YOU DO YOU

My little sister was the first person to introduce this phrase to me (she thinks she made it up, but I think it’s one of those hip new phrases that’s been floating around in the cosmos for a while. Sorry Rach.)  The first time she said it to me, I was getting ready in our hotel room in Manchester and she piped up that she liked my outfit. I turned to her with two berets in my hand and the conversation went like this:

Me: Pink or black?

Rach: Oh, you’re going to wear a beret with it?

Me: You don’t think I should?

Rach: Babe, you do you. (Beat.) Pink looks good.

It sounds like an insult at first but once you get over the initial jagged edge of those three little words, there’s a pretty refreshing subtext and it’s remained at the front of my mind since that day. Rachel would never wear a patent mac and a logo tee saying ‘Cute Girl’ on it, let alone with a beret. But she knows I would and she fully supports and encourages this - like most weird things I do. Rachel is my little sister, sure, but she’s also one of the kindest, most encouraging humans I’ve ever met and she is the person I go to whenever I need a bit of clarity around what I’m doing and whether or not I’m making good decisions. NB. Usually these decisions are slightly more life-altering that what colour beret to wear.

When we were in St Andrews for Christmas, we dressed up (and layered up) and went for a jaunt into town to burn off the 456 Yorkshire puddings we ate at Christmas dinner. I was wearing a pink checked Sister Jane dress and my black beret and patent boots which, to me, is a pretty average outfit, nothing out of the ordinary. We popped into a little ice cream shop on the high street for milkshakes and there were two teenage girls sat with their parents near the door. As we waited to be seated, one of the girls made a comment about what I was wearing. It wasn’t meant for my ears, obviously, but we heard exactly what she said and I immediately turned pink and felt uncomfortable. I’m 28 and I’ve been away from high school and silly, snarky jibes from 16 year olds for a very long time and yet, somehow, it still kind of stings. Why is that?!! Jeez.

When we sat down, I went a bit quiet for a while, feeling a bit silly about what I was wearing, even though it was exactly what I wanted to put on that morning when I woke up and I definitely hadn't thought twice about it, until that moment. She explained that everyone in the café was dressed exactly the same (jeans, jumper, puffy jacket) and so the only reason the girls had made a comment was because I looked a little bit different. This kind of outfit wouldn't raise an eyebrow in London at all, it was possibly just slightly eccentric for St Andrew's notoriously preppy, smart/casual sartorial taste. Thanks Rach, you may be six years younger than me but sometimes I need you to tell me to stop being a sensitive sally. Jeans and a puffy jacket? Basically, if you see me dressed like that, unless I'm climbing a mountain, you’ll know something is up. Don’t get me wrong, my chic as hell pal Kim looks bloody dreamy in a slouchy Cos jumper and fuzzy khaki parka. I’m sometimes a little envious because she always looks so relaxed, comfortable and understated, three words no one would ever use to describe my dress sense. But that’s not me, it’s Kim. And she does Kim in a way no one else could. I used to wish I was a bit more like her; I definitely emulated some Kim style outfits for a while but it just didn't look right on me and more importantly I didn't feel like myself. Besides I like my fanciful (some may say impractical) approach to getting dressed in the morning and I wouldn’t swap my wardrobe of whimsy for anyone else's. Actually, maybe Laura Jackson's. Or Alexa Chung's. 

I’m going to try and remember this this year and not let a few raised eyebrows throw me off track. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
Here’s me doing me in a frilly pink blouse and a shiny matrix/stripper mac. And a beret.

Thanks to the aforementioned Kim for the photos - check out her blog, it's top banana.

BERET (Zara), COAT (Archive By Alexa, M&S - sold out), JEANS, (H&M - sold out but similar here), BLOUSE (M&S - now in the sale for £12, go, go,go!), BOOTS (Kurt Geiger)

Sarah x

ON THE BERET

If you know me in real life/follow me on Instagram, it may be fair to assume you’ve noticed my affinity for little felt hats. I love berets. I love them. I love them with jeans, with little strappy dresses, with off the shoulder jumpers, with my hair up, with my hair down – I just bloody love them. I’ve been wearing berets for years now and I’d like to think I’ve got quite a bit of experience under my belt....or, eh, beret. Here are a few little pearls of beret-wearing wisdom that I’d like to share with you.  

1. When you wear a beret, every day feels like a Wes Anderson film. How can that possibly be a bad thing? I’d choose to live in that sweet, dreamy, perfectly-paletted world over real life any day of the week. Some of Wes’ most iconic characters have sported a beret, mostly famously Max Fischer in Rushmore and Suzy Bishop (A.K.A the most stylish twelve-year-old of all time) in Moonrise Kingdom.

2. A beret completes any outfit. If, like me, you’re a fan of accessories, sometimes you look at what you’re wearing and think ‘what’s missing?’. Nine times out of ten, I’m pretty sure it’s a beret. Except in summer. Berets and summer do not go together. (Despite what the aforementioned Suzy B’s wardrobe would lead you to believe.) See point 8 for more information on this.

3. Say what you want about the beret, I realise it’s not for everyone, but it IS a conversation starter. From the, admittedly not always welcome, “nice hat love” on the last train home to free coffees at Pret and upgrades to First Class on Virgin East Coast trains to Edinburgh – never under estimate the power of the beret. Don’t ask me to explain it, I can’t, it's magic. But I can confidently say that strangers are much nicer and kinder to beret-wearing me than non beret-wearing me.

4. I can’t really explain the feeling when Raspberry Beret comes on the radio and you are in fact wearing a raspberry(ish) coloured beret. It’s really something I think everyone should experience at least once in their lives.

5. When you come across a fellow 'beret person', they nod at you as if you’re part of the same club. NB. They don’t smile, most of them are far too cool to smile – not me, obviously, I grin like a five-year-old when I see someone else in a beret. Am I saying berets bring people together? Well, no. But it’s a welcome change from passively aggressively elbowing each other on the central line.  

6. People may make French jokes, they will no doubt ask you where your baguettes are, or if you’d like some garlic with that but, if you ask me, there’s really nothing more chic than a black beret and a Breton striped tee.

7. Someone once told me boys find berets weird and that I shouldn’t wear them if I want to people to fancy me. I remember, at the time, just sort of nodding timidly, worried that maybe this person had a point. She didn’t, I’ve come to realise. Firstly, how boring for you if you dress for other people, ESPECIALLY boys - that must be exhausting. I definitely dress for myself; I dress depending on how I’m feeling/how I want to feel/what I want to put out in the world that day. I'm obsessed with Leandra Medine and love that she's built an empire around celebrating trends that women love and men hate. Who cares, let's wear what we want and either say something nice or don't say anything at all. Secondly, I’ve discovered recently that there are some boys in the world who don’t just like girls in berets, they actually prefer girls in berets. Those, I’ve decided, are the kind of boys I’d like to meet. So, yes, thanks again for your dating advice and your interesting thoughts on the correlation between berets and sexiness but I wholeheartedly disagree with you.

8. There are some occasions/situations in life when a beret is not appropriate. These include but are not limited to: a club, summer, pubs in Glasgow, when you’re participating in any kind of sport, when you’re watching any kind of sport and, sadly, in Paris - if you want to be taking seriously. (But Pandora Sykes wrote about this exact dilemma recently and to be honest whatever she says is gold so I’d probably do it anyway).

9. If you’re dipping your toe in the beret pool for the first time and you’re after a slightly subtle look, a black version is a great place to start. Also, pairing a beret with a super simple outfit like mom jeans a white t-shirt will help you feel less like it’s the 31^st of October and more like you’re just shaking up your sartorial uniform a little bit.

10. Take some time to play with the angle of your beret (yes, I can hear myself, I know I sound like a pretentious beret wearing chump…but bear with me!). If you try one on and think straight away “this isn’t for me”, be patient. Try tucking your hair behind your ears and tilting your beret to the side (my angle of choice) or bring all your hair forward and wear your beret to the back. There’s always the Samuel L Jackson look (wearing your beret very far forward on your head) because, you know, I’m an advocate of the expression ‘you do you’.  It can take a bit of shuffling around but you’ll know when you’ve sussed it out.

If you’re looking for more beret inspiration, follow these gals on Instagram – @sophiarosemary, @bubblyaquarius, @pandorasykes, @taylorlashae, @natalieoffduty and @dogladyhan.

Also I dedicated a pinterest board to my beret icons with a terrible pun in the title. Apologies.

Sarah x

THE CLOUD 9 DRESS

Disclaimer: I tried really hard to write this blog without using the phrase 'the dress of dreams'  or the word 'dreamy'. I hope you can appreciate how difficult that was.

There are a few brands you come across in life which you feel like could have been started with you in mind. For me, Sister Jane is one of them. They sell beautiful, whimsical clothes for people who love to dress up and sartorially don't take themselves too seriously. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm 100% the kind of girl they are making their clothes for.

Meet the Cloud 9 Dress.

Photos by Love Cloth Blog

Not for the faint-hearted; it's pink AND it has bows on it. My five year old self feels like an absolute princess in it. But it's not too girly: the shirt dress silhouette and long sleeves keep it easy to wear and not too try hard. It's a head turner -  the kind of dress that would be ideal for a wedding or even as a 'oh hey look at me' birthday dress. With my trusty silver boots or even white converse I reckon I can definitely make it work for everyday. I don't really believe in keeping things "good". One day I'll turn up in dungarees and a striped top and the next in a polka dot midi skirt and cami. Sarah Jessica Parker/Carrie Bradshaw (the lines are blurred) and SATC (season 5 and onwards) are solely responsible for this.

(Dress - Sister Jane, Bag - The Cambridge Satchel Company, Boots - Office Shoes)

In a world where we're bombarded with beautiful images every day on Instagram, I'm always surprised when a traditional marketing campaign blows me away. The #AUnicornRide project by Sister Jane features this dress and was shot at Dreamland Margate (which just so happens to be one of my favourite ever places). I very much fell head over heels with the campaign first and the dress afterwards. It's probably because it's what I do for a living but I'm always so impressed when a brand can effortlessly capture the spirit of their clothes through photography. And then when that makes me want to buy their clothes/live in their world, well that's even more impressive.

This is the first piece of clothing I've bought from Sister Jane but it's definitely not going to be the last. I feel like I've found my 27 year old dressing up box and it's bloody dreamy.

Next purchase is this amazing creation (Pandora Sykes rocked it so I'm going to try to rock it too because I love her.)

Sarah x

I HAVE THIS THING WITH...ASOS ESPADRILLES

Today’s post is an ode to the shoes that have graced my feet every second day for the past month or so (check my instagram feed if you don't believe me). I first became obsessed with lace up shoes after watching Miu Miu’s SS16 presentation. I loved the way the detail around the ankles seemed to finish every outfit off perfectly and I also loved how the models looked a little bit like off-duty ballerinas (but not too literally, in a cool way – not a wrap cardigan or too-tight bun in sight). I spied the shoes in question on ASOS when I was shopping for my holiday to Italy last month and a. couldn’t believe the price (£12) and b. had to buy them in both colours. On a mission to pack light this year (for once), I only took four pairs of shoes on holiday: these two, a pair of sliders and a pair of nude block heels. The espadrilles were great for both day trips to the market and evening walks along the beach – they look polished but are much more comfortable than any of my heeled shoes and when it’s 35 degrees, comfort is definitely key.

(ESPADRILLES, ASOS - PINK & CHECKED) 

Thank you shoes, for getting me through the summer in style. I feel like they really deserved some airtime, hence why I decided to write this post.

PS. While we’re on the subject, how cute are these? Oh and I could probably be tempted to buy these too.

Sarah x