What Inspires You?

Over the past year or two I've been keeping a scrap book. It started out simply as something to put in  everything I saw in magazines which I liked, and something to do on a rainy day. However, due to many, many rainy days, it's become something more than that now.

I have slowly built up a catalogue of trends. It works as a reference book for me on which trends are/ have been popular and how people wear these trends. I still have cuttings of things I love, be it an article, some photography or an advertising campaign which has caught my eye.

One of my biggest sources of inspiration are blogs. Favourites include The Sartorialist, We Wore What and Views of Now, but these are only a few! The next biggest thing to inspire me are magazines! Harper's Bazaar is a favourite of mine. 

I wondered what inspires you all? Is it TV and Film, Magazines, Blogs, Photography? This post is purely in regards to style and fashion, but I want to know who inspires you, not just in what you wear but in what you stand for. Comment below!

Coachella Plans

Every year I look (and swoon) at the lineup for Coachella. This year is no exception, with some of my favourites performing: Alt-J, Ben Howard, Disclosure, Jake Bugg, Knife Party, Jessie Ware and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers among others. I'm so jealous of anyone that gets the chance to go. 

To try and cheer myself up I've promised myself that I will go one day, and I've been musing over what I would wear when there. I've put together three outfits which I thought I might share with you! 

Inspired by a favourite of mine- Cara Delevingne. I love both her style and personality, and what she is wearing here is so simple and casual. Perfect for Coachella!

The beautiful Isabella from the blog Views of Now! I absolutely loved this post, and knew I really wanted to try and recreate it. I found these really cool backless boots, which I thought added another twist to the outfit. 

I like how casual this is, whilst still staying feminine. I wish I would have found an image of the original skirt, but I found this gorgeous one by Jack Wills instead. The pretty floral detail balances out the masculinity of the over-sized tee and converse. 

"I Wanna be a Real Life Barbie"

Yep, I've done it again. I've gone and blogged about Body Image. So the other day I found this image about how unrealistic a Barbie Doll's image is. I've seen things similar to this before, but I think the image, along with the description below, is so powerful.

It kind of scares me that we are bombarded with images of what "beauty" is from such a young age. It also scares me that the industry I want to work in can be so critical of Body Image, to the point where people feel pressured to change their body and lead an unhealthy lifestyle. In no way am I saying that the Fashion Industry encourages people to develop Eating Disorders  but maybe the ideals that they show to people make it normal to be extremely slim. Don't get me wrong, if you're naturally slim there's nothing wrong with that either; what I disagree with is people wanting to change their body because they feel there is pressure to, or because they feel their current image is not normal and acceptable. Health is the most important thing.

I don't intend for this piece to disillusion you about the Fashion Industry. The Fashion Industry is an incredibly creative industry with so many positives and I accept that nothing can be perfect. But maybe it could be improved? I'm also not saying that Barbie is telling us to have that figure, but to me, it does send messages that this is beautiful and desirable for girls.

So I'll leave you with this. I don't know how accurate this information is, but regardless of that, it really makes you think.

If Barbie was an actual woman, she would be 5'9" tall, have a 39" bust, an 18" waist, 33" hips and a size 3 shoe.

• Barbie call this a "full figure" and likes her weight at 110 lbs. 
• At 5'9" tall and weighing 110 lbs, Barbie would have a BMI of 16.24 and fit the weight criteria for Anorexia. It would be likely that she would not menstruate. 
• Slumber Party Barbie was introduced in 1965 and came with a bathroom scale permanently set at 110 lbs with a book entitled "How to Lose Weight" with directions inside stating simply "Don't Eat". 

Wish List: 01/04/13

Here is a list of all the things I want at the moment! I haven't done a post like this in a while, but things I'm longing for have started to slowly accumulate again...

1) A Nude Lipstick- At the moment it's between Casablanca by Nars or Style Surge by MAC. If my purse would stretch far enough to buy both, I definitely wouldn't hesitate! They're both quite similar, but which one do you prefer?

2) A Boyfriend Coat- this particular one is from Topshop and I luuurve it, especially seeing as the weather we have at the moment is crazily cold! I could really do with a cozy coat like this. 

3) A Gold Watch- from River Island. I really love chunky, masculine watches that you could wear with everything and anything. 

4) The Notebook- I saw this last weekend and I couldn't stop crying. If you haven't seen it you have to! I have now ordered it from Amazon; it's on it's way and I can't wait.

5) Nail Polish from Topshop- in Green Room.

6) Black Loafers- from Topshop. A few years ago I had a pair like this which I wore to school everyday. For a while no one understood my love for Penny Loafers, but thankfully now they're in again! They were so comfy and I've been looking for a pair ever since. This pair look pretty identical to my last.