Reflecting on Change | Favourite DIY Top & Pants

Long time no fashion post! I've finally come to accept that the nature of my blog has fundamentally changed. When I first started blogging -- gosh, 4.5 years ago -- it was all about showing off my cheap fashion purchases. Slowly, DIY projects began to feature as I discovered my crafty side. Next, my blog became a platform for talking about science, and then a place for me to explore fashion from a more socially-conscious stance. 2 years ago, I toyed with the idea of making a Youtube channel and tentatively uploaded my first video. Posts slowly changed from "look at the stuff I'm wearing!" to "make the stuff I'm wearing!" And here we are today. Because I began to spend more and more time on my youtube channel, I started to feel like I was neglecting my blog. I felt bad about this because, after all, my blog and its readers were fundamentally important to the initial success of my videos. But as video-making became more and more time consuming, blogging and outfit photos fell by the wayside. But I finally am in a place where I don't see this change as a sad or negative thing. This blog has been an incredibly important space for me for the past 4 years - it's allowed me to express myself and my style, gain a lot of confidence, make friends, learn how to sew, learn how to communicate science, meet up with wonderful people, escape the daily struggles of living with a chronic illness, and so much more. Just because I'm not as active on it anymore doesn't negate any of that. One really positive thing that's come from not blogging my outfits everyday is that it's given me a lot more freedom to play around with my personal style. When my content was all about my daily outfits, I always felt like I needed to stay "on brand". If I started wearing something completely different from my usual style, I thought that people would lose interest. I mean, I was always fine with playing around with different fashion genres a little bit, but I still had my set "style". This, however, is soooo not an outfit would have ever worn previously. I'm not even wearing winged eyeliner!! (What!) I've started wearing snapback caps and pants! Sometimes I dress really minimally, with a simple black top and grey skirt! What?! But this has actually been really liberating for me - recently I felt like my style was in stasis and didn't feel comfortable in what I was wearing a lot of the time, so it's been exciting getting to play around with lots of different styles! But I have been wondering - Is anybody still out there, reading what I have to say on this blog? Say hi if you are! Especially if you're an old friend of the blog, I'd love to hear from you. What are you up to these days?? While I guess it's cool (and, frankly, terrifying) to have a couple of hundred thousand people regularly watching my videos, it does make me a bit sad to have lost the more closely-knit community that I had around my blog! Anyway, onto my outfit: this top has to be one of my favourite DIY patterns I've made so far. I've made three of these and recently converted it into a swing dress as well! It's so damn flattering on my body, but probably my favourite thing about it is that I don't have to wear a bra with it (coz it's kinda tight-fitting and holds everything up?? haha). This necklace was a lovely present from Cristina at Now or Never Jewelry, who makes all these pieces herself. It goes with these high-neck tops soooooo perfectly. 10/10 recommend giving her store a visit! Outfit details Top - DIY Necklace - c/o Now or Never Jewelry Pants - Thrifted Shoes - Naot Kedma Lipstick - Bella by Stila Cosmetics  All my love, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

The moment that I stepped outside with my camera and stood against favourite white wall to take some outfit photos, everything felt so normal again. I didn't realise just how much I had missed regular blogging! Well, my exams are now over and that means I am pretty much free for the summer. And like always... now I don't know what to do with myself. While studying (note: procrastinating), I made about 100 different plans of things to do and make and people to see over the summer - and now I'm completely overwhelmed by my own freedom and I'll likely just spend the next couple of days sitting around in my underwear wasting time on facebook instead. Ho hum. But I just have to keep reminding myself that having some downtime is okay! Dress is thrifted | necklace c/o Now Or Never Jewelry | earrings are handmade | shoes c/o Chicwish (old)| socks from Glebe Markets The necklace that I am wearing is a sponsored gift from Now Or Never, an independent handmade designer from Spain with some of the the coolest, quirkiest jewellery I have ever come across. They have just released an ~amazing~ collection of candy-themed accessories called the "Psychocandy Collection", which I think would make some perfect Christmas gifts (or a treat for yourself!) I also went on a cute sock splurge at Glebe Markets last weekend (which I have already posted all about on my instagram), so be prepared to see a lot of cute patterned socks on my blog! I am loving these pineapple ones. My housemate happened to buy me some pineapple underwear on the same day that I got the socks, so I spent the rest of that day being a pineapple queen! All I need now is a pineapple skirt/shorts and I will have a complete pineapple outfit (life goals, right?) I've missed you all so dearly! Update me on what's been going on in your lives while I've been absent from blogging these past few months! Love always, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr