July 2016 Mini-Mag

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Hello!

Wow, what happened to July? It's totally flown by.

I had my four kids at home for a couple of weeks during July for school holidays and rather bizarrely I got more knitting done than usual. It might be because I wasn't doing other things like scrolling through Instagram and sitting in front of the computer? However it happened, you'll be pleased to hear that I've got a bunch of new patterns in the works :) Keep your eyes peeled for the first one next week ...

I've had some funny conversations with a couple of my daughters over the past month and it's got me thinking about finding our style and doing our thing no matter what others think. Children have a habit of telling it like it is. Don't you agree? Mine are no different, apparently I'm a "Mum mum" with my "own style" and I'm definitely getting the sceptical sideways eye from my nearly teenage daughter when I suggest something that she might like to wear and the occasional exasperated comment from her about "why so much handmade?"

This month I'm talking about finding and enjoying your style, whatever that is.

Happy knitting,

Love Libby xxx

Sometimes the image in my head gets so exciting that I forget to think about whether I actually wear the clothes I'm dreaming about. How do you align the imaginary woman in your head with the clothes in your wardrobe?

I had a rather frank conversation with my middle daughter the other day. She's 9. Well, it wasn't so much frank as her tip-toeing around trying not to hurt my feelings while at the same time telling me how embarrassed she was by what I looked like. (Before you feel sorry for me, she's also nervous to be seen in public with Mr Myrtle and he's quite a snappy dresser for a middle-aged dad and, my feelings aren't hurt).

 

It turns out that because I don't wear a) lycra in public or b) high heels and short skirts, I'm different and therefore embarrassing. I gently explained that I'm choosing not to wear lycra and actually, I dress in the clothes I do because I want to, so I'm not going to change. But it got me thinking, do I really like what I wear? What is my style anyway? This train of thought got a little more complicated when the conversation continued to the dinner table where we were told by our nearly teenage daughter that I was a "Mum mum" and Mr Myrtle was a "Dad dad".


My first reaction was "yay!" a "Mum mum". I'm thinking that I'm all grown up and fabulous being a Mum mum because I'm imagining that means I'm a warm, approachable, kind woman who looks effortlessly stylish. But I'm not sure she meant it quite like that. I think it smacked of completely unstylish. She topped it off by saying something about "so much handmade ....".
 

So it's got me thinking. What do I look like? How do I want to look? What is my style?


There's a part of me that actually doesn't really care. I just want to be warm and comfortable. But, then there's another part of me that adores dressing up, loves playing with clothes, shoes and accessories and is driven by a strong urge to make useful things, primarily things to wear.

I picked up a library book the other day by Trinny & Susannah - Who do you want to be today? (I'm not sure that you can buy it anymore) and it struck a cord with me. In the front there was a rather nice photo or four or five lovely women in perfectly nice jeans and tops and boots etc. looking perfectly normal and I thought "they look nice" - and then Trinny & Susannah pointed out that they all looked pretty normal but pretty boring. And you know, they did.

It was something of an epiphany.

In my head, the outfits I dream of are colourful, layered, full of different interesting textures and funky jewellery. They include quirky hats, casually tossed shawls and incredible shoes. They might include jeans but always with the addition of something special be it fabric or shape or layers - for a bit of pizzazz. I never dream of wearing my jeans, a plain t-shirt and a sensibly warm sweater, yet day after day I often wear exactly that.

So my challenge is to make an effort to get that woman from in my head, out in public more often. Not just sometimes or for special occasions. My challenge is to bring to life more of the outfits that I'm dreaming of. To make an effort to dress for fun every day.


Here are some ideas I've had to make that happen:
  • stalk people who wear the things I'm dreaming of to get some new ideas (I'm excited to see that Nina Proudman is coming back to our tv screens because I love her colourful boho layers)
  • sort through my clothes to see what I still like to wear
  • stick to my plan to make outfits because I really think in outfits
  • enjoy day-dreaming about what I might wear the next day/week/month
  • experiment with throwing unexpected things together
  • and finally, ignore the little voice in my head that says thinking about clothes is a bit shallow - because it isn't (that's another whole article?!)
Fancy joining me in my challenge?

Here's to having some fun and embracing those fabulous women in our heads!
 

CATCH-UP

Take a peek at the beginnings of my new outfit - I'm casually dubbing it the "chicken lady outfit" although actually there's nothing chooky about it.

 

READ MORE

Enjoy my conversation with Caroline  - she's a talented artist who's really got me thinking about having faith that things will work out when we take on creative challenges

 

TAKE A LISTEN

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Happy knitting!