Fashion Sense? What Fashion Sense? - My New Style Crush - Catherine from 'Not Dressed As Lamb'

Somehow, some-bloody-how despite the fact that I've gained body confidence in my early 30's, or as I like to call it "I actually don't give a sh*t what you think" confidence, I'm really lost when it comes to dressing this ole curvy skin of mine. I mean, really lost. Lost in a dense Amazonian forest, with no map, compass or sat nav lost.

If you open my wardrobe of shame, you'll find a few pairs of jeans, some spotty Primark tops and shirts, a few jumpers, cute flats and a sparkly dress or two for special occasions. It's very much 'plain Jane' and as my boyfriend 'kindly' pointed out to me the other day, I always wear the same thing. That's man code for 'you have no style'. Thanks man code, thannnnks.

Part of this is down to the fact that I'm trying to change my weight and body shape and so my thought process goes as follows "Ah sure there's no point buying clothes when they won't fit ya in 2 months time!" and so I choose to spend my money on experiences and beauty products and very little on clothing. It's also because I'm not sure what to wear. Over the last few years I have ventured away from River Island and Topshop and moved more towards H and M and Next. I still purchase accessories in River Island and Topshop, but crop tops, bowler hats and dungarees, I'm good thanks!

For all of the above reasons, you'll notice I've never shared an outfit post on this blog as I simply don't see myself as fashionable or stylish and I can tell you, its far from fashion blogging I was reared! However, with all of this in mind, I'm not afraid of colour or experimenting, I just think that most of the time, the majority of clothing doesn't suit me or perhaps I'm at an age where I can't wear or get away with it any more.

Enter the inspirational and newly discovered (to me) blog Not Dressed As Lamb. This beautiful blog came as a bolt of lightening to me last week. Catherine Summers is a British 40 something blogger with impeccable style and not to mention, amazing hair colour. (I want her hair!) Flicking through her posts and beautiful photographs, I came to the realisation that 32 is not old, 32 is not a reason to stop dressing up and with a little research and investment in quality clothing, I could get a sense of style. I could dress myself in the mornings, feel comfortable, stylish and certainly not a frump! As women, we so easily knock ourselves down, assuming that with age we can do and be less. Not the case ladies, not the case at all.

Catherine is clearly testament to this. I am seriously fan-girling her style. Her confidence to mix up pieces and use lots and lots of colour. I think her use of bright colours is what attracts me the most. As an art graduate I somehow feel compelled to dress bright, as if its my duty. I'm just not the best as putting colour pieces together or even discovering and choosing them in the first instance.

In order to achieve my goal of ultimate fashion fabulousness, I'm going to start with my wardrobe of fashion shame. I'll count what I have and make a list of investment pieces needed to improve current items and a list of pieces that will contribute in me becoming my best self. I don't want to dress or look like something I'm not, I just want to be my best self. To feel good, to feel confident and perhaps, shine a little brighter. So ladies, let clear out our closets. Clear out the ill fitting items, the items you haven't worn in months or years, and the items with the tags still on them and instead invest our money in more high quality pieces. Pieces that will last the test of time, more than a couple of spins in the washing machine and ultimately make us feel like the confident amazing women we are! Here's to being 'Not Dressed As Lamb!'.

Blog: Not Dressed As Lamb
Twitter: @notlamb
Pinterest: Not Dressed As Lamb

Clean Eating with a little help from Instagram

Over the last number of months I've dabbled in the clean eating lifestyle and pretty much jumped on and off the Paleo diet bandwagon. For those of you unfamiliar with eating clean or the Paleo diet, I'll explain further. The diet is said to be derived from our ancestors and those undertaking the diet are required to only eat whole foods. Foods which have been taken from the ground such as vegetables or those which walk, swim or fly. Think beef, fish and duck. Essentially, the food our ancestors would have hunted. (Mind you, I have seen a pretty good Ted Talk that states our cavemen ancestors didn't have access to alot of the foods that the Paleo diet lists!)

Paleo requires that you eliminate processed food completely. If it comes in a packet, it's not a whole or clean food. It also asks that you eliminate diary, so no cheese, yoghurt or milk and suggests removing grains and beans, so goodbye lentils, chickpeas and kidney beans. In their place, almond milk, coconut flour and lots and lots of eggs as well as fresh fruit, wholesome vegetables and where possible grass fed and organic meats. I have found that when I focus on a Paleo lifestyle the benefits are fantastic. Within a week I feel less bloated, my stomach is flatter, clothes fit better and the muffin top reduces. Combined with exercise and I'm on to a winner. 

Keeping on top of a Paleo diet, welllllll like all things it requires a big dollop of cream free motivation and willpower and I'm a big fan of all the tools a gal can get her hands on in order to keep that motivation going strong. Enter Instagram, my favourite photography app. A wash with fitness (or #fitspo) posts and inspiration, a quick search and you can find all the six packs and cellulite free thigh muscles you ever wanted. While interesting to look at (the men are anyways!), for me I'm more of a fan of all the fab Paleo meals that other Paleo lovers share. Sometimes when I feel my diet is a little limited, exciting ways to create meals can really lift me and I love finding the next best delicious smoothie to try out for breakfast.

With that, sometime back I created my own Instagram healthy eating account (HealthyRainbow) in which I share the Paleo meals I've created. It's a simple tool which I enjoying doing and for some crazy reason makes me want to eat better. When I see all the lovely clean meals I've made, it makes me step away from the processed stuff a little more and when I find another meal to find out, I'm straight to the kitchen whipping out the coconut oil and almond flour. It might inspire you a little and perhaps we can motivate each other to look after selves that little bit more.

Share your Instagram account below - I've love to follow you!

Festival Blogger Challenge with BooHoo.com

Glastonbury has just ended and hoards of festival goers are making their way from Somerset after what was, no doubt, an epic weekend for them. Unsuccessful in my attempts to secure a ticket this year, I decided I would live vicariously through boohoo when they offered me the opportunity to take part in a fun Festival Blogger Challenge.

Scouring through their lovely website, I've selected a few favourite pieces, that might, just might honor me with the title of looking festival chic! Knowing that there are still a whole heap of festivals going on around the UK this summer, I'm tempted to whip out the credit card and purchase a ticket or two. With that in mind, I think my perfect festival experience might look like something below;

I would share a tent with: Paloma Faith - I just love her, plus she went to Art School too, that makes us best friends, right?

My headliners would be: Daft Punk, Muse, Coldplay, Chemical Brothers and of course, my girl Paloma. (A bit of a mixed bag, I know!)

Oodles and and oodles of ham sandwiches would be free for all attending. 'Cas nothing like a good ham sambo gets the energy levels up and running again.

The item I would not go without would be: a torch for practical reasons and a big rainbow flag for 'making my tent look cute' reasons.

Wellies or Wedges?: Wellies without a doubt, this is the British summer we're talking about.

Beach or Field?: A field, no one likes sand in all of their cute festival clothes!

The theme would be: Music Mayhem with a sprinkle of sporadic rainbows (inbetween those rain showers) for good measure.

Celeb spot of the weekend would be: Chris Martin and Gwennie getting back to together for some conscious re-coupling

This is what I would wear: Eek, choosing what to wear is so difficult when boohoo.com have an array of fantastic and affordable clothing to chose from. At the moment, I'm lusting after a kimono. Granted there has been rain this summer, there's also been some sunshine too, so a festival somewhere is going to get graced with sunny weather at some stage, surely!!. 

A pretty kimono is perfect and airy for those days. The difficulty is that boohoo offer so many fabulous types of kimonos that I've managed to narrow it down to theses pretty three. Roll on payday, I really want these! They're also a bargain and kind to the purse.

To wear underneath, I selected a coral top with a pretty lace embellishment along the bottom and seeing as I'm not a shorts gal, I won't jump to the 'go to festival uniform' of jean shorts and instead, selected some rather cool, dark skinny jeans. Easy to wear, easy to keep clean and you'll easily get a few days wear out of them at a festival! (How practical am I!!)

Finally, I've topped off my outfit with a lovely bulky watch (gotta make sure you see you're favourite bands on time!) and of course a pair of shiny wellies. Bright and colourful, I really love the bottle green colour of these and they're currently a steal at £8. Not to forget, a fringed hold it all to carry your essentials, think baby wipes and the likes! Now, to drop all these items into my shopping basket.

With thanks to boohoo.com for inviting me to taking part Festival Blogger Challenge