LA INSPIRACION ARTISTICA
The last couple of weeks or so, I've found that I've really been thinking about my style, my aesthetic, what's important to me in terms of the clothes I wear and the image I'm conveying (did you notice the spontaneous blog re-design this last week?). It's not that I didn't care before, it's just that I've noticed that I seem to be putting more thought into the way I dress now. I seem to care about it more. Now I'm not saying that I've adopted some extensive fashion orientated thinking process, supplemented with a Cher Horowitz-esque outfit selector that I thoroughly divulge through every morning before I leave the house. And it's not that I pay attention to the current fashion trends either and make a conscious to follow them, nor do I dress in order to please other people. I don't have mood boards, a select colour palette tailored to my complexion (unlike my darling little sister), a set clothing or style criteria that I seek to fulfil. It's none of those things.
I think it's more to do with the fact that I just read a really great biography about the glorious Chanel, and also because as I progress through my nineteenth year on this planet, I seem to be getting a stronger and stronger notion of who I am as a person. What my identity is. The kind of aesthetics that I connect to most vividly and truly. When I look at all the visuals in the world around me, all the clothes, accessories, styles, people, what they're wearing, photography, magazines, art, I seem to have a more accurate and acute eye for picking out exactly what things I love most. The things I'm drawn to. The things that inspire me. What I identify with most of all. I seem to be able to filter everything else out now, and instead focus on what I know is important to me. And what I keep finding is that these patterns keep emerging. I'm drawn to the same aesthetics and visuals, the same styles of clothing, inspired by the same things in different female icons that I look up to. And it's something that has steadily evolved over time. What I like to see on other people, and myself too, includes segments of things that I used to like, combined with newer forays and aesthetics that I've been exposed to as I've grown older. It's interesting, and I love it. I really, really do. It feels like I've found my calling at last. And quite possibly the best thing about it all, is that I know truly that if my younger self was to see me now, meet me now, she would love wholeheartedly the person that I have become. She would recognise the person looking back at her. She would be proud of who I am now. Maybe even feel relief that somewhere along the way, the little shy, lost duckling finds her wings, stands a little taller, finds her confidence, her majesty, who she is, and is happy. So happy. But I haven't lost who I was or used to be. That's still there, forming my foundations. I'm just a better, more confident, more assured, wiser version of who I was.
I think this whole process of self identification arose like the most glorious whirlwind of change, when during the summer, after a frustrating run-in with the past made me realise how much I'd changed and developed as a person (much more so than I had ever realised before), I decided to reflect this visually. I wanted to show people that I had changed. I wanted people to look at me and think something's changed about her, so I did what every girl does after one of those life affirming moments. I cut my hair. Now normally these rash decisions to change my hair don't quite end up how I'd originally envisioned, however the monumental difference this time round was that I cut my hair into a hairstyle that actually suited me. As soon as I took that final cut with the scissors, and stood back to properly look at myself in the mirror, I knew that I had finally, finally found myself. It felt like I was looking at myself properly for the first time. Hello me. There you are. Where have you been hiding all this time. That kind of thing. And what's more, when I ventured downstairs to show my Mum, she told me I looked beautiful for quite possibly the first time in my life (my ma, lovely as she is, is not a liberal complementer). And for quite possibly the first time in my life, I believed her. And from that moment onwards, everything seemed to rapidly progress for me. Onwards and upwards, as one might say.
So in order to mark what feels to me, an important turning point in my life, I wanted to share with you a visual idea of what things are inspiring me right now. The kind of aesthetics that I'm identifying with. I'm loving those long, brooding, autumnal toned coats, the kinds that almost seem to make the outfit. I'm loving high waisted tailored trousers and jeans that cut off just above the ankle (a la Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina), and subsequently elongate the leg in the process. Never before have I been so enthusiastic about showcasing my ankles to the world. I'm loving button up shirts with neutral colours and patterns adorned on them (something like that French simplicity) and likewise simple coloured t-shirts tucked into jeans, trousers, skirts. Long sleeved t-shirts and jumpers that stop just above the wrist, showcasing the elegance of the female hand. Colours like terracotta, burgundy, mauve, pale blue, camel, violet, indigo, emerald, black. The enviable, effortless, beautiful French/ Spanish aesthetic that celebrates femininity, the true essence of what it means to be a woman and not apologise for it either. Those European styles that strive to celebrate being a woman, celebrate the female figure, but do so in a classy, elegant, fitted way. Showcasing a little bit, but not too much. Respecting yourself. Retaining an air of mystery and magic about oneself, not revealing all those wonderful secrets that comprise who you are to just anyone. Simple make-up to accentuate your unique facial features, brown eyeshadow, red lips, long lashes, being proud of your freckles and beauty marks. Simple hooped earrings, a bold necklace, ballet pumps, doc martens, brogues. Fringes, bee hives, up-dos, buns, occasional curls. All those kinds of things are inspiring me so strongly right now. It's what I aim to incorporate into my own aesthetic, it's what I take from the icons I look up to, it's what I appreciate in those around me. Whether I achieve it or not is another matter entirely, and I suspect I often get it wrong, but again that doesn't really matter to me, because I'm confident in myself and what I wear, it makes me happy, I dress for me, I like my body shape rather a lot, I've never been healthier or fitter, I feel like I'm being true to myself, presenting who I am to the world in exactly the way I want to.
It's wonderful, so with that I would love, love, love to share with you some pictures that inspire me, give you a flavour of that aesthetic I've just rambled on about, and I hope that it might inspire you somewhat too, or if not, help you on your own journey towards discovering who you really are. It's a rather brilliant journey to embark on.
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-INSPIRATION-
I think it's more to do with the fact that I just read a really great biography about the glorious Chanel, and also because as I progress through my nineteenth year on this planet, I seem to be getting a stronger and stronger notion of who I am as a person. What my identity is. The kind of aesthetics that I connect to most vividly and truly. When I look at all the visuals in the world around me, all the clothes, accessories, styles, people, what they're wearing, photography, magazines, art, I seem to have a more accurate and acute eye for picking out exactly what things I love most. The things I'm drawn to. The things that inspire me. What I identify with most of all. I seem to be able to filter everything else out now, and instead focus on what I know is important to me. And what I keep finding is that these patterns keep emerging. I'm drawn to the same aesthetics and visuals, the same styles of clothing, inspired by the same things in different female icons that I look up to. And it's something that has steadily evolved over time. What I like to see on other people, and myself too, includes segments of things that I used to like, combined with newer forays and aesthetics that I've been exposed to as I've grown older. It's interesting, and I love it. I really, really do. It feels like I've found my calling at last. And quite possibly the best thing about it all, is that I know truly that if my younger self was to see me now, meet me now, she would love wholeheartedly the person that I have become. She would recognise the person looking back at her. She would be proud of who I am now. Maybe even feel relief that somewhere along the way, the little shy, lost duckling finds her wings, stands a little taller, finds her confidence, her majesty, who she is, and is happy. So happy. But I haven't lost who I was or used to be. That's still there, forming my foundations. I'm just a better, more confident, more assured, wiser version of who I was.
I think this whole process of self identification arose like the most glorious whirlwind of change, when during the summer, after a frustrating run-in with the past made me realise how much I'd changed and developed as a person (much more so than I had ever realised before), I decided to reflect this visually. I wanted to show people that I had changed. I wanted people to look at me and think something's changed about her, so I did what every girl does after one of those life affirming moments. I cut my hair. Now normally these rash decisions to change my hair don't quite end up how I'd originally envisioned, however the monumental difference this time round was that I cut my hair into a hairstyle that actually suited me. As soon as I took that final cut with the scissors, and stood back to properly look at myself in the mirror, I knew that I had finally, finally found myself. It felt like I was looking at myself properly for the first time. Hello me. There you are. Where have you been hiding all this time. That kind of thing. And what's more, when I ventured downstairs to show my Mum, she told me I looked beautiful for quite possibly the first time in my life (my ma, lovely as she is, is not a liberal complementer). And for quite possibly the first time in my life, I believed her. And from that moment onwards, everything seemed to rapidly progress for me. Onwards and upwards, as one might say.
So in order to mark what feels to me, an important turning point in my life, I wanted to share with you a visual idea of what things are inspiring me right now. The kind of aesthetics that I'm identifying with. I'm loving those long, brooding, autumnal toned coats, the kinds that almost seem to make the outfit. I'm loving high waisted tailored trousers and jeans that cut off just above the ankle (a la Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina), and subsequently elongate the leg in the process. Never before have I been so enthusiastic about showcasing my ankles to the world. I'm loving button up shirts with neutral colours and patterns adorned on them (something like that French simplicity) and likewise simple coloured t-shirts tucked into jeans, trousers, skirts. Long sleeved t-shirts and jumpers that stop just above the wrist, showcasing the elegance of the female hand. Colours like terracotta, burgundy, mauve, pale blue, camel, violet, indigo, emerald, black. The enviable, effortless, beautiful French/ Spanish aesthetic that celebrates femininity, the true essence of what it means to be a woman and not apologise for it either. Those European styles that strive to celebrate being a woman, celebrate the female figure, but do so in a classy, elegant, fitted way. Showcasing a little bit, but not too much. Respecting yourself. Retaining an air of mystery and magic about oneself, not revealing all those wonderful secrets that comprise who you are to just anyone. Simple make-up to accentuate your unique facial features, brown eyeshadow, red lips, long lashes, being proud of your freckles and beauty marks. Simple hooped earrings, a bold necklace, ballet pumps, doc martens, brogues. Fringes, bee hives, up-dos, buns, occasional curls. All those kinds of things are inspiring me so strongly right now. It's what I aim to incorporate into my own aesthetic, it's what I take from the icons I look up to, it's what I appreciate in those around me. Whether I achieve it or not is another matter entirely, and I suspect I often get it wrong, but again that doesn't really matter to me, because I'm confident in myself and what I wear, it makes me happy, I dress for me, I like my body shape rather a lot, I've never been healthier or fitter, I feel like I'm being true to myself, presenting who I am to the world in exactly the way I want to.
It's wonderful, so with that I would love, love, love to share with you some pictures that inspire me, give you a flavour of that aesthetic I've just rambled on about, and I hope that it might inspire you somewhat too, or if not, help you on your own journey towards discovering who you really are. It's a rather brilliant journey to embark on.
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-INSPIRATION-
