"When it comes to casual clothing, my enthusiasm for clothes starts to waver" Bill Nighy

I have NEVER been one for casual dressing. It feels too plain and awkward for me. This summers trends have had casual ALL over them, with the sporty influence! Leggings in particular have been a NO NO for me. At one of my University interviews I was asked what my biggest fashion fury was... confidently I rambled on about leggings. On exiting the interview I looked at both my interviewers, yes, they were wearing leggings. It couldn't've been so bad... I got the place. 

Yet, High waisted leggings have slowly worked their way into my mind. It began when I noticed a friend of mine wearing them and noticing how they elongated her legs. Then a cheeky shopping trip in Topshop urged me to try on these black dog-tooth leggings last winter. I fell slowly in love with them. 

I was convinced not to enter to the laziness legging fashion can encourage. TOUCH WOOD... I haven't

Still, I see this casual sporty dress on people in the streets and to an extent I admire the casualness, but something doesn't quite stick. 

SO festival season came, and what did you see EVERYWHERE? Shorts so short that bums were hanging out. A trend I will never quiet understand in the streets of London.

 And converse. 

They were everywhere.

So I decided to give it a try... after all... can I honestly be willing to wear anything eccentric and nothing casual?

Hmmm...

Advanced Style's interview with 100 year old Ruth answers this question.

"I dress up everyday and I don't wear blue jeans. I dress up even to mail a letter, you never know who you will meet along the way." 

And she's right! After all, this casual look is alright, but would you want to meet someone important dressed like this? 

I think i'll keep this one for the Gym and take Ruth's wise advice! 

Read full article with Ruth! You'll enjoy it... 

http://advancedstyle.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/life-and-style-tips-from-100-year-old.html

“... I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink...” Audrey Hepburn

My sister said to me the other day " I haven't seen you dress like a woman in a while". I suppose I had become a bit obsessed with JW Anderson's androgynous fashions. Then when spring brought floral two piece suits and floods of cigarette trousers stormed the shops, it was all I bought! In a way I find it easier to get away with a shirt and trousers. Yes, I have slowly become a trouser girl!

A habit I am ashamed to admit, after all I love the 1950s. Everything about accentuating the waist and the female figure is flattering and attractive. 

Yet, there's something empowering about a trouser suit, again i'm ashamed to admit to this. After all, suits were a designed for the male figure.  Whilst feeling feminine and girly can often be less satisfying. Perhaps then, I am implying that women are not yet equal to men, but dress more masculine in order to maintain some authority. 

By wearing a figure hugging dress, is a woman emphasising her equality or the desire for the male gaze? 

Yes, perhaps she is.

 However, women such as Jane Mansfield and Rita Hayworth, who inspire many women, such as myself, never considered themselves weakened by their dress. They played on the power their figure held over men. Should we as women, perhaps embrace this? Dress more feminine as a statement of our control over men. We are women after all. 

There seems only one solution to this dilemma. Simply not to care. "Self confidence is one's only security" (L R Hubbard). After all, just as much as I love a suit, I could never give up my lipstick! Empowerment can therefore only come from our perception of its meaning. 

As I flounce around in this outfit today, I can't help but feel more empowered as woman, than ever before! 

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different." Coco Chanel

Being both a country and a city girl can really play on my style. Prancing around the countryside in heels and a pencil skirt is sometimes a little tricky. BUT I DO IT ANYWAY! Before moving to London, I had no idea that there were two types of fashion. I'd laugh at people not wanting to get their shoes muddy. The concept of owning a pair of hunter wellies just to be fashionable, or even to wear whilst shopping, was horrifying! Still, as I drive through London, getting the first glimpse of London trends at Kensington High Street, I have a slight shudder at the sight of a pair of wellies. But when winter hits the streets of London, unlike the still country ways, nothing changes. People in the city continue on with life, the only difference being our good country-wellies are finally used for the right purpose. For this, I love London. It never stops.

So is there a combination of country fashion and city fashion in London? Where I am, there most definitely is!

At home in the small area of herefordshire, i'll dress sophisticated but practical.

At home in the large area of London, i'll dress sophisticated but put to test the impractical fashions, I could never wear in the shire!

No matter where my muddy shoes take me or which city streets I venture down, there is one thing for sure... I am a country girl in love with the city. Both of which i'll take with me everywhere.

" I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." Edgar Allan Poe.

When I choose what to wear each day I let no stereotype or trend overshadow my thoughts. Similarly, no rebellion against trends influences my outfits. I do, however, spend time thinking of what to wear. Sometimes planning the night before, other times risking pulling something together just before I head out. Following trends is fun though, to see what is out in the shops to play with; having a knowledge of what other people wear and giving me more ideas. The thing I like about fashion is that I can dress how I want and get away with it.

The most exciting thing about outfit styling is creating a new personality everyday. Its fun to be someone different. One day I can be girly and feminine, another androgynous and another grungy. Where's the fun in consistency. We live for change.

"EVERYONE THINKS OF CHANGING THE WORLD, BUT NO ONE THINKS OF CHANGING HIMSELF" Leo Tolstoy.

I doubt Tolstoy was implying fashion (unless he was a hidden fashionista that no one knew of) but he does make a point. We are all so focused on a progressive and free world, but laugh at someone stepping out of the norm. How is that right? Don't we want change?

So here's my thoughts on 'today i'm wearing'... its another way of saying, "Hey i'm here ready to make a change, what about you?"

Delicate Femininity

Be my SweetPea

A vintage country