If nothing is going right - go left!
I love this saying! If you start your week off and nothing seems to be going right, stop, take a breath and turn your frustrated feelings around. Instead of focusing on what has gone wrong, look for the small things that have gone right, or focus on what the experience has taught you. Living a positive life means you have to actively work at it, it takes practise and constant reminders to yourself, but I can guarantee it is worth it! Your life starts to feel less stressed, more people want to engage with you because in my experience the majority of people enjoy being around positive people almost hoping that some of their positivity will rub off.
Think about your own experiences, if you come across a negative person how do you feel after interacting with them? Most people would answer that they feel slightly depressed, drained and less optimistic in whatever they are doing. The way to counteract this is to continue looking for the positives in each day, don't let negativity rob you of finding ways to enjoy every day!
Living your life positively doesn't mean you have to go around sprouting rainbows and unicorns! Positive people also experience negative thoughts, actions and experiences however they make the choice not to pass it on or share it around. We live in a world where it seems society has gotten into the habit of looking for and focussing on negatives, I get sad to see increasingly larger numbers of our children and youth also focusing on negatives, we need to try and counteract this, giving kids the ability to look at life positively helps them to remain resilient in this very complex world that we live in.
Make to choice today to start living you life in a more positive way!
Sunday, 29 May 2016
Monday, 23 May 2016
Tuesday inspiration
'Don't let small minds convince you your dreams are too big!'
Have courage and follow your dreams! Often those that try to convince you otherwise are really saying I don't have the courage to follow my own dreams! Life is a journey, live it the way you want, those that truly love you will lift you up not tear you down in your pursuit of your dreams!
Follow your dreams today!
Saturday, 14 May 2016
Styling Styling Styling! - More looks from my wardrobe!
Following up from previous 'styling' blog I thought I would pull a few pieces from my wardrobe and share how I wear them to achieve different looks depending on my mood. Hope you enjoy what I show you and that it inspires you to have a look at your wardrobe and how you can combine pieces for different looks. Remember fashion is fun!!! When you put together a look, as I said in my last blog, own it and wear it with confidence and a big smile, it will certainly add to your outfit!
In this blog my staple piece is a black t-shirt dress, longer length with an interesting hemline detail. This dress is designed to show your shape but not as a super tight fit. (Designed to embrace your curvy figure by outlining your shape) It is a 'summer' season piece but I'm going to show you how I use it for all seasons.
First look is for summer and what it was marketed for. Simply the dress, a nice long necklace to add some interesting detail, using a long necklace helps to keep the elongated shape, a pair of flip flops and a floppy straw hat will see you right for the summer picnic at the beach or in a nice park. Change the flip flops for a nice pair of sandals add a belt designed to sit on your hips and you are ready for lunch at a cafe or vineyard. Throw on a pair of high heels, take off the hat, fluff out your hair add some more makeup and you are ready for any night time party.
2nd look is for Autumn (Fall). Black dress, add a light weight scarf and jacket, depending on the weather you can wear either a sandal or a short boot. If you like wearing hats you can go with either the straw hat or change it up with a felt hat (I wear boots with the outfit if wearing the felt hat). You can change the scarf and jacket to a light weight jumper instead which you can tie around your waist if it is a bit warmer throughout the day or even a nice shirt tied at the waist can give another look. Once again you can put on a high heel, add a nice cropped jacket and long line necklace and you are ready for an evening on the town.
3rd look is for Winter. Black dress, add a chunky scarf, heavy cropped jacket ( I put my cropped tan leather jacket) a pair of cropped boots, depending on how cold it is a pair of woollen tights and a felt hat and you are ready for most functions or even just a bit of shopping. You can change this depending on the venue you are heading to by changing the jacket to a long line cardigan with either a scarf or necklace and a higher boot or shoe. Adding a loose belt designed to sit on your hips adds another dimension. Evening you can go with the necklace jacket/coat or cardigan (until you warm up in the venue) high heels, loose the hat, add some make up and you are ready to party!
4th look is for Spring. Black dress, go with the Autumn look, but I would tend to wear a nice shirt cinched at the waist and definitely the straw hat and sandals. The great thing about this dress being black is that you can accessorise in any colour, by changing colours of shirts, coats, shoes bags etc you can change you look many times and go with whatever mood you are in on any given day!
Sunday, 1 May 2016
Styling - Age is just a number,fashion is always so much fun!
I often hear my friends saying I wish I knew what to wear and how to wear it! Whilst there are definitely some fashions that are solely marketed for the young I certainly don't agree that certain overall looks should only be worn by youth. Age is just a number, just because we are ageing doesn't mean we have to all of a sudden not follow fashion trends. I will say, as a woman who is classed as 'mature' in age terms,over time with changes to our bodies (all as nature intended, particularly after the miracle of having a couple of children), we do sometimes need to adjust to gain a certain look by avoiding some of the super tight and cropped items available. I will however point out, I have some friends who put a huge amount of time and effort into excercise and diet in order to shape thier bodies with results that rival girls 20 to 30 years younger than themselves. To these friends I absolutely applaud you, this is what you love to do and with all of that hard work you have earnt the right and can absolutely wear anything you please! Another often heard comment is by people lamenting that they don't have the budget to 'be fashionable'. Just because you don't have a big budget doesn't mean you can't look well put together and on fashion point! I often get friends and acquaintances saying to me 'you always look so nice' or 'you have a great wardrobe' or 'I wish I could put together outfits like you do'. Anyone can do what I do, regardless of your budget, so I thought I would share some of my favourite tricks, hacks and pointers for getting the look you want!
First and foremost the digital age certainly makes staying on point fashion wise very easy. When you see some of those pesky fashion adverts pop up on your screen go in and have a look every now and then. Check out some of the celebrity fashion sites and articles particularly like the recently held music festival 'Coachella'. All of these will ensure you keep up to date with the latest trends, taking particular note of colours, patterns and accessories.
I have some of my family currently travelling around Europe and the word from my sisters after visiting one of the fashion capitals in the world is denim on denim! Apparently all of the fashionable Parisians are currently rocking this look, time to go through my wardrobe and find my denim items!
When looking at fashion sites etc what I generally take note of is the overall look they are going for, what sort of colours are currently being favoured and the length of current fashions from tops to skirt lengths to jeans and trouser lengths. For instance, if layering (which appears to be still on point) are they going with all one length, a variety of lengths and how does it frame the body? I am really loving the boho look at the moment, I love accessories and particularly love the hats currently finishing off the put together look. One of my things I am passionate about is ensuring you accessorise fully, if you are going to add a hat, handbag boots etc make sure they match your overall look.
One of my other tips is to invest in one or two good pieces each season that you can use in a variety of ways to make different looks. I have recently purchased a cropped tan leather jacket. Whilst you could spend huge amounts on a good leather jacket, I found the jacket I love at 'Just Jeans' and they happened to have it on special for $140.00. This Autumn/Winter I will wear this in a variety of ways and often, I love that tan is a fashionable colour at the moment as it works well with my skin tone. I also have a number of accessories in tan colours, as well as complimentary colours including a variety of materials like leather, rose gold,etc as well as a favourite pair of boots from last season which will work well with my newly purchased jacket. - Don't be afraid to mix up textures in your outfits, they can make your outfit interesting!
I love that white jeans are fashionable not only for summer but all seasons at the moment, this gives me lots more options when putting together outfits. Many people are surprised to find out that the majority of my wardrobe comes from Big W, Target, Cotton On, Rockmans etc. I love the Lee Cooper options at Big W as these items are always current in fashion terms but really affordable.
Another thing I do is to look for interesting details on items, for example asymmetric hemlines, cut
outs in the back of tops, cut out shoulder details, zips, interesting draping detail and drop back
hemlines for tops/jumpers etc. I do have a couple of favourite shops, Yoshiki and The Birch House where I purchase a number of my items. The owner Tanya has amazing taste and always stocks a wonderful variety of accessories at really affordable prices. A common problem I find when helping others with styling is that when looking in the mirror all they see is their perceived flaws and zero in on what they believe is their body flaw. Guess what, no one is perfect, no one zeros in on these areas when looking at you, instead everyone looks at the overall look and as women we need to learn to do this as well when looking at ourselves. There are definitely hints, tips and tricks to minimise what we all class as problem areas, but again this should not stop you from enjoying some of the current fashion trends! Over the next few blogs I'm going to share a few styling examples from my wardrobe so you can see that by looking at your wardrobe in a different way can help you achieve different looks. Remember your biggest and best fashion accessory is confidence and a smile, when you put together a look, own it! Always have fun and look at the overall look not what we are all conditioned to do - focussing on our perceived flaws.
1st look is using a dress purchased at Big W - Lee Cooper Brand, that has the current Boho feel. The length hits mid thigh, it has a fitted top, 3 quarter small bell sleeves, interesting back detail and best of all it falls from under the bust with a gentle 'A' line shape which is flattering to most body shapes. I wear this dress in a variety of ways. Firstly you can wear it as intended, adding a current on trend floppy hat - straw for summer then switching up to felt for winter adds a bit of fun. I like to accessorise with tan and leather accessories - I absolutely love my leather 'lace up' sandals and usually will wear them with this outfit, add a leather handbag, throw a long necklace on with it (credit to Yoshiki for this one and also for my shoes) voila my first outfit. I always make sure I wear
a good supportive bra with this outfit as it accentuates my décolletage and I want to ensure I achieve a great shape. Added note: I do love the current bras with interesting front straps which are designed to be seen, I looked around and couldn't find the shape I wanted or for the price I was prepared to pay - solution, make my own, very easy to do and the bonus is you can buy a fairly cheap bra (with a multitude of colours) and not only have one but as many as you like. More on this in a future blog!
2nd look - still using my Lee Cooper dress. As I said earlier, I love that white jeans are suitable for
all seasons. My favourite style of jeans for my body type is the 'boyfriend' 3 quarter look with ripped and distressed look whether in blue denim or as I also have in white. These style jeans should be worn a little bit loose, I purchased my white jeans from 'Rockmans' on sale, the fit is great, they have a slight stretch in them and the waist is suitable for my slightly increased waist girth! I turn my dress into a top by adding a small knot to the hemline of the dress which actually creates the illusion of a longer leg length., adding my tan boots, felt hat and long necklace gives me another look that is great for those beautiful sunny autumn days! Throwing my cropped tan leather jacket on when it gets slightly chilly alters the look to include the current on trend layered look.
Whilst in my second look I have gone for the white jeans I can change this up with my blue denim jeans or a pair of my black slim fit jeans - when wearing the black jeans I change my boots to my
short black ones, hat to black with tan detail, but retain the tan leather bag and add a rose gold long
necklace or leather necklace. (3rd look) You could also add a nice contrast scarf to change it up further.
All in all when I wear these outfits I feel fashionable, youthful and fresh. I have had numerous people tell me how nice I look which all adds to my confidence which in turn adds to my outfit! I hope you have enjoyed my first blog about how I style my clothes, if you have please sign up for email updates as I will be writing more blogs with further examples from my wardrobe on how you can style yourself by looking at clothing in different ways!
First and foremost the digital age certainly makes staying on point fashion wise very easy. When you see some of those pesky fashion adverts pop up on your screen go in and have a look every now and then. Check out some of the celebrity fashion sites and articles particularly like the recently held music festival 'Coachella'. All of these will ensure you keep up to date with the latest trends, taking particular note of colours, patterns and accessories.
I have some of my family currently travelling around Europe and the word from my sisters after visiting one of the fashion capitals in the world is denim on denim! Apparently all of the fashionable Parisians are currently rocking this look, time to go through my wardrobe and find my denim items!
When looking at fashion sites etc what I generally take note of is the overall look they are going for, what sort of colours are currently being favoured and the length of current fashions from tops to skirt lengths to jeans and trouser lengths. For instance, if layering (which appears to be still on point) are they going with all one length, a variety of lengths and how does it frame the body? I am really loving the boho look at the moment, I love accessories and particularly love the hats currently finishing off the put together look. One of my things I am passionate about is ensuring you accessorise fully, if you are going to add a hat, handbag boots etc make sure they match your overall look.
One of my other tips is to invest in one or two good pieces each season that you can use in a variety of ways to make different looks. I have recently purchased a cropped tan leather jacket. Whilst you could spend huge amounts on a good leather jacket, I found the jacket I love at 'Just Jeans' and they happened to have it on special for $140.00. This Autumn/Winter I will wear this in a variety of ways and often, I love that tan is a fashionable colour at the moment as it works well with my skin tone. I also have a number of accessories in tan colours, as well as complimentary colours including a variety of materials like leather, rose gold,etc as well as a favourite pair of boots from last season which will work well with my newly purchased jacket. - Don't be afraid to mix up textures in your outfits, they can make your outfit interesting!
I love that white jeans are fashionable not only for summer but all seasons at the moment, this gives me lots more options when putting together outfits. Many people are surprised to find out that the majority of my wardrobe comes from Big W, Target, Cotton On, Rockmans etc. I love the Lee Cooper options at Big W as these items are always current in fashion terms but really affordable.
Another thing I do is to look for interesting details on items, for example asymmetric hemlines, cut
outs in the back of tops, cut out shoulder details, zips, interesting draping detail and drop back
hemlines for tops/jumpers etc. I do have a couple of favourite shops, Yoshiki and The Birch House where I purchase a number of my items. The owner Tanya has amazing taste and always stocks a wonderful variety of accessories at really affordable prices. A common problem I find when helping others with styling is that when looking in the mirror all they see is their perceived flaws and zero in on what they believe is their body flaw. Guess what, no one is perfect, no one zeros in on these areas when looking at you, instead everyone looks at the overall look and as women we need to learn to do this as well when looking at ourselves. There are definitely hints, tips and tricks to minimise what we all class as problem areas, but again this should not stop you from enjoying some of the current fashion trends! Over the next few blogs I'm going to share a few styling examples from my wardrobe so you can see that by looking at your wardrobe in a different way can help you achieve different looks. Remember your biggest and best fashion accessory is confidence and a smile, when you put together a look, own it! Always have fun and look at the overall look not what we are all conditioned to do - focussing on our perceived flaws.
1st look - dress with tan accessories
1st look is using a dress purchased at Big W - Lee Cooper Brand, that has the current Boho feel. The length hits mid thigh, it has a fitted top, 3 quarter small bell sleeves, interesting back detail and best of all it falls from under the bust with a gentle 'A' line shape which is flattering to most body shapes. I wear this dress in a variety of ways. Firstly you can wear it as intended, adding a current on trend floppy hat - straw for summer then switching up to felt for winter adds a bit of fun. I like to accessorise with tan and leather accessories - I absolutely love my leather 'lace up' sandals and usually will wear them with this outfit, add a leather handbag, throw a long necklace on with it (credit to Yoshiki for this one and also for my shoes) voila my first outfit. I always make sure I wear
a good supportive bra with this outfit as it accentuates my décolletage and I want to ensure I achieve a great shape. Added note: I do love the current bras with interesting front straps which are designed to be seen, I looked around and couldn't find the shape I wanted or for the price I was prepared to pay - solution, make my own, very easy to do and the bonus is you can buy a fairly cheap bra (with a multitude of colours) and not only have one but as many as you like. More on this in a future blog!
2nd look - dress turned into a top with white jeans and tan accessories
2nd look - still using my Lee Cooper dress. As I said earlier, I love that white jeans are suitable for
all seasons. My favourite style of jeans for my body type is the 'boyfriend' 3 quarter look with ripped and distressed look whether in blue denim or as I also have in white. These style jeans should be worn a little bit loose, I purchased my white jeans from 'Rockmans' on sale, the fit is great, they have a slight stretch in them and the waist is suitable for my slightly increased waist girth! I turn my dress into a top by adding a small knot to the hemline of the dress which actually creates the illusion of a longer leg length., adding my tan boots, felt hat and long necklace gives me another look that is great for those beautiful sunny autumn days! Throwing my cropped tan leather jacket on when it gets slightly chilly alters the look to include the current on trend layered look.
Whilst in my second look I have gone for the white jeans I can change this up with my blue denim jeans or a pair of my black slim fit jeans - when wearing the black jeans I change my boots to my
short black ones, hat to black with tan detail, but retain the tan leather bag and add a rose gold long
necklace or leather necklace. (3rd look) You could also add a nice contrast scarf to change it up further.
3rd look - Dress turned into top and switched to black jeans and accessories
All in all when I wear these outfits I feel fashionable, youthful and fresh. I have had numerous people tell me how nice I look which all adds to my confidence which in turn adds to my outfit! I hope you have enjoyed my first blog about how I style my clothes, if you have please sign up for email updates as I will be writing more blogs with further examples from my wardrobe on how you can style yourself by looking at clothing in different ways!
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