Spring Style Inspiration

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So it’s February and I'm already thinking about spring but with the UK weather as nice as it is, how can I not? I mean, I left the house wearing no layers other than a t-shirt and a cardigan the other day. I am loving it! The change in weather has come at the perfect time as I have been getting so bored of winter dressing and am ready to start changing things up. So, I thought I’d go through some of the trends/colours/patterns etc. I’m feeling inspired by for spring dressing. It’s a little different to my normal posts as there are no photos of me/taken by me but I hope you don't mind!

I’m not only writing this post because I’m excited about spring but also because I’m trying to think more consciously about the things that I’m buying, so laying everything out I’m feeling inspired by like this ensures I’m able to make more sensible shopping choices. With that, here’s some things that are inspiring me for spring…

Neutrals (Stick of Butter)

Image found on Pinterest.

I know I’m not alone in saying that I’m feeling super inspired by neutral tones and colours, I mean, they’re everywhere. I’ve always been someone who likes to incorporate colour into my outfit but I am actually so on board with this trend. Wearing head-to-toe neutrals (in what Man Repeller would call ‘the stick of butter’) is one of the most bold and striking ways to dress in my opinion, even more so than wearing lots of colour. Plus, it looks so effortlessly chic.

Despite neutrals being on trend at the moment, they’re not really ever going to go out of style, so I’m definitely looking to invest in some neutral pieces, specifically a pair of tailored trousers and some trainers (I LOVE the pumps in this image).

Here are some other things on my neutrals wish list:

Pastel Checks (Dressing like a picnic blanket)

Image taken from @michellemdriscoll on Instagram.

I’m always into check/gingham whatever the season. But I am particularly excited about pastel checks, especially when they come in the form of a midi dress, for spring! I already have a baby blue check H&M blazer from last year that I’m planning on pulling out from hibernation but I would definitely like to invest in some more check print, like I said, particularly in the form of a midi dress. I absolutely adore the & Other Stories midi dress in this photo but it’s a little bit spendy so I might have to look for another option…

Here’s the link to that dress and some other checked beauties…

baby blue

Image by @monikh on Instagram.

Blue has always been one of my favourite colours to wear but I’m particularly loving baby blue for spring. It’s a colour that just feels like spring, plus, it looks great with neutrals. I’m 100% going to get the beautiful midi skirt pictured below when I can afford it and I’d also really like to get some baby blue knitwear. The Rixo dress pictured below is literally my dream but, alas, very much out of my budget. If anyone knows of a dupe please let me know!

feminine shoes

Image found on Pinterest.

From slingbacks, to Mary Janes, to ballet pumps, I love how super feminine shoes look. My very wide feet don’t take to them as much as my taste in clothing does but I’m willing to suffer a little for a really good pair of shoes. I have some great slingbacks from Primark (their shoes are so great) that I picked up last year as well as some very old Mary Janes from ASOS that are falling apart but I still love.

I love how chunky heels look on a slingback but I don’t think I’d get very much wear out of them as I spend most of my time working at my desk or in lectures, but if I find a fairly affordable pair maybe I’ll pick them up for occasions when I actually do have the opportunity to dress up.

My favourite way to style a feminine shoe is with more of a masculine trouser/pair of jeans with a feminine blouse and a (faux) leather jacket. The contrast between masculine/feminine in an outfit like this always looks so cool and timeless.

Red is the ultimate feminine colour in my eyes so it feels only right to find a pair of ultra feminine shoes in this shade, even if they are a little bit ‘There’s no place like home’. Topshop brought out an incredible pair last year and I’ve always regretted not buying them so if I do find a pair this year I’m definitely going to take them home with me.

Here’s some feminine shoes I’ve found that you can shop now:

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post! Let me know in the comments if you’re into any of the same things for spring styling as I am or, if not, what you’re looking forward to wearing this spring.

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Finding Fresh Inspiration

With a new season, usually comes fresh inspiration and this year I've been feeling it more than ever thanks to the UK's prolonged periods of cold weather and premature heatwaves (talking about the weather in the first sentence might be a new record for me). The snow we experienced in mid-March really made me feel down and I was so sick of wearing winter clothes by that point that I was wearing pretty much the same thing every single day. So when temperatures hit above 20 degrees celsius in April I was SO ready to bring out my summer wardrobe. Summer is my favourite time of year generally but especially style-wise. I definitely do still feel this bout of inspiration when the weather starts to cool down during the month of October (but lets not talk about that right now as I'm ready to bask in the warm weather) but that's usually over within a few weeks when I realise it's actually too cold to wear anything that looks remotely nice. Summer styling is something I never get fed up of- I've been considering moving to a warmer climate when I'm older more and more recently- and with this style inspiration comes inspiration in all other parts of my life.

Summer is my favourite time for clothes because there's always something new and everything you're buying is a little bit more affordable so it's easier to play around with trends a bit more than it is in the winter. It means you can wear skirts and dresses, instead of trousers or tights (which tend to ruin most outfits for me) and generally just gives you so many more options when getting dressed in the morning.

This outfit was one I wore during last weekend's lovely warm weather (although it wasn't long until I changed into a skirt instead of jeans- us Brits really cannot hack a bit of sun unless we're wearing minimal amounts of clothing). I do really love this outfit though. It was inspired by the wonderful Liv Purvis who has been talking about how much she loves wearing white at the moment, and sharing some beautiful photos to exemplify this. I actually bought the top I'm wearing after seeing Liv wearing it on her Insta Stories a couple of months ago and it's been one of my most worn pieces since. The Los Angeles print is super cool and always makes my outfit feel more summery, as it is pretty much summer all year round in LA (not jealous/bitter at all). I've shared these jeans before on the blog but I bloody love them at the moment.They fit perfectly and switching a blue jean for a white pair is a great way to update your wardrobe for the new season.

Now, let's talk about these shoes. THESE SHOES. £4 in Primark- yes really! I am always blown away by how cheap Primark really is and although I can't always find amazing pieces in the clothing department, they pretty much always have a great collection of shoes. I picked up a different pair, that I'm sure will be on the blog soon, for £6 and I just couldn't believe that I had bought two pairs of shoes that I loved for a tenner! These gingham pumps are much more comfortable than I thought they would be. I have seriously wide feet so I'm always worried about wearing flat shoes like this but I actually think they're really flattering on my wide feet as they kind of have a slimming effect. These sunglasses are also a new purchase from Mango and I think they're so great. It's really nice to have a neutral pair of sunglasses that aren't black but that go with everything. Plus, the subtle cat-eye shape is probably my favourite in a pair of sunglasses as I find them quite flattering. And ,of course, I'm wearing my trusty Zara straw bag. Swapping a leather-style bag out for a straw bag really is a great way to update your style for summer though.

Summer doesn't just bring style inspiration for me though. It's the time where I feel my most creative and motivated. I think this is mostly due to the fact that I've been in education and sitting exams for the past 4 years. So the first few months of summer are usually, for me, spent working extremely hard and forcing myself to be motivated and the remaining months are time for me to let myself go and relax, which always evokes lots of creative energy. This year, I'm in my first year of university, which means the work I do does not count to my overall grade, so there isn't as much pressure as there has been over the past few years. Because of this, my motivational levels for revision have dropped a little bit but my creativity is in overdrive! I always feel like I have to suppress some of the things I enjoy during exams in order to focus which, in turn, makes me want to do them more. This year I'm letting myself do them more than usual but I still feel a little restricted because of UNI, which is frustrating but also just makes me so excited for summer.

I remember reading Just Kids by Patti Smith during my A-Levels last summer (this is a must-read BTW) and because this book shows off the extent to which Patti is such an incredibly creative person, it really lit a spark of creativity for me, which I wasn't able to release until after my exams. This book and this feeling are reminiscent of summer to me now. I'm thinking of re-reading it, or another book of hers, in the next few months to hopefully inspire me even more.

I'd love to hear what inspires you creatively, whether it's a particular season, a book or anything else! I have a good feeling about the next few months of summer and I'm hoping all this inspiration will manifest itself in my blog. So stay tuned!

Top- ASOS (sold out, ASOS stock some other great Daisy Street t-shirts though)

Jeans- Vintage (similar here)

Shoes- Primark (should still be available in store)

Sunglasses- Mango

Bag- Zara

Is There Meaning Behind 'Millennial Pink'?

So-called 'Millennial Pink' has pervaded social media for the last few years. It seems strange that after years of neutral 'scandi colours' being the go-to colour palette that pink should take over. It's hard to escape this shade (or shades) of pink in the world of social media and, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I love how 'Millennial Pink' looks, as you might be able to tell from the outfit I'm wearing in this post. It's a relatively neutral colour but still definitely moves away from a monochrome colour palette and, despite perhaps pretending I didn't like it in my early teens because it wasn't 'cool', I really do like the colour pink. But what is it about it that everyone has suddenly gone crazy for?

Pink has long been a colour associated with girlhood and femininity. Because of this, I feel like many people detach themselves from it when they're growing up. I guess this can be an act of feminist rebellion or an attempt to impress boys at school and show them that 'you're not like other girls' (YAWN!)- for me it was probably, sub-consciously, a little bit of both. I never totally turned my back on the colour pink but I do think I associated it with not being very 'cool' during my high school years (perhaps this has something to do with the fact that I remember owning a book called 'Pink Knickers Aren't Cool'- not sure if I ever got round to reading it but perhaps I made an assumption from the title). Whether this is something that everyone experiences, I'm not sure, but I definitely think the colour pink went through a period of being out of fashion.

So why is it suddenly the colour of the moment? Perhaps it's a re-claiming of the typically feminine colour, an attempt to re-define it as genderless. I like this theory but I don't think that's really why my Instagram feed is permeated by the colour. The Cut, in their analysis of millennial pink made the point that 'gone is the girly-girl baggage; now it’s androgynous.' And this is true. Millennial pink has transformed this feminine colour into something that features in bars and restaurants whose target audience is made up equally of both genders. Menswear has definitely taken note on the trend too and incorporated it with success. But what about a hot pink or a magenta? Are they still 'uncool' and 'girly'? Is this neutral shade of pink as far as society is willing to go in dissolving gender stereotypes? Maybe I'm looking into it too much (this is a very regular occurrence for me as an English student) but I think there's interesting discussion to be had here.

Going back to the early 2010's obsession with neutral colour schemes, I am really curious as to how we came to pick a shade of pink as the colour of the moment. The Guardian puts it down to various things including Wes Anderson's colour scheme throughout 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and the creation of the rose gold iPhone (although I personally would not describe rose gold as anything close to millennial pink but maybe that's a little pedantic). They describe it as representing 'a kind of ironic prettiness, or post-prettiness. It’s a way to be pretty while retaining your intellectual detachment. It’s a wish that prettiness could de-problematised.' I found this so interesting. Again, I think this links back to the gender stereotypes attached to the colour. Pink is perceived as girly, vain and maybe even vapid. But 'Millennial Pink' is neutral, sophisticated and 'artsy' (the fact that it featured so heavily in a Wes Anderson film, I think, immediately attaches this cultural element to it). Do we really all still care about the stereotypes attached to colours? Did we ever? The phenomenon of 'trending colours' in itself suggests so in my opinion.

Like I said, I really could be looking into this too much but it's something that fascinates me. I'd also like to make a disclaimer that I am in no way attacking Millennial Pink or people who use/like it as I am one of those people and it genuinely is a very appealing colour. This is an outfit that I love despite it's relevance to the post and it's truly a colour I wear often.

Anyway, before moving on to talk about this outfit, I'd like to include some of the comments on The Guardian's article about millennial pink here as they amused me greatly and they deserve to be shared. One commenter shares 'I like it because it's dull and inoffensive', which makes my analysis seem a little bit pointless. Can't really argue with them though- fair enough!

A comment thread that is a bit more relevant to this post (phew!) and made me laugh reads as such:

"Commenter One:

I call it rosegold myself. Pink is too feminine.

Commenter Two:

Rosegold is far more butch

Commenter Three:

Rosegoddamngold.

Commenter Four:

Colours have genders? Who knew?"

I hope you enjoyed those comments as much as I did! Anyway, to talk about these photos/this outfit a little bit- firstly, I am so happy with how they came out and am very impressed with my mum's photography! After staring at endless amounts of cherry blossom trees out the window on my bus journey to and from UNI, I was determined to get some photos with them, and luckily enough we have one right outside my house. Even more lucky is that I bought this jumper only a couple of weeks ago and it co-ordinates perfectly with said cherry blossom. I love this jumper because it's really reminiscent of the Ganni jumper that I swooned over for months during winter but is obviously way out of my price range. After seeing this Urban Outfitters version on Georgia Meramo, I patiently waited for it to go in the sale and managed to pick it up for over 50% off at £21- not too bad! Paired with my Topshop cords, this really does make for the perfect millennial pink outfit in my opinion (even if I'm 'technically' too young to be a millennial). Despite my previous discussion of removing gender stereotypes, I really do like how my more 'boyish' converse counteract the femininity of my straw bag and also maintain a neutral colour palette against the pink.

I'd love to hear your views on the symbolic meaning of the colour that has perhaps defined the 'Instagram generation' (I don't know if that's a real phrase or if I've just made it up). Do you think it means anything or do you just think people simply like the colour? Feel free to tell me that I'm looking into it too much- I won't be offended at all because it's something I have to remind myself of every single day as a chronic over-thinker. But I also like to think that everything in life has some sort of meaning, so there you have it!

Jumper- Urban Outfitters

Trousers- Topshop (sold out, similar here)

Sunglasses- Warehouse (old, similar here)

Shoes- Converse

Bag- Zara