says it is. We had a bell tent with actual real (very comfortable) beds and a log burner, the shower facitilies were nicer than my bathroom at home and the continental buffet breakfast was the tastiest I've ever had. It's a super relaxing place while also having plenty to do - there's an indoor and outdoor pool, a spa, tennis courts, a gym, a cinema and onsite restaurants - you'll never get bored, but you'll manage to chill out at the same time. 

One of the loveliest things was just spending time with my friends. We all live in different places so don't get together that often so it's always nice to catch up and do silly things like decide which character from The Inbetweeners we would be (there's four of us - I'm Simon if you're interested.) We had a little swim and a chill out in the sauna, had a (rather short) row in a boat and spent hours at dinner chatting and drinking wine while trying to be nonchalant about the fact that Patrick Stewart was at the next table. 

I'll go into a little more detail about the actual site - for accommodation there is the option of the bell tents or cabins, which I believe you can get different options of too. I can't speak for the cabins, but the bell tents were lovely and cosy. Inside was a double bed, two chairs, a clothes rail and some storage as well as a log burner plus an electric heater and a fan. Towels, robes, eye masks and earplugs are also provided. As well as the leaisure facilities there are three onsite restaurants and a deli/cafe. We had lunch in the cafe, which did the tastiest salads and then ate dinner and breakfast in the main barn (I'm not sure of the name of the restaurant, but it's the main and biggest one). This barn is huge, but on an evening becomes really cosy. The food was lovely and even if we hadn't had 50% off it would have been fairly reasonable for a treat yo'self kinda meal.

Everything about the grounds is extremely picturesque, from the tents themselves to the pool that's situated within the lake to the bikes that you can pick up and ride around the site whenever you fancy. It's an extremely Instagrammable place and although they're quite strict with photos there (it's supposedly a fairly private place that affords the rich and famous some time away without being harassed by fans) I did manage to get some pretty shots for the 'gram. Which brings me onto what I really want to talk about in this blog post. I was just going to do a write up of our time away because I could definitely bang on about that for a full post, but while we were there one of my friends said something to me that got me thinking. 

She told me that I'm her kind of blogger because what she sees on Instagram is me, it's real and it's not a falsely positive representation of me. I think that's the perfect thing for pretty much any blogger to hear and it was so nice to hear that from one of my friends. It's comments like that that motivate me to never try and be someone I'm not just for the sake of more Instagram followers or higher blog views because unfortunately I think that would be an easy trap to fall into and one which I'm sure some of us do. 

I had an amazing time glamping at Soho Farmhouse, I really really did and I got the pretty Instagrams to show for it. I was planning on just doing a little write up of our trip and what we got up to, but I wanted to talk honestly because I never want to not be real. It would be so easy to show off my pretty pictures and act like I'm the type of person who regularly visits amazing places like Soho Farmhouse (which FYI is the type of place where they park your car for you and where there are Cowshed products to use in all the bathrooms). In all honesty, it was amazing and I would 100% recommend it to anyone who can afford it, but in reality I can't. I got lucky because my friend has a membership that got us 50% off everything (including our tent), but full price? No way could I pay that for a night of glamping, however lovely it was. I don't want to put a downer on what is an incredible place that I had a lovely time at, but at the same time I don't want to be like 'hey you should definitely go, it's amazing' because it's expensive and I would never want to encourage people to spend money that I wouldn't (if that makes sense). 

I would 100% go back and hopefully will at some point because I had such a lovely time. I haven't felt as relaxed as I did when I was there in a long time and it was such a luxury to have an actual bed in a tent - I have to say I think I'm a total glamping convert because the comfort is real and I had an amazing night's sleep even though LOL nice one, go glamping while Storm Ophelia hits the UK (I'm so glad we weren't just camping because that would not have been fun in that wind).

Have you ever been glamping?

Amy x

Little Corners of My Kitchen

After my kitchen transformation post (here) which spoke more about the actual process of renovating our kitchen, I wanted to write a post going into more detail about the different little aspects of the kitchen - this definitely doesn't cover everything, but I didn't want to write an entire essay so for now I've narrowed it down to three of my favourite little parts. 

Tea / Coffee Station

On the end of our island that's attached to the wall (I realise that makes it not an island, but I'm not sure what else to call it - a breakfast bar but with cupboards?) we keep our kettle and coffee machine and there's a little shelf above it where we hang our favourite coffee cups and keep our coffee pods. In what I suppose is a fairly 'safe' kitchen in terms of the colour scheme and style (purposefully so it'll hopefully be quite timeless) I feel like this is the corner with the most character. We could easily have not tiled this section because it didn't really need a splash back, but I'm so glad we decided to as it just makes it a real little feature. With the addition of our copper kettle and the greenery it's almost Pinterest-worthy.     

Table 

 I just love sitting and eating breakfast at our table now especially as the light streams through the window when it's sunny. In terms of the tabletop we try to keep it quite simple so it doesn't get too cluttered. At the moment we just have this fake plant from IKEA displayed on a sample tile I bought when we were trying to decide on wall tiles. 

Fireplace

I'm so glad we knocked the fireplace through because it makes such a lovely feature and it gives the kitchen a real cosy feel especially in the evening when the fairy lights come on inside it. The wood that's made a mantelpiece comes from an old beam we removed and we have more beam left to potentially do the same in the living room. 

The old stove was given to us for free by my friend's mum - it doesn't work as there's a crack down the back, but I'd mentioned that we were on the hunt for something decorative to go there and she just happened to have this sitting in her shed! All we did was clean it up and re-spray it black. The little caddy next to it was also free as someone on our street was getting rid of it (seriously good luck for us on both of these as imagine how much they could cost from an antiques shop). We bought the mirror from Homesense, which is somewhere I'd not really been before but oh my it's my new favourite place. 

I might do a part two to this post so let me know if that's something you'd like to see! 

Amy x

I'm Not Bossing Life And That's OK

I find it incredibly difficult to come up with titles for personal, chatty blog posts that actually encompass everything I'm trying to get across (I find it incredibly difficult to do that in a whole post too to be fair), but I think I've kind of got it with this one. This is one of those topics that has been bubbling under the surface of my 'to write' list for a while, in that I knew there was something to say and that I wanted to say it, but I wasn't quite sure how to actually convey it. That happens a lot and quite often I feel like I try to write posts before they're fully formed ideas and then they don't really make sense. A bit like this opening paragraph really. But why write a quick snappy intro to a post when you could have a long nonsensical paragraph right?

Being a 'girlboss' seems to be the most desirable thing at the moment - you know, having a full time job you're passionate about plus a creative side hustle and on top of that a successful blog and a constantly Instagrammable house and face - all by pure and simple hard work. I admire those people, I really do. The ones who work from 6am until 9pm, the ones who are constantly composed and the ones who just seem to have their shit together (sorry for swearing Mum). I can think of heaps of admirable people who are totally bossing life and I am in complete awe of them. Because I'm not bossing life. I wish I could, but I don't think I have it in me to spread myself so thinly and still do my best at everything.

It's not uncommon to see a tweet, an Instagram caption or even a whole blog post about how someone feels they're struggling. The comparison is too much, the Instagram algorithm is getting to them, they're sick and tired of trying and feeling like they're getting nowhere. We're a generation who work hard, maybe in a different way to how previous generations have done, but we do. And often we don't see much from it, we don't get paid a lot and it can feel like an uphill struggle to do anything worthwhile. We're a generation in danger of burning out. Not only do we want our life to be as full as possible, we want to be exceptionally good at everything we fill it with. We want to be good children to our parents, we want to be the friend who's always there, we want to be amazing at our jobs, in fact we probably want to be amazing at two jobs. I could go on.

My point is, can we be good at all these things? I'm certainly not. I've always been that person who spreads themselves too thinly. When I was younger I had every hobby under the sun, which meant that although I may have been good at a few things, I didn't excel at any because my focus was too wide. And I've just carried that on into life. I have a constant feeling that I'm not a good enough daughter, sister, girlfriend, friend, employee, blogger, Instagrammer and rather that I'm just clinging on to all of those things by my fingertips, just about getting by but not doing any of those things as well as I should or could be. And I get the feeling that it's definitely not just me who feels that way.

So I've tried, but I can't 'boss life'. And do you know what? That's really OK. I'm always striving for everything to be better, but maybe the fact that everything is good should be enough. The phrase 'girlboss' raises issues in itself in my opinion. The people who we view as being a girlboss probably feel as though they're simply clinging on as much as we do. And those of us who feel that we're definitely not bossing life are probably actually doing OK. The question to ask is not 'am I bossing life?', but 'am I enjoying life?' and if the answer is yes then you must be doing something right. 

Amy x