Fashion

Since I was featured in Mizz Magazine in March, I have had quite a few emails saying ‘How do I start a blog?’ or ‘What should I do for my first blog post’, and instead of ignoring them, I replied and helped as much as I could. Obviously I don’t want to give my personal tips and tricks away, but I definitely know that some people need that little extra boost to get started, so I have put together a few things you should know and have in one handy post! *Awesome* Even if you are not a new blogger, I hope you enjoy it!

Notebooks: It may seem an obvious one, but until seeing Alex from Bambella Blog instagram a picture of all her blogging notebooks, I didn’t own any! It’s super duper helpful to have some at hand because when you are a blogger, you need to remember ideas, email addresses, when you are going to publish a post etc. A top tip would be to colour code or label them! Green is for Monthly Ads, Upcoming Features, Packages in the  post and email addresses. Yellow is for my Blog Post Schedule. Blue is for Blog Post ideas. I have found it really helpful since buying these and most notebooks are very cheap, so go pick up a few! This is also a brilliant way to back up contacts etc because one day you may just find your laptop dies on you… poop.

Laptop or PC: Again, it is a rather obvious one! You are obviously going to need a device to publish your posts on, but don’t worry about what you are using! I am using a Netbook which is pretty much a mini laptop. It does the job, but it is just small! When my MacBook broke recently it was annoying but I guess it was pretty old anyway, so don’t worry if you either have to down grade or you have to use an old one for a while, because the only things you need are the internet, a blog platform and the laptop!

Camera(s): A lot of bloggers worry about not having the newest camera and all the newest lenses, but really it doesn’t matter! Sometimes I look at blogs and am like, ‘WOW, how is that a good camera they are using?’. The pictures in this post are all done by the iPhone 4?! Pretty impressive, non? Sadly once again, technology wasn’t on my side, and my camera broke too 🙁 It was pretty good actually, so if you are interested it is the Sony Cyber-Shot N50.  I really don’t think it matters whether you use a fancy camera or an iPhone, because as you can see these pictures came out well! I personally think the editing you do makes everything better.

Photo Editor: Speaking of editors! I use PicMonkey along with a lot of bloggers! It is free (Premium account available) and does a really good job. You can re-size images, sharpen them, add text or shapes, and even add pretty effects! If you want to take it a step forward, I would probably suggest Photoshop, as you can now get one of the old versions for free! My family has Photoshop CS4 which is pretty good and it does everything you need, but I have found everything on there on PicMonkey, sooo…? You can decide on that one! The one thing I would say is if you are using Google Chrome, make sure you get the Ad Blocker plug in, because the ad at the bottom of PicMonkey can be annoying!

Blog Cards: These babies are by MOO, in which have THE best customer service, a shop where you can pick up your cards (…on the run to the Style Blogger Awards…), and choose from different sizes, finishes and even cases?! I ordered the mini matte ones as they were the same price as the ordinary sized one but you got 150, instead of 50. I really would recommend MOO because they are ‘fast and affordable’ (No, this is not a sponsored post!). I think VistaPrint and other places do good value ones too.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I am thinking of doing another one along the lines of ‘how to deal with..’ because I know it might be helpful. As I have said above, it really doesn’t matter what technology you use, as long as you are happy with the outcome yourself then don’t worry! I did all of that on an iPhone and I am definitely not worried about it! Good Luck and if you are starting a new blog make sure to link me! I’m a nosy parker! 😉

Did these tips help you? Are you thinking of starting a blog of your own? What are your top tips for blogging? Make sure to share your thoughts in the comments below!

WOW! It has been a heck of along time since I did some full on ‘bloggy woggy’ stuff hasn’t it? I have missed it very much, so here is a double decker post! A very odd, 9, ASOS bargains for both men and women! I hope you enjoy the old me again! Haha! Also, scroll down for something extra special! Yes, I do mean my Girl Talk feature! Eeep!

1. Shiny Pu Jacket £14.00, 2. Petite Exclusive Tie Dye Skinny Jeans £10.50, 3. Fetch Leather Studded Sandals £10.50, 4. Peace Sign Skinny Waist Belt £2.00 & 5. T-Shirt With Embellished David Bowie £17.50.

 PU Jacket: I don’t really know why, but I LOVE this jacket! I would never go for something like it, but it just looks quite unusual! It’s a right bargain too in the sale! Hopefully if I get some more dosh, I will be able to grab it before it goes off the site! I would probably wear it with some nice smart printed trousers, or a jumpsuit.

Skinny Jeans: Again, what a bargain?! These are so cute! They would be perfect for summer with a nice neon top and some sandals. For £11.00, you can’t really go wrong with these jeans!

Sandals: I have been needing some sandals for ages now, and these are so cute! I love the multi coloured studs and the fact that they look quite comfy is a plus too. I prefer sandals with wider strappy bits so they feel more secure on my tiny feet!

Belt: Just like the PU Jacket, I’m not really sure why but I kinda’ love this belt? It’s very cheap and cheerful, and for £2.00 I am thinking maybe to buy it! It would be nice with a maxi skirt or a jumpsuit!

David Bowie Top: HELLO! OMG. This top is so cool! If you are a lover like of the legend himself, just like me my whole family, then I believe you may need this. It is quite expensive, and I am sure you could find a good dupe, but I love how it is embellished, and it looks quite slouchy, so it is a nice tuckable(?! – I do make up some funny words!) top.

6. Primark Mickey Mouse Sweat Top £8.00, 7. Cropped Boyfriend Sweatshirt £16.00, 8. Green Tort Wayfarer with Mirror £7.00 & 9. Round Sunglasses with Multi Colour Mirror Lens £15.00

Mickey Mouse Sweatshirt: There are quite a few reasons I shouldn’t even be looking at this jumper. 1 – I simply do not have the cash, 2 – The weather is *fingers crossed* staying hot from now on, and 3 – Primark on ASOS don’t ship abroad! I know it’s a UK brand, but you would have thought that would be a reason for going on ASOS! #rage. However, you guys in the UK are very lucky because you can buy this amazingly cute and retro sweatshirt. You lucky devils.

Cropped Sweatshirt: Again, I really shouldn’t be looking at sweatshirts when it is 35 degrees outside.. *oops* but I just LOVE this one! It’s a really nice colour and I love how it is cropped. You could make this really dressy with smart trousers, or simple and casual with a pair of jeans or shorts. Simple but sweet!

Mirrored Wayfarers: These are actually from the men’s section at ASOS, but I LOVE them! I used to own a £1 pair similar to these from Primark, but when we moved house, sadly they passed away – RIP Mirrored Lens *sob sob* – but these are even better! They have such a cool print and a nice lens colour!

Round Mirrored Sunglasses: Again, sticking with the theme of men’s mirrored lenses, these are AMAZING!! I have been really loving LLYMLRS blog and she has been rocking a plain black pair of these. I simply need them in my life. NOW…. sadly my bank account does not agree.

I hope you like the bargains I found! Moving on to the extra special thing… LOOK! It’s me in Girl Talk! I was only expecting to be in the magazine and on the plastic sleeve, but it was quite a nice surprise when I saw my face on the cover! WOOP! It would make my day if you could pick it up! Sorry these aren’t amazing quality pictures, but I have put a PDF image below too!! Thanks so much for your support once again! Love you guys!

One of last month’s advertisers, Flora from Pretty Little Things To Do, to be precise is here to talk to you about her blog, fashion and all things lifestyle! Take it away Flora!
(Images courtesy of Flora Pick)

What inspired you to start your blog?: Probably reading successful blogs like ‘A Beautiful Mess’ by Elsie Larson. I saw how big something relatively easy to make could become, I think I just thought: ‘if she can do it why can’t I?’. I guess that another aspect of my inspiration was my ambition to become a journalist. It’s been my dream job for quite some time and as I’m still too young to work I wanted to come up with a way of sharing my views easily. 

Why did you choose fashion and lifestyle?: I chose my blog to mainly focus on fashion and lifestyle because those are the kind of things that interest me and they’re already big parts of my life. Fashion is just so fun to write about because there are so many different looks, styles and opinions and it’s constantly changing. 

What are your top tips for starting a blog?: I know that this is what every blogger says, but it’s important: Blog about what you love. There’s no point in forcing yourself to write about something that doesn’t interest you, you want something you can stick with. But always think: people visit their blog for a reason, what’s the reason they want to visit my blog? Their are so many blogs on the internet that it’s hard to get noticed but if you are unique people will listen. Also, have a design you love because it will draw your readers in. My final tip: Network! Make friends with other bloggers on Twitter, Facebook, Email- whatever! Most bloggers are friendly, just like you Tolly!

What are you’re blogging targets for this year?: To write posts more often- currently I’m too lazy, include more of my own photography- again, the reason I’m not doing that is my own laziness. Pay to get my blog professionally designed- I’ve found someone but just need to decide what I want and save up and learn html coding- I think it will really help me to develop my blog.

Who are your favourite fellow bloggers?: You (Tolly) obviously! You were one of the first bloggers I made proper contact with. Kat – I know Kat (distantly) in real life. She’s friends with my mum and her blog is probably one of my favourites ever. Florence – I haven’t actually made contact with Florence yet but I recently discovered her blog and I love it! Blossom – Blossom is a wonderful new blogger who is just starting out!

What trend are you most looking forward to working, this S/S 13?: Definitely belted vintage dresses, they are something that I would love to wear anyway so I’m pleased designers have put this style on the catwalks. 

Where’s your favourite place to grab a bargain and why?: New Look because it’s not just good for on-trend styles but also for simple wardrobe bases. It may seem weird but I can never go into a shop without picking out a nice vest top (yeah, kind of odd) and new look just have loads of cute things like that. As I’m 12 and pretty much broke all the time I find It’s the best place to get fashions that fit my budget. 

What’s your favourite piece of clothing you have ever bought?: Even though I didn’t strictly buy them myself (they were an amazing present from my mum) I’d have to say either my jack wills playsuit or leggings. I honestly don’t have many expensive clothes but the ones I do have I wear all the time. The playsuit is white and lacy and just a really cute thing to throw on on rare sunny English days. And the leggings work in loads of different ways whether it’s casual or dressy.

Who is your favourite lifestyle brand and why?: My favourite lifestyle brand is definitely Hambledon. They are a relatively small business run from a shop in Winchester very close to where I live and sell all sorts of cute stationary, make-up and (admittedly expensive, but gorgeous) fashion. I could pretty much make up my whole wish list out of stuff found in this shop. If you are down south make sure you visit it!

What’s your personal style and what do you do to work it?: I’d probably say that my personal style is a bit quirky, eclectic but a bit preppy. I love chunky knitted jumpers, shorts, and brightly coloured tights/ weird leggings. I also like to accessorise- I own a ridiculous amount of hats, and hair stuff. I love my massive- and I mean massive- red bow hairband because it goes with anything in a sort of weird way!

MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW FLORA’S BLOG HERE!
Follow on Twitter too!

P.S Tomorrow (July 10th) is my (TDP’s) feature in Girl Talk Magazine! I’d love if you could pick up a copy! Make sure to tweet me a picture too! Thanks guys!

I don’t know about you but I LOVE The Apprentice. It has it’s reality show stupidness I know, but it is very entertaining. If you have been watching the recent series, you will know what I mean by ‘eyebrows’. But on a serious note, I have an itching question and I want it answered. Why are all the contestants the same? No, I don’t mean they are all clones, I mean they all have very similar features. Bare with me please, as I *hope* some of you will agree… (Images via the BBC)

Hopefully from looking at the image above, a light bulb has gone off in your head and you realise what I mean. If not, these are my thoughts.
Where are the ‘big’ people? In my eyes, this years (and years before – below image) contestants are all average height, average ‘weight’ and are all reasonably ‘good looking’… (excluding the eyebrows…), none of them are big, short, or ‘ugly’. As well as their looks, obviously they are all quite good minded, but after watching the show up until now, I got asking myself, are they really? Like Lord Sugar pointed out on the Online Dating episode, a 10 year old could have made a better site than one of the teams did…
*cough cough* 😉 Sorry… In my eyes, none of them are geniuses, none of them really have a unique spark, they are all average; as I said, in my eyes.

When I was about 6 we had a coffee shop as a little hobby, and I enjoyed it very much, and without sounding big headed, a lot of people said to me that I could go on The Apprentice when I was older, and I loved the idea, but I am not really sure anymore? I look at myself as a ‘crazy’, ‘wacky’, ‘adventurous’ person, definitely not ‘normal’ (haha), so although the customers of our small cafe motivated me into thinking I really could go for it, I would probably be turned down for being too weird, non? It wouldn’t just be that, I would probably be turned down for being too small. I don’t mind that, and I would never know, but if only these types of contestants are on the show, then how are us weirdos, meant to appear on it? How is Mark-with-the-marvellous-idea *deep breath* who-eats-too-many-chips-and-could-be-classed-as-obese meant to show the world his plans?

Mark-with-the-marvellous-idea simply will have to wait, he is broke and The Apprentice simply cannot cater for his ‘type’. It’s entertainment right? If Mark was on it, I might not be seeing ‘Ooh I fancy Mark #theapprentice’ in my Wednesday evening Twitter stream, instead Christina will carry on fancying Myles from this year’s series.  To make entertainment, surely they need have not so clever, good(ish?!) looking people who come up with stupid ideas? They need people who annoy the viewers, not people who are actual geniuses. Mark, I am sorry to break it to you, but I doubt you will get accepted. Sorry!

I hope you take on board my opinions! Let me know what you think! Are they excluding the ‘so say’ not so good looking just for entertainment, or is it purely coincidence? Leave a comment below!

Howdy! As you may know, I live in France, the south to be precise, which means getting my, by the pool essentials spot on, takes a little bit of thinking! I don’t want to be too hot when its 30 degrees do I? So, I decided to write a little post on what I take to the pool (or beach) with me!
*cue hawaiian music*

A Lilo: For a while we didn’t have a lilo for our pool because the last one burst, but now we do, and I am so glad! Having a lilo is so nice! You can just sit back relax, not get your hair wet, and even sun bathe, all at the same time! It’s also good for people who aren’t the best at swimming, and of course for those sunny evenings when you don’t want to get in, but would like to float about for a while! Our’s cost around €15.00 because it is quite big, but usually on holidays I think they cost about €8.00, and usually the shop staff will blow it up for free so no worries on your lungs exploding! If not, then… unlucky, loser!! Hehe

Floppy Hat: I bought this from a jumble sale and it is perfect! Hats are a big essential if you burn a lot because they will protect your face which is most sensitive to the sun rays. The reason a floppy hat (don’t you find that funny? Floppy?) is good, is because it should cover your shoulders and neck with the shadow, which will add extra protection to us ‘burners’.

Flip Flops: These are my favourite flip flops! I got these for my birthday once and I love them! They have that holiday/festival feel to them, and as any flip flops are, they are convenient! You can just slip them on, walk to the pool, and take them off, instead of sandals etc where you have to unbuckle them… I know I’m lazy…

Sun Cream: Quite an obvious one, but I know a lot of people are guilty of not putting on a bit of SPF! I use Amie’s Skin Shield Moisturiser* for short periods of time in the sun, and a ordinary SPF30 sun cream for long periods. It is always good to have some by, especially after coming out of the water, as that is when your skin is more prone to burning.

Bikini: I don’t usually wear bikinis at the beach, but the by the pool, I don’t mind whipping one out! This one is from M&S and it is so pretty with the laser cut frills! I also like how the straps are around the neck, as I love wearing crop tops where you can see the bikini, I don’t really know why, but I just do! If I’m not wearing a bikini, I will wear a swimsuit and if it is a little cooler, I will wear trunks on top (I know, but they are girls ones!)

Cover-Up: When I’m at home, I usually just use my dressing gown, as it is a 2 in 1 (towel), but when it comes to the beach, I probably don’t want to be spotted in it.. so a light oversized shirt does the trick! I like to look out for nice ones at Jumble Sales and they work a treat! Not only can you cover up, you can also do up the buttons and put some shorts on for when you are going to go grab a nice cool drink!

Sunglasses: Obviously if you are wearing a hat, you may not need these too, but if you want extra protection, I always think people should carry a pair around! The yellow pair above are from Claire’s and I love them! I would wear my Zoobug AVs*, but I would prefer to wear an old pair if they are going to get wet!

Beach Bag: I don’t have a proper beach bag, but I find that this green and yellow crochet one does just the trick! I got it from a Jumble Sale, and at first I thought it was a bit old, but when my parents saw it they told me I had to have it, and I agreed, I did. It fits everything in and I love the detailing. My favourite bag of the past month!

Private Swim Lessons: I know this isn’t a fashion-y one, but I thought of it and had to mention it! Before last year I couldn’t swim, embarrassingly enough! I was able to get private lessons for free by my school and without it sounding too dramatic, it seriously has helped me so so much! I would search around for cheap private swimming lessons because I know what it feels like to not be able to swim. Most teachers will be really understanding and will go through each step at your own pace. I can now swim on my own, go under water in the deep end, and if somebody asks me to jump in… I will attempt it. I know it can be nerve racking at first, but it is so worth it.

Ironically, I am now looking out too grey skies again, so I will have to wait to get these all back out! I love summer, but I think for everyone this year has been a very unlucky ’13’ for the weather. *touch wood* it comes around soon!

Would you like more essentials posts? What are your by the pool essentials? Make sure to let me know in the comments below! LOVE YA!

If you don’t know already, the Posh Fashion Awards Shortlist was released yesterday! Congrats to all the bloggers! Find out who was shortlisted, by clicking here!

(This is not a sponsored post, products which have been sent to me will have a * beside them, but none of them were sent to feature in this post.)

If you don’t already know a few days ago I secretly launched a mini blog shop full of cute and handcrafted earrings! Welcome in… Posh Pairs Earrings! I loved making them all so I decided to give you the chance to buy a pair yourself! I think they are pretty well priced, but all will be explained below!

1: Ingrid Hearts – £8.00, 2: Diamonds in her Eyes – £8.00, 3: Galaxy Stars – £8.00, 4: Pearls in her Heart – £6.00 (all including P&P) Shop here!

As you should all know by now, my dream is to become a fashion designer, which means that I am willing to take up any chance of designing something unique. At the moment I don’t have the resources to go out and buy loads of fabrics and sew them all together and make dresses for you all, but that is definitely a future plan. Jewellery making is one of those things which anyone can do, and to share your creativeness with other people is a plus!

These above, are just a few of the designs currently on the ‘shop‘! I have to say I think they look great! They all handmade by myself with love and care put into them. They are all mostly one off designs, which means you will be very unique! I am up to excepting custom designs, bulk orders, and even blog review requests! As it says above, all prices include P&P which means they are all very affordable! I only accept payment through PayPal though, so please bare that in mind.

If you want to see more of my designs and even make a sneaky purchase, please make sure to check out the Posh Pairs page, just here! 

Whilst you are reading this I am away in Andorre! My brother is going to be there all summer with his biking friends so we decided to stay for a couple of days before they all arrived! I will speak soon, and enjoy the new post!

What I Wore: Green Ruffled Cap Sleeve Top (M&S), White & Grey Daisy Print Dress (Jumble Sale), Red Daps worn as Sandals (Primark) & Floral Alice Band (Primark/DIY)

Last week we had a glorious day! It was the perfect temperature and the sky was clear and blue! #perfection To top it all off we actually found a cherry tree outside my bedroom window (Kinda silly of us not to have noticed, but hey ho!). It had LOADS of cherries on it! They were so sweet and delicious! Can’t wait for it to start growing again! I also got cooking  drink making in the kitchen, and made the BEST – slightly biased there – strawberry milkshake, you will EVER taste (recipe below). It was delicious and the whole family drank it! *pats self on back* After the amazing drink we sat around in the sun enjoying a nice bowl of cherries. It wasn’t quite hot enough for the pool, but it was still a marvellous day.  (BTW, my hair looks way darker than it is in these pictures!!)

Strawberry Milkshake Recipe: (4 x Glasses)
– 2 & a half scoops of strawberry ice cream
– Half a glass or strawberry sirop
– Enough milk… not quite sure how much
– A blender

Put all the ingredients in to your mixer, in any order. Turn your blender on  and mix *whurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* stop when you think it is smooth enough or as chunky as you would like it. Add more sirop or ice cream to your taste, and voila! Add a strawberry on the side and a nice paper straw, and you will be done! *gulp gulp gulp* ‘Very nice Tolly’ Well, thank you!

How would you like me to do recipes on my blog? I know it isn’t to do with fashion, but I believe I am quite good at doing drinks 🙂 Let me know in the comments below! 

(This is a scheduled post. I am currently away so will not be able to reply to any comments!)

Okay. So you may be thinking, ‘Tolly! How dare you talk about boobs on your blog! You have young readers!’ but please, calm yourself. This isn’t some X-Rated post, this is quite important. We need to get rid of Page 3, because boobs are not the news! Sign the No More Page 3 Petition!

Us Brits enjoy reading the newspaper, it’s a fact. Even though the world is all going online, we don’t half enjoy sitting down with a cup of tea reading the latest news in good old paper form, do we? Even I do on the rare occasion, and on that rare occasion, I could possibly be reading The Sun. Now imagine me or someone else my age sat down with a drink in one hand. *Turns front page* *BLINDED FOR LIFE* Yes, that’s right Page Three is there, staring right back at me. Boobs, bum and flesh shining brightly. So, you maybe thinking that I am over exaggerating the fact that someone my age is going to be reading The Sun, and that my parents are ‘irresponsible’, but they aren’t. Apparently, The Sun is meant to be a family newspaper, meaning everyone can sit down and read what is in ‘the news’. I googled the definition of ‘news’ and this is what it said: Newly received or noteworthy information, esp. about recent or important events. Re-read that and see if ‘models standing with their boobs showing and a thong on’ is included. No, exactly.

There are quite a few reasons why Page Three is wrong. One of them being the fact that boys will grow up reading the news paper thinking that this girl is the perfect girl for them. I’m not saying that the models are bad people, but if they aren’t seeing conservative girls as well in the newspaper, surely that will make them think that the model is perfect, as the big publisher is allowing it?

Another point is the way woman are portrayed compared to men. In The Sun, The Star and The Sport woman are exposed like this (boobs, bum and flesh) where as men are not? Although you may see a topless man, they are not in newspapers?! Even if a man was in the newspaper, he would be in a suit or he would be fully clothed. Surely it is unfair to show woman in this ‘light’?

Now you are probably thinking what the point of this is? Well, I’m going to tell you. Lucy Holmes set up a ‘No More Page 3 petition‘ to get Dominic Mohan (The editor of The Sun) to get rid of Page 3. Before I continue, I know some of my older readers may disagree and say, that it is part of the magazine and I shouldn’t be reading it, but surely if all these people below, agree with getting rid of the naked models, then we should try and do something about it?

The way you can help is by simply clicking the button below! I will be keeping the button on my blog for quite a while, so if every single one of you shared it around and signed the No More Page 3 Petition, we could get rid of Page Three! Sounds good yeah? Well get signing! GO GO GO!

Will you be signing the petition? Do you think The Sun should get rid of Page 3? Make sure to tell me in the comments below!

Quick Note: Apparently GFC (Google Friend Connect) is going or something or other, so please feel free to follow me on BlogLovin’ by clicking the link, or clicking the button in my sidebar! I don’t want to see your pretty faces go 🙁 that would make me sad! 

Last month’s advertiser, Sophie, from The Sopho Diaries is here to tell us her blogging secets, and what her fashion style is all about. Take it away Sophie! (Images from The Sopho Diaries)

1. What inspired you to start your Blog?: I’ve been reading blogs for years and have always loved the idea of having a little space on the internet that is entirely your own. My ultimate aim in life is to become a writer and so I began The Sopho Diaries so that I could have a little internet place to write and ultimately a place for people to read my writing. I also like the fact that in years to come I will have a kind of online diary of my life which is lovely.

I decided to do a different kind of post today. The reason I decided to write this post is because of the wacky idea my dad had to hang our old shoes on the tree in the garden (Don’t worry, we are NOT drug dealers, I repeat, we are NOT drug dealers!)*, and other than me posing next to the now, bleached out shoes, I thought I would make something of it! So what am I making of it, I hear you say? Well, I’m telling YOU to be grateful for those things that get taken around, thousands and thousands of steps.

When I was in Year 2 at school (Around the age of 7), I had to do an assembly presentation with my friend, and we chose the subject of shoes. I’m really annoyed I don’t have a video of it, but I’ll try my best to explain. We talked about Imelda Marcos who had over 3,000 pairs of shoes (Sadly destroyed due to floods!), which I believed was utterly REDONKULOUS, but now looking back I would love to have that many shoes! Imagine having a pair of shoes for every outfit!? No, Tolly, that’s being silly, the amount of shoes you have is enough. This is where the meaning of this post comes into play. Do we really need more than one pair of shoes?

First of all let’s think about what shoes really are: They’re pieces of fabric sewn together to protect our feet? Right? Or are they pieces of fabric sewn together to make our feet look pretty? Let’s roll with the first one. If this is right, how come over 3 MILLION children and 1.5 BILLION adults, still do not own shoes? Now let’s think of the second one. If shoes are meant to make our feet look pretty, how come those 1 billion, five hundred and three million people have ugly feet? It sounds ridiculous that, that amount of people are walking around with nothing on their feet. Some of those people walk a good few kilometers with no shoes just to get a sip of dirty water.

Now onto our own shoes – How many pairs do you own?: How many pairs do you actually wear? Personally, I own about…. 15 pairs? Not too many compared to some, but honestly I don’t wear half of them! At the moment I am usually wearing my Dr Martens, Flip Flops, or my Converse style trainers. Just 3 pairs?! That could leave 12 pairs to give to somebody who still doesn’t own a pair. There is a really clever way to do this actually! I blogged about this yonks ago, but I thought I would include it again. TOMS (The cute little canvas shoes) have a charity in which every pair of TOMS you buy, gives a pair of shoes to a child in need! So go buy a pair! You get a cute pair of shoes, and so does a child in need! Voila!

Image from TOMS

Last but not least, do you need them?: In my personal opinion, I would say yes, but in another way no. Naturally our feet could survive without shoes, because that’s what our ancestors used to do, it’s only modern times which have made us wear them. I reckon I could probably just about go round our local food shop without shoes, I may just have to have an extra foot clean! For somebody who works in an office, I reckon they could go without shoes, just let those bad boys air out under your desk! (ew) For somebody working in Fashion, I guess it would be quite hard to say goodbye to the little gems, but it would be possible. Although it would be odd at first, I think we would all get a long just fine!

My point is, we really should be more grateful for our shoes. It maybe an odd thing to be thankful for, but think about those billions of people who don’t have any? If shoes were to grow on trees we’d be laughing, so seeing as they don’t, the next time you want a pair of shoes, take a step back and realise that what you have is really all you need. (Unless their a bargain, then perhaps I’ll let you off!)