Self building

"It takes half your life before you discover that life is a do-it-yourself project"  Napoleon Hill

 

Zara Leather Jumper 

Topshop Black cord Necklace 

River Island Black Skinnies 

Passion, that's what Ikea calls my relationship with clothes.  I call it an addiction to spend money and the need to always have something new but whatever trevor.  We have a slight difference of opinion.  We do however have the same opinion that my room is a mess.  Granted, I have my room and wardrobe as organised as physically possible for the amount of stuff I have.  My bras hang in my little walk in wardrobe, I have a scarf box, drawers for different items of clothing.  And yet I still find stuff with tags on it and find myself going "I don't remember buying this!"  My clothes are also spread over 5 rooms of my flat,  there's 3 coat racks at the front door with coats that I haven't worn, a shoe box in the living room and up in my store room, I have my formal dresses just in case I magically have to go to a formal anytime soon. (Still have my formal dress I wore at my AS level formal which was 7 years ago.....)

My 26 Bras, I think I wear about 5

 

You can actually spot a pair of jeans with tags still on them. Bought in summer 2012, still not worn.

So it was ironic when Ikea contacted me and said "Hey Laurina, would you like to make room for your life?!?" Why yes, Ikea I really really would.  More on this little development later.

Ikea and I are great friends, apart from when I am building their furniture and I smack my thumb with a hammer.  Then I call them a lot of not nice names but most of the time we are very good friends as my house is kitted out in their lovely furniture.  So it is with my pleasure that I am getting to host a Swap for Your Life event as part of the West Coast Cooler FASHIONWEEK on Saturday the 23rd of March in a stylishly designated area of their Belfast's customer restaurant.  

Ikea, Belfast Fashionweek and I are encouraging fashion followers to make room for their lives at home by organising their wardrobe before the lovely spring weather and gorgeous spring styles start to appear on the shop floors.  (Lucky for you guys, you can actually buy them :( I just have to lust after them... I am having a hard week this week.  I did nearly break, but I stayed strong!! It was my first trip to Zara since I started this so please forgive me).  Once you have organised your wardrobe, bring your previously loved garments to this event and you can swap them for a whole new array of findings!!!  Fashion swaps are a great idea as they fill your wardrobe full with new clothes without spending any money!!!  It was one of my first ideas when I started this blog for my challenges but I never expected it to be this big and in conjunction with Belfast Fashionweek or Ikea!!! I expected a couple of rails in my living room & a few of my friends but this is going to be amazing!!

So quick fire information on this magical event:

• Saturday 23rd of March during Belfast Fashionweek (More info on Fashionweek, www.belfastfashionweek.com)
• 11am to 2pm in the lovely Ikea restaurant
• Can drop off clothes before hand at FASHIONWEEK HQ, 3rd floor, Talbot Street, Belfast or at Ikea Belfast or bring them on the Saturday
• Clothes will be sorted into a traffic light system to ensure a fair trade and you are swapping like for like garments
• No garments then sorry you can not swap :(
• Oh! There will be a fabulous auction in aid of Diabetes UK, Ikea's designated charity for 2013 of a secret coveted item of clothing

So please do come!  It will be great fun!  I attended Ikea on Saturday past for the photo call so keep your ear to the ground and your eyes peeled for more information or just contact me! I am happy to answer any questions! 

It's like this was written just for me!

New Eyes

"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

Jumper orginally from Primark -similar here

Asos Berry midi dress

You know that feeling when you are so busy that you look at the date and you are like how the heck did I get here???  I did that this morning.  13th of February,  how did it get to this date?  How did it all of a sudden become 2013? In my mind I am still lazing on the sofa on a Saturday afternoon in my pyjamas during summer 2012. I feel like I am constantly playing catch up.  Catch up with my blog, catch up wit my friends (in the sense of hey! I haven't seen you in ages, we need a catch up!) to catch up with my life.  The massive pile of dirty laundry in my utility room is calling my name.

I am loving doing the blog though. As I said when I started this I wanted to do a fashion/style blog for a while now.  I actually started one, posted up one post then my mind went completely blank.  Didn't know what else to write and I didn't have the confidence to post another one, I just assumed that no one rarely cared what I thought.  I still think this but I'm basically sticking my middle finger up to my nerves & going with the flow.  The no buying clothes for a year is basically a challenge for me but it was also a wee sneaky PR stunt to get your attention (I did PR at Uni so please excuse that naughty tactic).  I wanted people to read the blog and be like hey what is this crazy girl doing, then fall in love with it & empathise with it and hopefully come back to read it again and again.  Well that and my spending on clothes was getting a absolute joke.

I am re falling in love with my wardrobe and fashion in general.  I am dressing better than I ever have as I am taking the time to have a good look at what is in my wardrobe.  I am putting items together that haven't seen the light of days for ages and I am loving what I am doing and how I am feeling.  I am not promoting to anyone that you shouldn't buy clothes for a year, I mean you must be crazy to do that!! But I want to promote a smarter shopping world.  I was buying clothes for the sake of it.  I bought this gorgeous sequin top from Asos in September of last year (here it is if you want a nosey Asos sequin top), I loved it and snapped it up the minute that I saw it.  Now I still haven't worn it, please someone invite me to something where I can wear it!!!! All girls have said, OMG I have nothing to wear before a night out.  That translated is basically OMG, I have nothing new to wear.  But you don't need something new.  You just need new eyes.

My above photo,  if you are an avid follower of my blog, you might recognise that I wore this jumper last week?  It's ok, I won't judge if you don't pay that much attention to the photos and are like what is she talking about. However, it looks a completely different jumper with a dress than it does with a shirt and skinnies doesn't it? I hear your yes's through the computer screen. Thus, my point is proven and my work here is done.