outfit posts

As I have done for the past two years on my blog, I’m going to be sharing with you some of my favourite blog posts of the year to round things off for 2016. This is a chance for you to catch up on what you missed, as well as time for me to reflect on what I’m most proud of myself. You can even go a step further by taking a read about my round-ups for both 2015 and 2014, too!

→ How to Combat Feeling Judged and Self-Conscious

At the beginning of the year I was asked a question about overcoming the idea of being judged and being self-conscious, and what I had to say seemed to go down positively. I still stick to these ideas and hope that some of you are still using my advice to become a more confident and carefree person! There’s even a to-do list so you can try and change your perspective on things, a little bit at a time.

☼ My Style Editorial: Desert Rebelle

I’ve always been interested in photography but 2016 was definitely a year for figuring out my style. I’m much more carefree with how I shoot things now. I don’t mind using a blurry picture or one which really captures a moment or a laugh, because that’s what makes a moment real. However, I also like more stylised shoots and this was one of the first where I played with both of those elements. Big hats off to Papa Posh (my dad) for kicking things up a notch this year!

★ Turning Sixteen

I’ve thrown this post into the list mainly for memory’s sake because it’s funny to think that you have no idea how a year is going to pan out, especially from a milestone’s point of view or from something memorable like a birthday. Turning sixteen means different things to different people, and I think reflecting on this post has made me realise it was about becoming stronger as a person, for me. My fifteen-year-old self would laugh at what my sixteen-year-old self has now been through!

▷ When in Florence… 

Although travelling in Italy has had its ups and downs, some of the places I’ve visited have been spectacular and I loved writing up my recap on Florence (Firenze). I’m sure I’ll return one day but for now, I have this summary to look back on and for you to read and take travel inspiration from.

✤ Accepting Change & Curating Your Personal Archive

As well as being a year of growth and building strength, 2016 has also been a year of defining who I am at this point in my life, so I shared with you why I think it’s so important to embrace that and how you’re going to change as you grow. It had a lovely response and some of the photographs are my favourites I’ve ever taken and put together. They were shot in an area badly affected by the earthquakes, so I’ll treasure them dearly.

→ Why Using Your Blog Audience to Make Change Is So Important

Over the past year or so, I’ve been making a purposeful change to make my content more impactful and inspiring in certain areas, more specifically in terms of ethical fashion. It’s my aim to change the way things work in an industry I so badly want to break into, but it’s also my dream to continue writing a successful blog, and with that comes some responsibility to try and inspire others too. I wrote about why I think bloggers and online influencers should be using their voices to make a change. If you’re a blogger, I hope you read this and it makes you think about what kind of content you’re publishing.

★ David Bowie Is in Bologna

Another travel post, but this time focusing on one of the greatest heroes which we sadly lost at the very start of the year. I was able to experience the magic of the David Bowie Is exhibition in Bologna at the start of August and it is still inspiring me now. I’ll never forget what an incredible artist Bowie was and is, and I hope that more and more young people start discovering his true talent for what it really is. Since then I’ve also attended his Lazarus musical in London and that too was mind-blowingly beautiful.

☼ Take Part Big Issues: #16in16

On the same vein as my post about turning sixteen, this year I took part in one of Take Part’s Big Issues. It focused on 16 young women turning sixteen in 2016, and was a truly empowering piece about the struggles and inspiring stories of myself and others of the same age. I still feel honoured that I was a part of such an exciting project!

✤ You Can’t Call Yourself a Feminist If You’re Supporting Fast Fashion

This is what I would call my most ‘intellectual’ piece of the year. Some topics are hard to approach without seeming too in your face, or without pointing out what someone is personally doing wrong, so this was quite a challenge to write but hopefully it has opened some more eyes about what is happening behind the labels of our clothes. I hope to touch on more of these sorts of issues in 2017, and hope you will appreciate them as much as you did this time around.

→ How to Grow up as a Teen Blogger

I was really surprised by the response to this post. It was genuinely lovely to see how a lot of you could relate, no matter what your age. I also loved connecting with readers who have been following me since practically day one. Thank you for supporting me throughout this wild journey, and throughout all of the changes. I appreciate your support no matter how long you’ve been following and for no matter what reason.

What was your favourite blog post of the year? Share one of mine or from another blog!

To finish things off, here’s my letter to the past year…

Dear 2016,
You started off my year by making me cry because our world had lost a hero. You made me smile a few months in when I received a message that would turn into friendship which I’ve treasured in some of your harder moments. You made me excited and grateful for the people around me, and you made my family bigger in more ways than one. You gave memories and sunshine and jokes to last for many years more, and you gave me opportunities to inspire myself to push further.

You changed my life in a matter of seconds. You let me see my life flash before my eyes. You made me terrified of my surroundings and the ground I stood on. You made me learn the true meaning of the word emergency and escape; family, home and security. You pushed me and tore me down but you didn’t let me stop. You taught me to never stop. Some things seem too big to handle; some things feel typical and ‘just our luck’, but none of it was ever too much. You made me strong and you made the world strong, even if at times it’s all felt so incredibly weak.

You haven’t been the worst year in history, so perhaps I’ll give you a little more credit. Thank you for letting me see the end of this year and the start of the new one, when I know so many won’t.

I’m sorry that of my very few recent posts, that today’s is another outfit, but I didn’t want to miss this month’s Changing With The Seasons post, so I just had to pop this up. I really hope you don’t mind! I’ll try and have some different kinds of posts up soon… I’m just still trying to get my mojo back. Anyway, here’s how to dress for summer…

WHAT I WORE: Embroidered Blouse Dress (ASOS) // Vintage Floral Denim Two-Piece (Jumble Sale) // Blue Pleated Skater Skirt (H&M) // Nike Trainers (JD Sports)*

Okay, let’s just jump to it… THIS. TWO. PIECE. I don’t even care if 99% of this post is just all about the jacket and skirt, because looook. at. it. You won’t believe this when I say it, but I picked this up for £5.00 at a jumble sale. It fits like a glove and it is just stunning. I probably styled it in a bit of an odd way, but I was just too excited to share it that I had to include it.

The print is just beautiful and gives that sort of modern vibe even though the set is obviously vintage. I’d say it is probably an 80s/90s piece due to the baggy arms and oversized feel, but I honestly don’t mind at all. I think it’s going to be so fun to style, especially as you can wear the jacket and skirt separately. No doubt you’ll see it in a future #OOTD!

Now let’s talk about what’s underneath (okay, well erm… I probably worded that wrongly)… firstly, the top. This is actually a fairly old ASOS purchase, which I don’t tend to wear as it’s a fairly scratchy material but I think it worked well for an added contrast of colour.

Next up, where is the blue skirt? It’s like the Where’s Wally? of an outfit post… but it’s fairly simple. So I didn’t cheat, and stayed tied up with the CWTS series, I popped the skirt underneath my new floral denim number and created a faux pleated hem. What d’ya think? Yay or nay?

~ SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE ~

And as I like to do for this lil’ series, here’s my video! It’s just a fun way to show you what the outfit’s really like on and get a bit creative. I think I may have had the exposure settings a bit wrong with this one, so sorry about the darkness, but I think it’s okay… I hope you enjoy a very rare YouTube appearance from me.

Hopefully I’ll be back soon with a very exciting announcement (hopefully) so do stay tuned! I think August is going to be a very busy and eventful month so hopefully in September I’ll be back to my usual self again, brimming with ideas and hopefully posting more designed based posts. That’s my goal! Until then… speak soon 🙂

As you will know, I love outfit posts. I love reading, writing, creating and drooling over them, so I thought I would help you guys out. I know how annoying it is to go onto another website and have to put together a collage, or put two images together, exactly central etc etc, so I’ve come up with an 8-step tutorial on how to create your own outfit collage template, to use time and time again! You can do this in either Photoshop or Pixlr, but today I’m using Photoshop CS4 (on Windows).

STEP 1

Create a new transparent file. Make sure it’s the correct size you want, because it’s easier than re-sizing it at the end. Just in case you are wondering, all my blog images are 620px wide.

STEP 2

Select the line tool. You may want it to have some sort of effect on it, maybe you want it to look like a paint stroke? Fiddle around and see what you think works best! I prefer just a simple straight line.

STEP 3

Choose your preferred colour. I chose white as it blends well with my blog’s background, making it look like the images are separated by formatting.

STEP 4

Choose the weight/width of your line, this can be as thick or as thin as you want. I went for 10px wide in Photoshop.

STEP 5

Draw your straight line. You don’t need to center it at the moment, just concentrate on making sure it’s perfectly straight! Easy as pie.

STEP 6

Press Ctrl + A (Select All), then go to Layers, then Align Layers to Selection, clicking on Horizantal Centers. This will make sure it is dead straight in the middle. Of course, if you want it slightly off center, then just drag it to where you want it, and ignore this step.

STEP 7

You then want to right click on the line’s layer, and click on Rasterize Layer. This sort of flatten’s the layer so that it’s easier to manage.

STEP 8

The last step is to save your file as either a .PNG or a .PSD. You may want to save it as a .PNG file so you can open it in other softwares when you don’t have Photoshop to hand… just as long as it is transparent then you’ll be fine!

~ HOW TO USE YOUR TEMPLATE ~

So obviously, you are wondering…. so how do I use my template? Well, it’s super simple. Follow these four simple steps and you’ll have your very own, personalised, template for outfit pictures (or anything else, pictures)…

STEP 1

Open up your file, and the two images which you wish to put side by side. I usually go for either 2 full lengths, or 1 full length and a detail!

STEP 2

Go to your template file, and select one half of the template (make sure you haven’t selected your line down the middle).

STEP 3

Copy one of the images you opened up, go back to your template, and press Ctrl + Shift + V (Paste Into). This will put the image into just that one half. Drag and re-size the image to how you want it to look. The bits of the image that aren’t visible, go underneath the line and aren’t deleted, so you can move it around a bit afterwards!

STEP 4

Repeat with the over half, selecting and pasting into the correct space… and voila! A perfect outfit template.

To make this even more personalised or custom, you could add more lines to create a grid, or have an image floating in it’s own space. It’s really all down to ‘Paste Into’, so you can be really creative with it! Good Luck!

HOW TO TAKE OUTFIT PICTURES // OUTFIT PICTURES FEATURED