This isn't exactly an outfit I had planned previous to wearing and to be honest I wasn't in the mood for doing a look that day and was just going to throw on a pair of jeans a white tee but then I seen this grey mid-length dress hanging in my wardrobe and thought that it would be nice to wear it again and then before I knew a whole little look had come together, days like that always cheer me up.
All of the pieces i'm wearing here are really quite old now but I have to say how gratifying it is to be able to put a full look together using only older pieces because it tells me that I invested well, which I guess is something we all want when we spend our money, isn't it?!
Well I hope you like this look and tell me, do you like to invest in pieces when you shop? Or do you prefer to have a lighter and more "in the moment" approach to buying clothes?
Take care sweeties,
Daniella xox
(old) Abercrombie & Fitch Cardigan
(old) Elizabeth & James Shirt & Belt - Love this shirt Here & Here
(old) Whistles Dress - Similar Here & Love this Here
Firstly I want to say a massive thank you for the wonderful comments I received on yesterdays post about bringing awareness to M.E. I am still working on replying to everyone individually and also to the emails I received. I really am overwhelmed by everyone who not only took the time to read the post but also to those who took the time to reply with such positivity, understanding and encouragement.
This is something I wore few weeks back when the sun was shining and the flowers were looking pretty, a great day for taking some photos, the only catch was it was a bit chilly but that didn't bother me because I like myself a bit of, what I call "in-between" weather.
For this look I decided to combine two of my favourite styles, classic and androgyny. I chose some wardrobe staples of mine, like this classic navy v-neck sweater and talking of which, this one is from Jack Wills that I bought back when I was about seventeen and oh how I wish Jack Wills would bring it back as I can tell you all that after wearing it excessively for years now, it still continues to hold the same shape, colour and feel as it did when I first bought it! SO lovelies if you come across the perfect navy sweater, just buy it regardless because they are rare and you totally won't regret it. I borrowed the Boyfriends Chinos, oh and his watch, hehe I know i'm badass! Added in a vintage leather belt and my good old tweed blazer (also from Jack Wills) I turned up the sleeves a little for some extra detail, whilst also creating some subtle print play with the striped print on my ankle socks. Instead of my Grensons I chose to go with my Jil Sander metallic brogues, just to prevent the look from becoming to proper. A pink lip and standing under a pretty blossom tree was, for me, a great way to bring some femininity to the look.
Well I look forward to reading your comments. Thank you for reading and take care,
Today I have something a little different for you all, it's not fashion related but it is about an issue that is very close to my heart. It's quite lengthly and I completely understand if you don't have the time to read through it.
I have wanted to write a post on this for a while now but i've never known how to, or where to start but last week was M.E awareness week and even though I know I am a little late I still really feel that now would be a good time. Trying and attempting to explain M.E can be difficult and quite in depth and so for now I wont go over the whole of my own experience with the illness because i've got 13 years to cover and you don't want to be sat reading this all day. So today I am going to focus on just bringing awareness to M.E in any way that I can.
A lot of people are very black & white about disabilities and the fact is an illnesses like M.E couldn't be any more grey! It's not as simple as being in a wheelchair and I mean that with no offence towards people in wheelchairs but at least it's visible, which allows a certain amount of understanding from the general public and doctors but with a lot of M.E Sufferers you probably wouldn't know at all, we tend to look completely healthy which is why a lot of people feel they have the right to judge or have an opinion that can actually be very ignorant and upsetting. I wouldn't know where to begin in telling you the horrible experiences that I myself and my family have had with the public and professionals.
I can remember that for years I wouldn't even talk about or mention the fact that I had M.E. If I ever met someone new, the topic of why I didn't go to school, collage, drive or work would always come up and my responses would often be "i'm to cool" or "i'm just lazy" or even go as far as saying that I am just going to live off my parents. I know it sounds crazy but at the time it was a defence I put up because half of the people would think that anyway, so I thought I might as-well say it first to try and save the hurt of hearing it. I also found it tiring that on the odd occasion that I did mention it, having to stand there and justify why I looked, sounded and in general appeared to be a happy, healthy looking gal.
Then a couple of years ago I started to rethink this, I thought to myself, how can I sit here and complain about the lack of awareness and non understanding attitudes, when I myself don't take the time to explain it to the new people I meet. Yes it's tough to talk about it to people I don't really know because i'm of course opening myself up to judgement but I am now strong enough to know that negative judgement is likely and it's their problem if they don't want to evolve, learn or be understanding but at least i've tried to educate. Though I must highlight that not always is the response negative, some actually do listen with an open-minded and understanding ear, which is such an encouragement to keep talking about it.
I guess ultimately what i'm trying to say is that if there are any sufferers of M.E or anyone who knows someone that suffers with the illness because it's more then likely you do, then don't be ashamed, afraid you'll be judged or feel like you're making yourself look like a victim, you're not, you are just helping to educate those who are not aware. I look at it like M.E Is a part of me and that's okay but it's not all of me and if we can all learn to talk about this illness a little more then eventually and hopefully people and even doctors will become a little more aware and might think twice about judging so quickly.
Here you can find the listed symptoms to give you an idea of what daily life is like for those who suffer with the illness, I was going to list them myself but not to sound over the top but it's quite a long list and it's explained better on the website. I would also like to say that if anyone ever has any questions about the illness, please feel free to ask me, I am very open about it and like I said I want to help bring understanding and awareness. Sorry if i've rambled on but thank you so much for sticking with me if you've taken the time to read this, it really means a lot. I am also aware that this can be a quite a touchy subject for some and at no point in this post do I want to cause offence to anyone. These are my views and opinions based on what i've seen and experienced.
If you would like, you can check the official Action For M.E Website Here.
Like everyone i'm sure, a light trench coat is a favourite for the spring/early summer and even though i'm still holding out for the perfect one from Burberry, something i've wanted since I was about 13 years old, that doesn't take away from how crazy I still am about this one by Topshop Boutique. It would be fair to say, that this coat is one of my favourite buys this year and yeah yeah, i'm sure it has nothing to do with my obsession of anything khaki, olive, military or whatever you want to call it, green!
Now looking at these photos I see that this look is not that dissimilar from this outfit I wore during Paris fashion week! A white top, navy bottoms and a red lip, a combination that is clearly a winner in my books. Even though I like to experiment with my outfits, sometimes, it's just so refreshing to resort back to a classic, easy-chic and fail-safe combination, where theres no fiddling, no adjusting just easy simplicity, wouldn't you agree?! Though i've just realised that there I am "fiddling" with my top in one of the photos, ha typical! But you get my drift.
Well I really hope you like this look sweeties. Thank you for your comments in advance and take care,
