Alice Porter 6/20/18 Alice Porter 6/20/18

Copying VS. Inspiration

Today I want to talk a little bit about the difference between copying and inspiration because there's definitely a fine line between the two. This fine line can often be the reason why people are scared to take inspiration from people, especially in the age of social media where everyone is free to scrutinise and criticise your actions from behind the protection of their computer screen. I often see bloggers and vloggers with a bigger following complain about people copying their ideas and I can imagine that this is so infuriating. If I were to create a series on YouTube, for example, and put hard work into the logistics behind it for someone else to totally steal the idea without any acknowledgement of it being mine, I can't even imagine how I'd feel. But that is straight-up copying. You can't really view it any other way. But if, continuing with this example, said copier was to acknowledge that they took the idea from me (this is totally hypothetical by the way, I don't even make YouTube videos), would that be taking inspiration rather than copying? See what I said about the fine line?

The photos included with this post are actually what gave me the idea for the topic of discussion because I was very much inspired to create this outfit by the blogger, Samantha Maria, someone who I always find myself taking inspiration from as I have spoken about before in my post on styling red and pink. I saw her wear a similar outfit during her trip to Dubai- you can see how she styled the outfit here. Because I put together this outfit based on the inspiration I took from Sammi and because the outfits are similar, I thought this would be an interesting sort of 'case study' to dissect the differences between taking inspiration and copying stylistically.

Comparing my outfit to Sammi's, they look extremely similar. You might be surprised that I'm actually wearing totally different pieces by different brands to Sammi. But I think even if I was wearing the exact top and skirt as her, this still wouldn't necessarily be a case of copying. I think that's because I've styled the outfit to make it my own.

Sammi's outfit very much gives me 'summer in the city' vibes, whereas mine, I think, is much more 'summer on the beach'. This, in part is to do with the locations that we both wore these outfits in but it was also a conscious decision on my behalf to wear this outfit on holiday so I could change it up from hers a little bit. I also think the colour schemes of the outfit are significantly different considering we're both wearing black and white polka dots and denim. Sammi has gone for a monochrome colour scheme whereas I have added some colour into my outfit. I mainly did so because monochrome isn't really my style. Another way in which I made my outfit my own is by using a natural brown coloured straw bag rather than a black one, as Sammi did. Again, this was to ensure it had those summer holiday vibes and to change up the colours of the outfit a little bit. Styling my hair in a loose bun rather than in a messy ponytail and hoop earrings also changed the outfit to one that is a little bit more relaxed and holiday appropriate.

'Making it your own' is probably the second most important thing in order to cross the line from copying to taking inspiration, the first most important thing being acknowledging the original source of inspiration. Acknowledging that you've taken inspiration from someone removes any tension from the situation and, usually, is flattering for the person who has inspired you. People who copy usually are trying to make something that is someone else's look like their own, so by acknowledging that this thing, whether it's an outfit idea or anything else, isn't your own, you remove yourself from that category, in my opinion.

Taking inspiration is such an important thing for me creatively whether that's for my blog design, photography or, usually, my style. I've recently got very into Pinterest and it has been providing me with so much inspiration that hopefully will help to improve my blog content! I have boards for inspiration for each season of the year, a moodboard, a board of imagery that I love and one for photography inspiration (that mostly consists of Francessca Woodman's photos after seeing an exhibition on her work at the weekend). So far, it's been really positive for me creatively and is also a really good way of pinpointing (see what I did there?) where I'm taking inspiration from so I can go back there for more. If you're interested in seeing what's inspiring me, you can take a look at my Pinterest page here!

I hope this post has showed you how beneficial taking inspiration from others can be and maybe helped you to figure out how to do so in a positive way for everyone involved! Sammi actually shared a photo of this outfit from Instagram on her stories as part of her #sammisstylediaries which was really nice because it kind of proves that you can be directly and obviously inspired by someone without causing offence and maybe even flatter them in the process.

I really recommend following Sammi (I mean, if you aren't already) because she is killing it this year, especially on YouTube! Here are some links to her different platforms:

Sammi's Blog

Sammi's Instagram

Sammi's Youtube

Top- ASOS (limited stock, Sammi's Topshop version is here)

Skirt- Pull & Bear (old, similar here)

Bag- Zara

Shoes- Mango

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Alice Porter 6/17/18 Alice Porter 6/17/18

Boulevard Du Soleil Couchant

This outfit is probably my favourite out of all of the outfits I wore in Corfu so I'm really excited to finally share it on my blog. Sorry if you feel as though I'm dragging the holiday content on a little bit but I've had a busy few weeks since I got back and so didn't have time to share the blog posts all at once but I do want to share all of the blog posts I planned because I like how the photos have come out for the most part! But I promise there's only one more week of content from Corfu coming up. Although, I have just booked a trip to Barcelona in 3 weeks so there will be more holiday content before you know it.

Anyway, as mentioned this happens to be one of my favourite outfits I wore in Corfu and I'm so happy with how the photos have come out. I was actually expecting this to be my least favourite outfit from the trip seeing as it's the most basic, just a t-shirt and a skirt. But maybe that's just what I feel most myself in? I'm also a big fan of colour co-ordination, as you might be able to tell from past outfits I have shared, and baby blue is one of my favourite colours to wear so it's unsurprising how much I love it.

I think the main reason I'm so happy with these photos is the location. Luckily, the hotel we stayed in in Corfu (Gretocel Eva Palace) was so beautiful and had a pastel colour palette of dreams. This particular location was on my route from the beach to my hotel room every day and I was eyeing it up for a while before I took these photos here. Pinky/peachy walls, which are a common feature of Corfu's architecture, along with white railing, wicker chairs and a bit of greenery are my idea of an aesthetic dream and made me feel like I was on the French Riviera during the 1950s. The setting actually feels reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night which, although I personally think is painful plot-wise, provides some beautiful imagery of the south of France in the 1920s.

Speaking of France, you may have noticed the slogan on my top, of which I have dedicated this blog post to, is in French. It's one I picked up from & Other Stories, as you might have seen in my blog post on the new bits in my wardrobe, that I was immediately attracted to because I am always a lover of white T-shirts, anything baby blue and the French language. I obviously had to google translate the writing in the changing rooms to ensure it didn't say something like 'Pizza is life' and was pretty pleased to find out it translated to 'Sunset Boulevard' as I think that's pretty non-offensive and maybe even a little bit cool? The French language has always been something I've wanted to learn as I'm fascinated by it and the culture of France, you might even call me a Francophile! Although my GCSE in French put me off a little bit (2 hours straight weekly of copying from a textbook and equally painstakingly boring tasks was far from enjoyable), it's always been a goal of mine to have a decent understanding of the language. Not only is the language in itself beautifully romantic (a cliche but one that holds lots of truth) but I would love to live in France one day, not forever but for a few months or a year or so and so obviously knowing the language would be necessary. Apart from said GCSE French and inevitably failed attempts to complete DuoLingo, my French language skills don't go very far. Maybe (hopefully) this will be the year when I take this goal of mine a little bit more seriously and attend some real-life classes or something like that. Let me know if you've ever learnt a language independently or in an unconventional way (i.e. not as part of your full-time education) and if you have any tips for doing so as I'd love to hear them!

France seems like such an inspiring place to be creatively and I think spending an extended period of time there, namely in Paris, would be so good for me. It's something I really hope I'm able to do when I finish university. I have considered a year abroad but if I was to live there I'd want to dedicate most of my time to being creative in ways that don't involve my degree so I've ruled that out. But I hope I'm able to live out this dream one day, learning the language would certainly be a good start!

Anyway I thought everything in these photos came together quite nicely, from the French slogan tee with the Riviera esq location, to the vintage style sunglasses and skirt with the old-fashioned feel colours and style of this part of the hotel. I'm now off to play, if you can call it that, on DuoLingo in hopes of fulfilling my Parisian dreams!

Top- & Other Stories

Skirt- Topshop (it's now £15 in the sale!)

Bag- Zara

Sunglasses- Primark (similar here)

Shoes- New Look (old)

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Alice Porter 6/13/18 Alice Porter 6/13/18

The Pressures of Perfectionism

Welcome (back?) to my blog! So sorry that I haven't been as regular with posting recently. With a holiday, exams and post-exams celebrating, I've not had much time to sit down and write. But I have 40 minutes till tonight's Love Island so I have plenty of time to write this post and hopefully I will be back to posting on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays weekly now.

One of the reasons I've let myself stop posting so regularly is because it's another way of getting over my perfectionism. I'm definitely not a perfectionist in every area of my life but in the areas where I set myself goals, I most definitely am. I'm most regularly setting myself goals within UNI and blogging, so I thought I'd talk a little bit about the pressures of perfectionism in each of these parts of my life.

I decided to discuss this topic in a post with these photos because I very much had an 'ideal image' in mind before shooting them, as I do with most planned shoots, and the outcome wasn't as good as I had hoped. This is partly because we were in a rush whilst taking them but also because they were taken on a busy street in Corfu where lots of people were giving me strange looks and I'm still not totally comfortable with shooting in front of strangers, especially when the people who I'm with/are taking the photos feel the same way.

I was kind of inspired to use this backdrop for my photos by Lucy Williams' recent campaign with Mango. Obviously my photos haven't come out half as good as hers because I didn't have a professional photographer shooting the photos, nor did I have a full day (or maybe even days) to perfect them, plus the backing and support of a major company. Considering the circumstances in which these photos were taken, I should be happy with them and I am after thinking about it! But this is just an example of one of the ways in which I hold myself up to ridiculous standards (and a segway into the rest of the post).

So, personally, I am mostly a perfectionist academically. This is something I've talked about previously in my post on work-life balance as well as my post on my experience with anxiety, so I won't really go into it too much. But it is interesting to consider how much of the pressure I used to put on myself (and still do sometimes) academically is really created by myself rather than influenced by social factors. The pressure I put on myself during A-Levels was mostly generated by people telling me how difficult they would be and perhaps maintained by the feeling that I would inevitably be letting people down if I didn't do well. Although it really was me and, mostly, no-one else putting this pressure on myself, I think it was created by my social situation i.e. the fact that doing well in A-Levels is seen as the be-all and end-all during sixth form. My first-year of UNI has allowed me to be a lot more laid back because rather than being told that grades mean everything, we are instead told that grades don't matter this year, which has been endlessly helpful for me.

Moving onto university (I'm on a roll with the segways today), this post was actually inspired by conversations I've had with various people about the social pressure of university, particularly inspired by one with my friend Lucy at Parklife festival this weekend. You might be surprised by the amount of people who have dropped out of university this year based on the appearance of their Instagram feeds. Social media definitely suggests that EVERYONE is having a great time at university because, as my friend Katy said, no one is going to post a picture of themselves during one of the (probably) many times that they are crying in their bedroom.

First year of university is difficult for most people but because we are constantly told that it should be 'the best years of our lives' and that we should be extremely social, there's lots of guilt attached to feelings of sadness, boredom and loneliness at university and I think the pressure to be perfect is extremely prevalent here. I'm glad I've been able to share some of my more difficult experiences with university on my blog because it is so isolating seeing people with lots of new friends going out every night on Instagram, when you're spending your 5th night on a run eating leftover bolognese and writing an essay on a Jane Austen novel (I've written on three Austen texts this year which might just have put me off her forever).

But no one, that I know of, is really having an amazing time all the time so just remember that. I'm definitely going to be making more of an effort in second year to talk about some of my more difficult moments at university on Instagram. Even if I don't post a photo of myself crying in bed- because, quite frankly, I don't want to do that and I am 100% sure that no one wants to see it- I might talk a little bit about my shitty week in the caption or on Instagram stories. Not to moan but to prove to anyone who might think that my life is in any way 'perfect' that I have as many shitty times as they do and so they should never feel bad about them or pressured to have to feel better.

My perfectionism is something I'm trying to let go of in all areas of my life and I think I have been able to do so in lots of ways. I'm never going to be totally laid-back and I really don't ever want to be as my motivation and determination has been really good for me in lots of ways. But when it starts to affect my mental health is when I know I've taken it too far and hopefully in ignoring and abandoning any pressures to be perfect I won't have to let it get that far again. My Instagram and Twitter DMs are always open if you want to talk about any of your experiences and if you've gone through anything similar, do get in touch! I hope you've enjoyed this post and that it's reminded you to focus on yourself and ignore any social pressures around you.

Dress- Zara

Bag- Zara

Sunglasses- Mango (No longer available on the website, will update the post if they re-stock them)

Shoes- New Look (old)

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Alice Porter 6/8/18 Alice Porter 6/8/18

1 Shirt 2 Ways

Today I have another post with some photos from Corfu, and there's many more to come so I hope you're enjoying them! I'm sharing a little holiday styling tip that I learnt from Lizzy over at Shot From The Street (the editing of these photos was also inspired by her, specifically her 35mm film posts, which are my favourite blog posts by anyone ever.) I remember reading (or potentially hearing over on her YouTube channel) her talk about packing tactically for pool/beach holidays by taking clothes for the evening that double up as cover-ups to minimise the amount of clothes you take on holiday. Although I'm anything but a light packer, I thought this would be interesting to try.

When I originally bought this dress (it's probably designed as a shirt) from H&M, I thought I would use it purely as a cover-up. Oversized shirts, specifically striped ones, are my go-to pool cover ups as they look so effortless and they genuinely are really easy to wear. But when I tried this on in the changing rooms, I decided that it would also work great in the evening for the more casual nights.

I wore the shirt in the evening on the first night. Firstly because I couldn't wear it as a cover up until I had worn it in the evening and secondly because it was the most casual and comfy evening outfit I had with me and I had been awake since 3am that morning and in airports and on a plane all day. The fact that the evening photos were taken on the first night explains the pale legs anyway. I paired the shirt with black and gold accessories to elevate the look a little bit and these sandals have a little bit of a heel, adding some formality and some necessary height. This bag is really old and probably the most formal black bag I have, which is why I chose to add it to this outfit. Although it would definitely look better with a bag with gold hardware. Obviously, I also wore my trusty gold necklaces (that I could definitely do with re-purchasing) and also added my Casio watch to tie in with the gold elements of the outfit. To avoid flashing the other guests at the hotel on the first night of my stay, I put on a little pair of denim shorts under my dress, which were really more a practicality than an aesthetic choice.

My styling of the shirt as a cover-up is pretty predictable really but how couldn't it be? I paired it with this old blue and pink Urban Outfitters bikini because I'm all about a bit of co-ordination. To add to this, I also wore my pink Warehouse sunnies. It is also paired with my white Bikerenstocks, which I wore during the day every day on holiday.

This shirt is the perfect length as, although it is short for an evening piece, this makes it slightly more sexy, which contrasts nicely with it's more boyish fit. For a cover-up, the length is great too because you can 100% wear it without any shorts, which is something that I had to do with my shorter shirts. I actually bought this shirt in a size 16 to ensure it had the length I wanted so maybe keep that in mind if you are thinking about getting it or any shirt to be worn as a dress.

I hope you've found this post helpful and interesting! I love finding different ways of styling my clothes as I am often guilty of wearing things once and then getting a little bit bored of them, so techniques like this one can really help. I'll be back on Sunday with another blog post but until then, I'd love to hear what your favourite type of holiday cover-up is in the comments.

Shirt- H&M

Evening Outfit:

Shoes- Topshop

Watch- Casio

Bag- Urban Outfitters (old, similar here)

Cover Up Outfit:

Shoes- Birkenstocks

Bikini- Urban Outfitters (old)

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Alice Porter 5/27/18 Alice Porter 5/27/18

Finding A 'Work-Life Balance'

'Work-Life Balance' is a phrase that I've heard used lots since I've started following the lives of bloggers through their blogs themselves, YouTube, Instagram etc. It's something that they often talk about struggling with as because documenting their life is essentially their career, it's difficult to draw a line. Obviously, I am by no means a full-time blogger and I, for the most part, don't really see my blog as work at all- it's a hobby that I enjoy. However, taking pictures, editing HTML (which mostly consists of me watching endless YouTube tutorials) and actually writing blog posts is time-consuming and so adding my blog to the things that I do has made it difficult for me to relax over the past couple of months. It hasn't made me feel crazily stressed but I could feel the amount of time I was spending working taking it's toll on me so I'm trying to take some steps to change that. With studying for a full-time degree, working as an English tutor part-time (which involves lots of planning), having a significant role within the campaign Girls Against, plus running my blog, I often work from 8am-10pm on weekdays with minimal breaks, which is really unhealthy and bad for my mental health. I discussed how work took over my life during my A-Levels in a recent post about my experience with anxiety and I'm determined not to let that happen again this year, even if I do enjoy all of the things I class as 'work' now. So here are some of the things I'm doing to try and ensure I make time for myself:

1. Scheduling in 'holidays'.

People who work a 9-5 job obviously have a given amount of time for their holidays but, although with UNI we are given lots of time off for Christmas, Easter and summer, all of the other things I do continue throughout the year. So I'm trying to give myself official weeks off where I can just totally relax. I can't say I've managed one of these so far but I am planning on scheduling some in over summer and I definitely took a few days off everything during Christmas and Easter, if not a full break, which felt really nice in itself. However, I am currently on holiday in Corfu (as you might be able to tell by these photos), the week before my only UNI exam this semester, which is an attempt to try and force myself not to go overboard with revision. I am also in Corfu because I am not going to turn down a week of sun. I'm doing 2 hours of revision a day (ish) whilst I'm here, one in the afternoon and one in the evening and trying to relax for the rest of the day. I'm also writing blog posts (currently sat on my balcony writing this one) and taking photos for my blog because, as mentioned, I enjoy this and don't find it stressful whatsoever. Although I'm pretty sure this might be the only blog post for this week because I want to make the most of my time here.

2. Taking Weekends Off

This is something I've been trying to do since the beginning of university. I decided that I'd much rather work really hard throughout the week so I can have my weekends to myself. This is in part due to the fact that I mostly see my boyfriend on the weekends and I wanted to make sure I had time to see him but also because I struggle to take evenings off if I know I haven't got everything done that I wanted to do that day and don't enjoy the scheduled 'relaxing time'. Whereas with weekends, once it gets to Friday evening I know that I'm done for that week and anything else will have to wait till Monday. This is, of course, something I won't do during my second and third years of university as my workload grows, and something I don't do 100% of time now, so I will have to find another method of relaxation then, but it works great for now.

3. Making Plans and Sticking To Them

This is a really important one for me because I struggle to relax on my own because I'm always thinking that there's something more productive that I could be doing. However, when I'm with someone else, I know that there's no way I could be doing work at that moment and want to make the most of the time I have with whoever I'm with, so I'm really able to fully relax.

4. Planning My Time

Something I've started doing recently is realistically planning my days hour by hour. This means that usually I really have got everything I wanted to do done by 8pm and can relax for the rest of the night. I'm still a bit rubbish at switching off in the evenings though and often find something else productive to do without even thinking about it. But telling yourself that you're going to stop working at a certain time can be really helpful.

I'm going to leave this post here for today because I am hungry and I can smell the food from the restaurant of my hotel but I hope it helped you think about whether your work-life balance is truly balanced and gave you some tips to help it get there. I'm wearing this skirt from & Other Stories again because I just can't get enough of it along with this top also from & Other Stories, both of which I featured in my last post about what's new in my wardrobe. You've seen the shoes and the bag before but this bag is now back in stock on Zara (linked below)! I'm off to relax and enjoy the rest of the time I have in beautiful Corfu now but keep an eye on my Instagram to see what I'm up to.

Top- & Other Stories

Skirt- & Other Stories

Shoes- New Look (old)

Bag- Zara

Alice Porter 5/23/18 Alice Porter 5/23/18

New In My Wardrobe | May 2018

I have been shopping A LOT during the month of May. Not that I don't shop during other months but I really have gone a bit crazy, for me anyway, over the past few weeks. I think it's because, firstly, I've started exercising more and eating healthier so am feeling better about what I look like in clothes, secondly, because I've been saving up some of my wages, and thirdly, because of the change in weather and the fact I'm going to Corfu this week (eek!). Because I've picked up quite a few bits in a short space of time, I thought I'd share them with you! You might have seen some of them styled already on my blog or on Instagram and if you haven't, you certainly will have in the next few weeks. I'm really happy with everything I bought because some things have filled gaps in my wardrobe and others are just beautiful pieces that I feel great in and adore.

Starting with these incredible vintage jeans because LOOK AT THEM! I picked them up from Cow Vintage in Liverpool after spotting them on my way out of the shop for only £14. I immediately grabbed them and took them to the changing rooms and they fit like a glove. This must be the best feeling when vintage shopping as it can sometimes be a disheartening process of trial and error. They're my favourite style of jeans, a straight leg with frayed hems but with this added super cool star print. I really didn't need another pair of jeans in my wardrobe but these are so cool, and a little different from your average pair, that I just couldn't leave them behind.

After bagging those incredible jeans, I realised, to my excitement, that COS have opened a store in Liverpool and went in to have a look. The store itself is beautiful, so airy and light and totally fitting with the feel of the store. As most of the colours of their clothes are fairly neutral, this pink top stood out to me, along with its stripes as I wear striped tops so frequently. It only cost £15 and I got it in a size small so it fits nice and loosely. This top is unfortunately out of stock on the COS website so you might have to go into store for this one. They do have the yellow version online here as well as the navy version.

I finished this trip, with the reason it started, by heading to Zara to find this dress that I had been swooning over online. I'm so into cream dresses with tortoiseshell buttons at the moment and Zara have an incredible collection. After trying on a few button down midi dresses in some other shops and just not being able to find the right one, I had a good feeling about this one because the neckline and the sleeves are a little bit more interesting than some of the more shapeless ones I've tried on. I didn't actually try it on in store because, as you can probably imagine if you've ever been to the Liverpool store, the queues for the changing room were ridiculous. So I bit the bullet and paid £35 for the dress (I had £5 left on a Liverpool One voucher to put towards it) and I'm so glad I did because I feel so great in it and I now its going to be a real stand out piece for my summer holidays. I bought it in a size XS if you're interested.

Next is a piece that I actually bought a few weeks ago now (it might have even been at the end of April but I thought I'd include it in this post anyway). I'd spotted it on Instagram a couple of times and had been eyeing it up on the H&M website for a few weeks before deciding to go into store to try it on and buy it. To my delight when I arrived at the store, it had been reduced from £35 (the price I was expecting to pay for it) to £15, which is an absolute bargain because it feels as if it's good quality and blazers can often be pricey! Baby blue is one of my favourite colours to wear in the summer and I have got tons of wear out my grey check blazer so I thought it made sense to update it for summer. The blazer is still available to shop online here but it's unfortunately gone back up to full price- I obviously got really lucky!

I've been keeping my eye out for a new beach cover up for my upcoming holidays for a while now and I knew I wanted some kind of shirt. This one from H&M fits the bill perfectly. I bought it in a size 16 so it fits really oversized like a dress and I think it would actually look really nice one evening on holiday. It cost £12.99 which I think is pretty decent for a shirt that can be worn in so many different ways. You can shop it online here.

This one is a bit of an unusual piece for me because animal print isn't really my thing. But I saw the dress version of this top on the Topshop website and was leaning towards it for a while. When I went into store to try and find it though, I was told that they no longer stocked it, which I was a bit gutted about. I spotted (get it? spotted? leopard spots?) the top version and wasn't so sure about it on the hanger but it's really flattering on and I actually think the top will be much more versatile than the dress would have been. It's the perfect piece for a night out and can really elevate any outfit. It cost £19 and I got it in a petite size 8. You can shop it online here.

Moving on to & Other Stories, I had *a bit*of a spree in their Manchester store the other day. I absolutely love the brand and the store experience however I usually restrict myself from buying too much, or anything, because it is more expensive than your average high street store. But I really do think there's a reason for this- the clothes are great quality and trend-led but also have a sense of timelessness to them. Anyway, the first piece I picked up was this knitted black tank top with tortoiseshell buttons (if you can't tell I kind of have a thing for them). I tried a similar, more expensive, version on of this in Urban Outfitters but the quality wasn't nearly as good as this one, nor was the fit. I think I'll get a lot of wear out of this over summer, and maybe even layered up in the winter. It was £23 and I got a size 8 (I think- the European sizes in & Other Stories confuse me endlessly). It's available to buy here.

I also bought this white printed t-shirt which I was immediately drawn to because, as mentioned, baby blue is my favourite colour for summer and white t-shirts are something I get the most wear out of in the summer months. Of course, I couldn't be sure about this top till I knew what the French meant. But after a quick google translate to find out it meant 'Sunset Boulevard', I decided this was very cool and something I wouldn't be embarrassed to translate for people, which is good as it's never fun to be living in fear of someone asking what your the writing on your top means for it to be something cringe-worthy. Or even worse, you having no idea! So I've got my damage limitation sorted with this one. I also got it in a size 8 for the price of £23. Shop it here.

Then I bought ANOTHER striped top (although I did actually purchase this one before the COS piece- sorry for the lack of chronology within this post). You can't really tell in the photos but this one has navy stripes and it's a bit more slim fitting than some of the other ones I own so I thought it would be nice for more formal occasions. Plus, I really do wear striped tops so often that I could never have enough because there constantly in the washing pile. Again, in a size 8, costing £23. They have it available online here.

Moving on to this skirt of dreams!! I swooned over a similar skirt from & Other Stories last year but never picked it up because of the price tag. But this year, when I spotted this extremely similar one, I decided to go for it. With this classic print that will never go out of style because it isn't anything in particular and the on-trend tortoiseshell buttons (here I go again), it's really the perfect piece for summer in my opinion. Also, serendipitously, they didn't have my usual size, an 8, only a 10 but it fit perfectly, which I took as fate because I needed a bit of a push to hand over the £49 this skirt cost. They have most sizes available online here.

Last but not least, I ordered this bag, a little bit impulsively off ASOS. My current go-to black bag, a bucket bag from Zara, is being held together by sellotape at the moment so I've been keeping my eye out for a new one. This satchel style bag fit the bill perfectly- it's a great size, roomy but not annoying to carry around. Plus it has croc print and gold hardware, both of which I love. Buy it on ASOS here.

I hope this post hasn't inspired too many impulse purchases but if it has, let me know in the comments! Summer styling is my favourite and it's always the time I spend the most money on my clothes so I tend to let myself go a bit wild every so often. You'll see these pieces styled on my blog and Instagram over the next few weeks so keep an eye out for that!

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Alice Porter 5/13/18 Alice Porter 5/13/18

Dressing For Yourself

Photography by Jenny Gavan.

I've always been an advocate of wearing whatever you want and it's something I've *pretty much* always been comfortable doing. This doesn't mean that I'm always dressed eccentrically and go out of my way to dress differently. But I really could not care less if someone doesn't like what I'm wearing whether that's friends, family or someone on Instagram. It's possibly the only thing I've always been comfortable in because I really do just love clothes- buying them, styling them, talking about them. I know what I like and if I love a piece then I'm going to feel great wearing it.

I remember in high school (well, we wore uniforms but I mean during that period in my life) I would buy things that were perhaps slightly *different* to the norm that my friends and family would look at a little weirdly- never in a malicious way, always politely. The amount of times I've heard the phrase 'I could never pull that off' or 'it suits you but I could never wear that' as a polite way of someone telling me that they don't like what I'm wearing is comical. But, unlike if someone commented on my physical appearance or something I've said, I've never felt embarrassed or upset about the fact that some people don't like what I wear. It's definitely something to do with being able to choose what I wear and using this as a sort of shield to hide the other parts of myself that I'm not so confident about. Sometimes I'll buy a particular shape of dress to hide a bigger part of my body that I'm not totally comfortable with (usually my boobs) or I'll wear a 'party girl' type of outfit for a night out to conceal the fact that I probably am not as comfortable as the people I'm with in a night club. My clothes fill the gaps within me that have formed as a result of the lack of confidence I have in some other parts of myself.

My old blog was initially called 'Style Comes From Within' which I changed, after a couple of years, to 'If You Like It Wear It' (a little cringey, I know). Not to psychoanalyse my past self, but I think these names epitomise my confidence in my style. I was too embarrassed to share this blog on social media or even with my friends, due to issues I had with self-promotion and vanity plus my attempts to keep up the typical teenage 'I don't care about anything' persona. Despite this, I was always proud of what I was wearing and excited to share it with people online who wouldn't judge me for having a blog (as I assumed my peers would during my high school years). I actually think it would be interesting/hilarious to share some of my past outfits in a sort of style evolution post on my blog so let me know if this is something you'd like to see!

One of my absolute pet hates is when people (of both genders) assume that girls dress for boys. This is probably an assumption made more often when I was younger but it used to drive me absolutely insane! I mean I guess there's nothing wrong with dressing for boys (although if we dug in to the meaning behind this I guess it could be a little problematic) but it's genuinely something I've never done. Nights out used to be so much fun because finding something to wear that I loved was so exciting and the only thing that I considered when deciding what to wear was what I thought and how I felt in a certain outfit- this also meant that many of my outfits were highly, highly impractical but no one is going to get a kick out of living by practicality.

This 'dressing for boys' phenomenon is part of the reason why I absolutely love the blog turned extremely successful business, Man Repeller. I'm sure many of you know about Man Repeller already but in case you don't it was founded by Leandra Medine in 2010 who realised that much of what she wore and saw within the fashion industry was 'man repelling' (to put it simply). The popularity of this blog and resonance it has with so many women represents, to me, the extent to which women do not dress for men, because much of what we wear they don't like anyway. I feel like this is certainly the case for me and, honestly, this sometimes makes me like what I'm wearing more because it makes me feel like I have some sort of special sixth sense about just how cool a piece is. This is obviously extremely pretentious and I definitely do not have any sort of stylistic powers but I like to think that some of the more interesting pieces I own happen to be the ones that less people like.

I've been wanting to write a post about dressing for yourself for a while and when Jenny photographed this outfit for me, I knew these photos would be perfect for it. First of all, I am so happy with how they came out! Jenny is an incredible photographer and I've done a few other shoots with her before but these photos have to be my favourite yet. I think the outfit and the setting go so well together and I just love the colours in the photos. Definitely check out Jenny's Instagram because she is brilliant!

Anyway, on to the outfit! I feel like it's a little bit 'man-repelling' due to the mixture of very feminine and very masculine pieces. This dress is fairly new from Zara and I love it! I was on the hunt for a polka dot midi skirt for a while and this actually works great as a skirt and a dress as it's a really thin material so looks great with a t-shirt layered over it, or layered under it as I've styled it here! The jacket is also new (my shopping habits are steadily increasing at the moment) from Topshop and I really feel like it might be the perfect faux leather jacket. I have a long-line one and a cropped one but this mid-crop style is ideal for somewhere in between and, although some might say that owning 3 faux leather jackets is excessive, I think it's filled a gap in my wardrobe. Of course, I'm wearing my Zara woven bucket bag because it's my absolute favourite and I think it looks great with the colours of the pinewoods. The dress and the bag are obviously the feminine aspects of the outfit and clashed with my docs- which I enjoyed styling for spring/summer here as they're more of a winter piece normally- and the leather jacket, I think is such a cool outfit, if a little bit Marmite. I've linked everything I'm wearing at the bottom of this post!

I'd love to know if you feel the same way about dressing for yourself and your views on 'man-repelling' styling. Do you have a favourite man-repelling outfit or piece? Let me know in the comments!

Dress- Zara (for some reason, I can't find this dress on the Zara website but I only bought it a few weeks ago so it should 100% still be in store!)

Jacket- Topshop

Shoes- Dr Marten

Sunglasses- Mango

Bag- Zara

Alice Porter 5/11/18 Alice Porter 5/11/18

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

Alice Porter 5/4/18 Alice Porter 5/4/18

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

Alice Porter 5/2/18 Alice Porter 5/2/18

The Power of Sunshine

So today I'm going to be talking about the weather- how very British of me! Seriously though, I can't even believe the heatwave that we experienced a couple of weeks ago actually happened now I'm back in my jumpers and coats. But it did! And I have photo evidence to prove it! British people really are obsessed with the weather but there's good reason for it in my opinion. The weather has such a significant effect on my mood, motivation and social life and I always feel so much happier during the summer months than in the winter. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas but I really feel like summer brings out the best version of me and I've recently decided that moving to a hot country would be worth what I'm sure would be a weird and disorientating feeling of experiencing Christmas without freezing cold weather and lots of layers.

During the UK's week of sun, I threw my university deadlines to one side and really made the most of it. Something I did with relative ease and would not have been able to do without serious anxiety and guilt usually. But as warm weather is so rare in our country, I really felt a sense of carelessness, which was so unusual and liberating for me. I feel like the sun loosens everyone up a little bit- well I'm certain it must do really if it makes someone as uptight as me loose track of my work. Obviously this might not be a good thing for everyone (aka those who are already a little nonchalant about their workload) but getting a little bit behind on work to enjoy times with friends and family surely doesn't hurt anyone.

That brings me nicely on to my next point about the power of sunny weather- it really gets an introvert like me out of the house a fair bit! I spent time in beer gardens, getting some work done with my friends outside rather than tucked up in my room as well as going on a night out, which was so nice. Leaving the comfort of my own space is always a tiny bit of a chore for me when the skies are grey and depressing but any time I had to spend indoors during the heatwave was spent rushing to get back outside. As mentioned in my last post about being comfortable with yourself, there's nothing wrong with being an introvert and enjoying staying in but sometimes it can be too easy to get a little bit carried away with how much time you're spending with yourself, which before you know it leads to feelings of loneliness and isolation. So I think a little push from the weather that makes you feel eager to spend time with other people is always a positive thing!

I spent the final day of sun we experienced, which just so happened to be a Saturday, in my favourite ever city and hometown, Liverpool. After sitting in a pub to watch the football (only a tiny bit against my will) Sam and I went to The Bagelry for lunch, which I would 100% recommend- I had the most amazing vegan pancakes and it's super affordable. We spent the rest of the day wandering around some shops and then went on a night out to Heebie Jeebies with his housemates which was so much fun. It was such a nice day/night and I was in a great mood the whole time (which, I have to admit, is rare), which I'm putting down to the weather.

The skirt I'm wearing I bought only the week before from Topshop, thinking I wouldn't be able to wear it for months or even ever in the UK, and so I was super excited to have a chance to wear it only the week after. This vest is also from Topshop and it's one I picked up last year. I also have it in white and they were both staples in my wardrobe throughout the entire summer of 2017. I think they're really flattering and I was obviously very pleased by how well these two shades of blue co-ordinate. Whilst my dark-wash denim jacket adds another shade of blue to the outfit, I especially love how the contrast stitching highlights the whites of my outfit. It's kind of ironic that I'm wearing an outfit that consists of various shades of blue whilst talking about sunny weather and happiness but I promise there really is no symbolism behind these colours.

I'm also wearing what is my current favourite bag from Zara. You're probably going to become sick of the sight of it because it's going to be featured in lots of upcoming posts. But I absolutely love it and I would 100% keep an eye out on Zara's website for a re-stock of it if I were you. These slides are so simple (and were such a bargain) but they really do elevate every outfit I wear. I particularly love styling them with some boyfriend/mom style jeans for an effortless look that is also clearly put together. And finally, these sunglasses that I've definitely neglected a bit too much over the past few years. They're a little bit OTT but I actually really like that and I think they're also quite flattering for my face shape.

I hope you've enjoyed this post and I'd love to hear about how the weather affects your mood. Are you a summer person like me or do you prefer the winter? I'd especially love to hear your reasoning behind the latter as despite the joys of Christmas, my birthday and all the other festivities I just can't get behind the cold weather and so would love to hear your thoughts! Let's hope for more warm weather in the UK! (Although I haven't got my hopes up too high- classic British cynicism hey!)

Top- Topshop (no longer available, similar here)

Skirt- Topshop

Jacket- Topshop (no longer available)

Shoes- New Look (no longer available, similar here)

Sunglasses- Le Specs

Bag- Zara

Alice Porter 4/22/18 Alice Porter 4/22/18

Date Night Dressing

Today I'm sharing some more photos taken by the wonderful Jenny Gavan. I've been eager to share more of them ever since last Sunday's post but I've managed to restrict myself from overloading you with them until now. When styling this outfit, I had a kind of 'date night' look in mind. Date nights, whether they're with my friends or my boyfriend, are always something I love styling myself for as I feel they really give me an opportunity to dress a little bit more feminine than I do in my day-to-day style. This outfit is definitely something I'd feel really confident in wearing for a date.

One thing that I pretty much always try to incorporate into a 'date night' look is a red lip. For me, a red lip totally elevates any look and is so versatile in that it works for everyone and anyone's style. I particularly love co-ordinating a red lip with an item of clothing I'm wearing, in this case it's my bag, to help me feel a little bit more put together and confident. This lipstick is Glossier's Generation G in Zip- I've been wearing it quite often since I purchasing it and it's definitely the easiest and most fuss-free red lip I've ever owned.

I am so into polka-dots at the moment. I feel like everyone and their dog is to be honest because they're everywhere but this blouse is one of the many pieces of polka-dot printed clothing I have succumbed to buying in the last few weeks. This blouse sat in my ASOS saved items for a good month before I bought it. For some reason with certain pieces, even ones that aren't crazily expensive, I just can't bring myself to buy them. Whereas with others, I'm happy and eager to pick them up as soon as I see them. I think it might all be about cost per wear really because blouses really aren't something that I'd wear day-to-day and I would definitely save a piece like this for something like a date night. However I have seen similar blouses to this one styled really well for the day time- Sammi Maria styled a similar piece from Topshop with a denim skirt, which looked so good and is definitely a look I'm going to try and re-create. Anyway, again, I think polka-dots can really add a touch of femininity to an outfit and as soon as this blouse entered my wardrobe, I knew straight away that it would look great with red lipstick.

These jeans are in my absolute favourite style from Topshop- the Cropped Dree. I have them in this black wash as well as a lighter pair, which I've featured on my blog a couple of times. The fit is a little bit more flattering and formal than your average pair of straight leg jeans but I think their frayed hems keeps them casual and easy to wear.

This cross-body bag is a new addition to my wardrobe from MissGuided. I was on the hunt for a small-ish red bag because I thought owning one would help me to incorporate more colour into my outfits as well as giving me more opportunities to wear red lipstick. I love the croc print of this and the gold hardware, something that I always look out for because of my everyday jewellery usually being gold. It is a little bit impractical though, I mean, it doesn't even fit my phone in (although I do have the largest iPhone- the size of which consistently shocks people when they spot me with it). However, it's not something that I bought to use every day anyway and I always tend to keep my phone in pocket so this doesn't really bother me. For some pieces, I'm willing to push practicalities aside.

Now onto these shoes- my beloved Mary-Jane style shoes that I have worn many a time when everyone else is wearing heels (comfortability of shoes is probably the only time practicality really does come into play with my outfit choices). These are probably the most feminine shoes I own, maybe even the most feminine thing I own full stop. I feel like they really can transform an outfit and they're pretty much always my shoe of choice for a date night. I can also confirm that they are very comfortable.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog post and have taken some inspiration for any date nights you might have planned! If you don't have any planned, you should! It's so important to carve out quality time with your friends and/or partner. Plus, you really don't need to leave the house if you don't want to. Some of my favourite date nights have been spent on the couch with a tub of Ben & Jerry's (my favourite is the vegan Peanut Butter and Cookies flavour) watching a film (red lipstick and Mary-Jane's optional).

Blouse- ASOS

Jeans- Topshop

Bag- MissGuided

Sunglasses- Primark (should still be in stock in store but for an online alternative, see here)

Shoes- ASOS (old and can't find good alternative, sorry!)

Watch- CASIO

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Alice Porter 4/20/18 Alice Porter 4/20/18

My Ideal Saturday

Happy Friday! I hope you're enjoying this beautiful sunny weather as much as I am and that you have a nice chilled out weekend ahead. Today I'm sharing an outfit from last Saturday and I'm going to be telling you all what I got up to during the day because it was my favourite type of Saturday ever- one that doesn't happen as often as I'd like. I was intending on including some photos of the day taken on my film camera with this post however I actually took some film to get developed on Saturday and it came back totally blank- a sure sign that my camera was broke, so I couldn't take any pictures on it that day. That was the only part of my Saturday that wasn't ideal. Anyway, some photos of my outfit will have to do for now- hope you don't mind!

I spent Friday night at my boyfriend's so woke up at his beautiful house in the Georgian Quarter of Liverpool, where these photos were taken. The Georgian Quarter is one of my favourite areas of Liverpool and I am unbearably jealous that Sam is renting a room in a student house there this year! We spent the morning lazing around in bed, watching the end of the film from the night before whilst eating crumpets, before getting out of bed just before lunch time to get ready for the day.

We then headed into the centre of Liverpool and our first port of call was Max Spielmann to get my film developed. At this point I was cheery and excited to get my film back (notice how I'm going to skip over the part where I collect my film to make sure this post stays true to its title). We then headed to Pret-A-Manger for lunch. Pret is my favourite place to go for lunch as they do so many great vegan options and are always switching them up and the food tends to be quite healthy, which is always a plus.

Then came my favourite part of the day- shopping! I wasn't intending to buy anything (famous last words) but did actually end up buying a chunky knitted jumper in Urban Outfitters (which isn't really appropriate for this week's heatwave but it's never a bad time to buy a jumper in the UK) and some more summery pieces in Topshop including this polka dot crop top, which I'm already getting my wear out of thanks to the heatwave, and this skirt.

Before heading home, we stopped for some ice cream at Paolo & Donato's- they do great vegan ice cream (and non-vegan too) and seeing as this was one of the warmest days so far this year (will I ever stop talking about the weather?), it felt wrong not to stop for ice cream. After we finished eating, we headed back home, stopping to take these photos on the way.

The evening seemed to come around really quickly, probably thanks to our late start, and pretty much as soon as I got back to Sam's, I was leaving again to meet my friends for some food and drinks in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle. We started off in The Botanical Garden- an outdoor gin bar which is so picturesque (although, ironically, I don't have a photo of it) and had such a nice atmosphere with great music. After one drink here, we crossed the road to the Baltic Market, a warehouse with various independent food stalls, a bar and live music. This is definitely one of my favourite spots in Liverpool and is just as good in the day as it is in the night so it's definitely worth a trip. I enjoyed a delicious veggie burger and chips (not quite as healthy as my lunch) and spent the evening chatting (and singing) with my friends. I've felt so lucky to be able to spend so much time with my friends who have been part of my life for 8 years, some of them more than that, over the Easter break whilst being home from UNI. I've been wanting to write a post about valuing friendship (and especially female friendship) since starting my blog now because it's something I've been thinking about a lot recently, so look out for that in the next few weeks (or possibly months depending on how efficient I am).

After my idea of a perfect day, I was home to my family and in bed by midnight, which honestly made it all the better because I bloody love a good early night (I'm such a 19 year old granny). I think I enjoyed this day so much because it was the perfect mixture of relaxed and busy, plus I got to spend time with lots of loved ones, and this is how I would spend every Saturday if I was able to.

I feel like I can't just not talk about my outfit when all of the photos in this post are based around it, so I'll tell you a bit about it. Starting from the bottom up, I recently picked up these Nike Cortez trainers in the ASOS sale because I've been looking for a pair of pastel-coloured trainers for a while now and these seemed to fit the bill perfectly. They are unbelievably comfortable. I am the most blister-prone person known to existence and I wore these for days at a time without breaking them in with no blisters in sight. I wasn't expecting them to go so well with this top but they really do and I feel like these co-ordinating pastels are what make this outfit so spring-appropriate. I didn't actually like these jeans/trousers from Topshop when they originally arrived on the post but, stupidly, I took the labels off and so couldn't send them back. But they've actually really grown on me now and I felt confident in them all day. Although it's not something that shows in my blog posts, I use tote bags almost every day because they're so practical and easy to wear. This one I picked up at one of Black Honey's shows a couple of years ago because I love the print (and the band) and it's lasted so well- the cost per wear is probably down to less then a penny, thanks to how often I use it and the low price.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about my ideal Saturday and it's maybe given you some ideas as to how you can spend your weekend. I'd love to hear about what your perfect Saturday would sound like in the comments!

(Just a quick disclaimer- some of these photos were taken on my phone and others on my camera so sorry for the differences in quality/location!)

Top- Nobody's Child (old, similar here)

Jeans- Topshop (only available in petite and tall now)

Gilet- Topshop (sold out and can't find anything similar, sorry!)

Shoes- ASOS

Tote Bag- Black Honey Merchandise

Sunglasses- Warehouse (old, similar here and here)

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Alice Porter 4/18/18 Alice Porter 4/18/18

A Night and a Day in Stratford-upon-Avon

Almost 2 weeks ago now, I spent one night and one day (well, more like half a day) in Stratford-Upon-Avon with my mum and sister. The predominant reason that we visited this quaint little town was to watch Macbeth at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. But being the geeky Shakespeare lover that I am, I obviously took advantage of being in his birthplace and spent some time being a tourist and more money than I'd like to admit in gift shops.

Before I get on to chatting about what I got up to, I want to briefly talk about the play because it was incredible. It was by far the best Shakespeare production I've ever seen (and I've seen a fair few) and felt even more extraordinary it being in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre itself. This production of Macbeth was reimagined as a psychological thriller which, this being one of my favourite genres of film, I obviously loved. Although it was a twist on the original play, the important themes were still there and Shakespeare's exploration of gender expectations was highlighted, which I really enjoyed as I used Macbeth as part of a gender-focussed literary analysis last year for my EPQ during my A-Levels. I think the play is touring and being in shown in cinemas so if you do have chance to see it, I would definitely recommend doing so!

Because of bad traffic and a late check-in time, watching Macbeth, along with a meal at Zizi, was all our first day in Stratford-Upon-Avon consisted of. However, our second day in the town was lovely and sunny and felt like the first day of spring, so we took full advantage of that and explored the centre of the town a little bit more. Our day started back at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as we wanted to visit the gift shop which had been closed by the time the play had finished the previous night. I spent an embarrassing amount of time in this gift shop, so much so that my mum and sister left me there after getting bored of me moaning about the lack of Othello merchandise (that's probably the uncoolest thing I've ever said). I ended up picking up a Shakespeare themed tote bag (as pictured below), bookmark and badge along with a book called New Boy by Tracy Chevalier, which is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare Series and is a re-writing of Othello, something that I am particularly excited to read and will definitely share my thoughts on once I have read it.

We then headed over to Shakespeare's Birthplace, which also had a super interesting museum on Shakespeare's life and his works. Although the tickets are a little overpriced, I'd definitely recommend visiting. There were actors reading extracts from his plays and sonnets aloud in the garden, that I felt really justified the ticket price for me, especially because they were reading out my favourite sonnet (which is "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" if you're interested, although you're probably not!) And, yes, there was another gift shop, which I of course spent too long looking around, even though they stocked pretty much the same things as the theatre did, in hope of something Othello-themed but with no luck- I didn't realise how underrated this play is until after this visit and now I'm determined to change that by mentioning it as many times as possible in this blog post!

We spent the remainder of the day looking around Stratford-Upon-Avon and shopping and even picked up some vegan fudge from Rolly's Fudge that I was particularly pleased with (it was delicious). I'd definitely recommending visiting Stratford-Upon-Avon if you get a chance to, especially if you're interested in literature or history. Although there isn't a crazy amount of stuff to do there as far as I know, so I felt like we stayed there for long enough even if our visit was brief.

I'm going to talk briefly about my outfit, seeing as most of the photos in this post consist of me showing it off in various scenic spots, and because it's the most summery outfit I've worn all year. I love this lemon yellow cami top that I got from the Alexa Chung X Marks and Spencer collection a few years ago for around £3.99 in the sale (I actually own it in three colours because of this price point). Its always a staple in my wardrobe when summer comes around and I especially love it over a white t-shirt, as I've styled it here. Paired with a pair of light-wash jeans and no layers other than a blazer (!!!), I think this makes for the perfect spring outfit and one I'm sure I'll be replicating throughout spring and summer. Also, these sunglasses were an absolute steal from Primark at £2!

T-Shirt: Urban Outfitters (similar here)

Cami: Alexa Chung X Marks & Spencer

Jeans: Topshop

Blazer: Pull & Bear (similar here)

Shoes: Vans

Bag: Zara

Sunglasses: Primark (should still be in stock in store but for an online alternative, see here)

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Alice Porter 4/15/18 Alice Porter 4/15/18

The Stigma Around Blogging

My blog has now been up and running officially for a week and I'm enjoying so much having it as a place to share everything I'm interested in. From designing the website, to writing the posts, to taking photos, a lot goes into it but I'm loving every part of it and feel so happy to have a space on the internet where I can finally do these things that I enjoy. Thank you if you've been reading my blog posts and showing your support on social media over the past week- I'd probably continue running my blog and writing posts even if no one was reading them as I genuinely do enjoy it so much, but it is also really nice and rewarding to know that others are enjoying it too,

However, something that I've noticed, not just in the week that I've been running this blog, but back when I ran my old blog and ever since taking an interest in bloggers and the blogging community really, is the stigma around blogging. It's the reason that I wouldn't share my previous blog, that I had for around 3 years, on social media and the reason that it took me so long to start up this one. It's definitely something that I don't think is as prevalent for me as it was a few years ago, whether that's because of the people I surround myself with, the growth of the blogging community, or simply me giving less of a sh*t of what people think. But even if this stigma has diminished, people still seem to have a problem with blogging.

Actually, I think I should re-phrase that. It's not just that people have a problem with blogging- no one turns the nose up at the fact I run the Girls Against blog- it's blogging about personal style and creating a blog around yourself and your own life and personality that seems to really carry a stigma. From people looking at you weird when someone's taking a picture of your outfit or the bitchy remarks made about the fact you're willing to post these pictures on Instagram to the sarcastic mocking of anyone who plucks up the courage to do so, there's something about personal blogs that people just aren't comfortable with.

I think it's probably something to do with how ingrained self-deprecating is into British culture. Most people just aren't at ease with being confident in themselves- and I'm not saying that I'm a totally confident person and always feel great about the person I am and what I look like- but I don't see a problem with photographing an outfit that I've put time and effort into putting together because I think it looks good. I still struggle when I'm talking about my blog or anything that I'm doing that is either/both unusual or I'm doing well in not to do so with an air of self-deprecation. But I always, always, always make a conscious effort not to put anyone else down in that position, because you can usually be sure that everyone feels at least some self-doubt about something in their life, so they don't need others putting them down about it too- especially if it's something positive.

I really couldn't care less anymore if people think blogging is 'vain' or 'weird' because it's something that I love doing and I know it's affecting my life in a positive way. If there's anything you're thinking of doing, whether it's starting your own blog or something totally different, but you're putting it off because of what people might think, just do it (and no, this post is not sponsored by Nike- that cliche has just come in handy here). People are always going to make comments and say things behind your back and give you weird looks in the street (this one is mostly applicable to blogging but would definitely work for other things too...I hope) so you may as well just start doing something that you love for yourself.

Anyway, I'm including these photos whilst discussing this topic because they were taking in a very public place where I got my fair share of strange looks whilst posing amongst the leaves and in the mud for them. Also, these are my favourite photos that I've shared on my blog so far (and will probably stay that way for a while) and so I thought they were appropriate for a conversation about doing things you love and self-confidence! They were taken by the amazing Jenny Gavan and there's going to be a couple more posts with photos taken by Jenny coming up in the next week or so that I'm really excited to share, and hopefully even more in the future! Jenny is an incredible photographer and I'd highly recommend taking a look at some of her work- you can find her on Instagram @jennygavanphoto.

I'll also talk a little bit about this outfit (and then I'll shut up because this post is getting loooong). Starting with the jeans because they're how the styling of this outfit began, I picked them up in a vintage shop called Armstrongs, recommend to me by my lovely friend Anna, whilst in Edinburgh a few weeks ago. After having them taken up they fit perfectly and I'm so happy to have them in my wardrobe as a pair of white straight-leg jeans are something that I've been looking for for quite some time. And, to top it all off, they're by Yves Saint Laurent which, although I'm not big on buying designer clothes (purely because I cannot afford them- let's not pretend that I'm taking some sort of admirable political stance here), I was pretty excited to find these for £20. My favourite pair of jeans were actually £1 in a charity shop and so now I'm always on the hunt for good second-hand denim and I have a feeling this pair are going to be another of my favourites.

This bardot top is super feminine and I like how it offsets the more boyish shaped jeans and converse and oversized fit of the denim jacket. The bag, which I ordered almost immediately after seeing it on Georgia Meramo and Emma Hill, also adds a feminine touch, as I feel a straw bag always does, and makes the outfit a little more spring-appropriate, which I love as I live for spring and summer dressing.

I hope you've enjoyed this post and these incredible photos. Thanks again to Jenny for taking them- I couldn't be more happy with how they came out! Let me know in the comments or on social media about your experience with blogging and if you've ever noticed 'the stigma' (as I think I'll ominously refer to it from now on).

Top- Pull & Bear (similar here)

Jeans- Vintage (similar here)

Jacket- Topshop (similar here)

Shoes- Converse

Bag- Zara

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Alice Porter 4/13/18 Alice Porter 4/13/18

Transitional Dressing

This time of year usually sends me into a bit of a style rut. The weather is (relatively) warm one day, then freezing and raining the next. High street stores are having huge sales that involve a mix of last year's summer collections and this years winter ones. Wearing a jumper as my only top layer will either make me hot and sweaty or returning home at lunch time to grab my coat and scarf . Its safe to say that the months of March and April can be difficult ones to get dressed for.

However, this year I am feeling inspired by my wardrobe and the clothes I'm seeing in shops. I am fairly certain that this is because this year's winter has gone on forever and it was snowing up until the end of March, so any signs that I can wear even just one less layer are making me excited. Days are becoming sunnier and nights are becoming lighter (and whenever it rains I just shut my blinds and live in ignorance). The indicators of summer that are slowly arising are making me so excited, which seems to be reflecting onto how I'm feeling about the clothes I'm wearing. I think starting my blog and styling up and photographing outfits is also definitely contributing with this burst of inspiration.

This was an outfit I wore in Edinburgh at the end of March. My legs definitely felt the cold and I got some strange looks from tourists who were obviously from hotter climates than that of the Scottish one and were wrapped up in scarves, gloves and hats. But wearing a skirt without tights was my way of bidding the warmer weather to come along, and assuring myself that winter surely can't last forever. It seemed to work because the sun stayed out for the entire day and I actually felt like I needed to wear my sunglasses- what a novelty!

The pairing of this oversized jumper with a midi skirt was inspired by an outfit I saw a girl wearing on the campus of my University (although she was braving bare legs back in February!!) that I'd wanted to recreate for a while. This pastel pink jumper from ASOS has got me through the last months of winter. It's the perfect piece for a lazy day at home but also looks really great styled for day-to-day life too; I particularly like styling it with a pair of blue straight leg jeans for a more relaxed look.

The navy midi skirt was an absolute steal from the Miss Selfridge sale a few months back (I think it cost about £7) and I have been waiting to wear it ever since picking it up. I love the straight long-line style of the skirt, jumper and jacket together as I think it creates a really relaxed vibe and offsets the *unusual* decision to go bare-legged in March.

Heres to more sunny days and further opportunities to get my legs out- I'm counting on the UK's expected heatwave next week!

Jumper: ASOS (sold out, similar here and here)

Skirt: Miss Selfridge (sold out, similar here or get it in red here)

Jacket: Pull & Bear (sold out, similar here)

Bag: Zara (sold out, similar here)

Shoes: Vans

Sunglasses: Warehouse (sold out, similar here and here)

Alice Porter 4/11/18 Alice Porter 4/11/18

Styling Red and Pink

When putting outfits together, I don't usually start with the colours I want to wear. I tend to consider the fit and style of certain items and how they will go together. However, recently, I've been seeing red and pink worn together everywhere and I love how it looks. So, as soon as I picked up these corduroy salmon pink trousers in the Topshop sale, I knew straight away what I wanted to wear them with.

This outfit in particular was inspired by an outfit put together by Sammi Maria which I saw on Instagram and immediately screenshotted, saved and, thereafter, couldn't stop thinking about. Sammi paired her straight leg pink cords with an oversized red jumper whereas I decided to go for a more slim fit red high neck jumper to match my wide-leg trousers. So I did change up the silhouettes a little bit even if this outfit isn't the most original thing you've ever seen.

I actually want to talk a little bit about the difference between taking inspiration and 'copying' when it comes to fashion and styling while we're on the subject though. I think what differentiates between the two is how you make it your own. You could be wearing the exact same pieces, or just similar pieces, but, in my opinion, it's only copying if you style them in the exactly the same way without injecting any of your own style into the outfit. I like to think that with this outfit, although I put it together after seeing Sammi's outfit, I've styled it quite differently and made it fit in with my slightly more casual style. Its also super important to always give credit to those who have inspired you in whatever area of life/blogging that is. Giving credit where credit always helps to prevent any hard feelings and accusations of copying.

I paired my outfit with my trusty Old Skool Vans purely because this outfit was taken on a day full of walking and sight-seeing in Edinburgh and these are my comfiest shoes. They do look great with everything though and I think they add to the relaxed vibe of this outfit. I also added this bucket bag from Zara which I was particularly excited to wear with this outfit because of it's red inner lining, which compliments my top very nicely.

The belt was kind of a necessity because these trousers are slightly too big on me but I do like the black and gold highlights of this outfit, created through the belt, jewellery, shoes, jacket and bag. Its a nice way to tone down the outfit's otherwise bold colours.

I'm so looking forward for the weather to warm up a bit (a phrase I will continue to repeat until it does) so I can style these cords a little bit differently, as I think they're going to be a really great piece for summer. I also must mention that the stain on my jumper is from the breakfast I ate shortly before this photo that I knew was there when taking these pictures but couldn't get rid of (although, not to worry, its gone now). This jumper has been a great way to brighten up some of my winter outfits though. Plus, because its impossible to wear something bargainous without mentioning it, I actually picked it up in a charity shop last year for something ridiculous like £3- its originally from Zara.