Gucci SS17 Campaign

I'm sorry, I really can't stop. I've talked about Gucci a few times before and I swore I would try not to be repetitive, but when I saw the latest Gucci SS17 campaign, I just had to say something. 

Photographed by Glen Luchford, the campaign which is entitled Soul Scene, features only people of colour. Gucci's choice to use an entire cast of people of colour shows us something we haven't seen much of before in high fashion. 

The campaign draws inspiration from 60's photographer Malick Sidibe, and Northern Soul, which was a 60's American soul movement.

Coming at a time where multiple brands are having major PR slip-ups with advertisements (hello Pepsi), Gucci's diversity has resulted in amazing images that really play on colour. If money was no issue, I would be purchasing pretty much the entire SS17 collection. 

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Six Things

There's a pink Himalayan salt lamp that sits on my bedside table casting a pink glow around my room at all hours of the day. I work late into the night coping verbal abuse from 40-something year old mums who are angry that their hair has gone flat. I get home after midnight some weekdays, mindlessly shower and then throw myself into bed ready for five hours sleep before I have to be up for classes in the morning. The pink glow of the salt lamp is the only light that greets me when I get home on these late nights

There's an old man who lives next door to me, every-time I go to the bathroom I can hear him at his computer just clicking...clicking....clicking away. If you leave my bathroom window open, you can see him at his computer through the mirror. One night he was watching porn. The bathroom was off limits for me that night. 

There's a big red scar covering my right elbow. I was out one night, not even close to being drunk, despite the doctors all thinking I was. I tripped at a crossing and landed on my right elbow, breaking it. I went to hospital that night with one of my friends who was drunk. We made friends with a boy my age who had broken his knee running away from the police. He now comes to my work sometimes, to buy food, and we silently acknowledge each-other. Hospital buddies. And what about my elbow? Well I now can't straighten out my right arm properly. Or lean on my right elbow. But hey, I have a pretty hectic scar right? 

There's a disposable camera sitting in the back of my wardrobe. The film on it contains pictures of a party I went to ages ago. The film captures the good moments of the party; people I haven't seen in ages, my leopard print faux fur coat which was too hot to wear but I wore it anyway, funky hats, people looking a bit worse for wear, spilt glitter. But what about the bad moments? The film doesn't capture people putting holes in the walls, a drunken fight between two dominant males over nothing really, me sobbing drunkenly on the floor. So do I really want to get the film developed? Honestly, I probably do. But for now the disposable camera stays sitting in a box in the back of my wardrobe, collecting dust. 

There's a soft fluffy white blanket that's been sitting underneath my bed for the past couple of months, waiting for summer to be over. I used to have it on my bed during winter. I remember my mum bought it for me last year when I was cold and still had my arm in a cast. It was huge, and the softest thing I'd ever felt. As it got colder and colder during winter last year I took the blanket with me everywhere. At my house, we would have friends over and we'd stay up until the early hours of the morning until the sun was threatening to break the entrancement of the night. I shared my blanket with my friends, until eventually I began to just share it with one friend in particular. It wasn't even on purpose, I just found myself always sharing it with him. One night after a party, when I was feeling particularly shit, I was sharing this blanket on a small couch downstairs with this friend again. He had pretty blue eyes and he was shy. His eyes always spoke more than he ever did though. His eyes closed as I kissed him for the first time, wrapped up in my soft fluffy blanket. 

There's a manager at my work who I get along quite well with. She's not much older than me. Each shift we have together we always discuss Riverdale. I've recently convinced her to start watching Shameless. Every-time I see however, she always complains about how she feels stuck in her job and how she doubts herself. Sometimes I just want to grab her and shake her, I don't think she realises how amazing she is. It makes me wonder why we all doubt ourselves. We really are all so powerful.

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Train Stations

There's a certain feeling you get when you're standing in a busy airport, waiting to board your plane. Or when you're waiting for your train at an empty train station late at night. Or even when you go down to the beach really early in the morning, just as the sun is peeking above the horizon, wishing you a good morning. I don't think anyone can really describe this feeling, but I've noticed that they all hold a similarity. 

All our lives, we're always looking to the future. Wondering what's next for us. What will happen when we finish our degree? Will we get a job straightaway? Am I always going to be friends with these people? Where will I live in the next ten years? Our brains constantly work overtime, always pondering what could possibly be in store for us. There's no way of telling what's to come. But our brains never realise this. And so the thinking continues. 

For some of us, those thoughts take hold and control us. Not only thoughts of the future, but also thoughts off the past. Memories that are plaguing us, holding us back. The mind is a beautiful and powerful place. It can show you memories you don't want to forget, playing them over and over like a broken record. Those memories can hold you back, keeping your mental self in the past, constantly chasing that moment that made you feel as if your head was spinning and your heart was going to pop out of your chest. But what does it do for your physical self and the present world around you? 

That's why I think there's such a beauty in busy airports, or late night train stations. They're never permanent destinations. They're just a part of the journey. They're a place that our minds can rest and feel at ease. Be it only for a few minutes or so. We don't have to think about the future, or think about what's been. We can just enjoy what we're feeling in the moment, just enjoy the journey. In the wise words of Kevin Parker, "It's always around me, all this noise, but not nearly as loud as the voice saying, let it happen, let it happen (it's gonna feel so good)"

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I (Kinda) Love My Body And That's Okay

I have a million freckles, dotted all over my body. I get bruises super easily and my legs are often home to at least three of them. I'm so pale that it's often the first thing people notice about me. And I have four scars on my body from different surgeries. I've spent so many days feeling upset with myself because I thought that I didn't measure up to those gorgeous girls on Instagram. They all have perfectly tanned bodies with gorgeous long hair and long legs. It took me so long to realize that no-one is perfect. These girls choose to show us an edited version of themselves. And yeah, you know what? There are girls out there who will make you do a double take, and maybe I don't look like them, but that's okay. 

We live in a digital generation, and access to images of other people is so easy. Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook; you name it! We all have social media platforms where we are subjected to unrealistic body goals. We're taught that it's not 'cool' to be happy with your body. We've romanticized the idea of not liking our bodies. I know from first hand experience, that loving yourself and your body can be one of the hardest things to do. 

But we have to reject the idea that we ourselves aren't the most beautiful thing to walk upon this earth. Love yourself and SHOUT IT from the rooftops! Because when you start to feel this love and truly believe it, it's going to start showing. It's a hard thing to do, too ignore your little imperfections. But in reality, these little imperfections are what make us, well us! I hate my smile, but I've found someone who loves waking up next to it. And I never thought anyone would ever appreciate it, let alone myself. 

This may seem like a jumble of words, I can be bad at gathering my thoughts together sometimes. But the message remains the same. I (kinda) love my body and that's okay. We should all love our bodies, because everyone is beautiful. 

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Other Girls Aren't Competition

Why do we judge others? I mean, we're all the same really. We're all made up of star dust. We're all souls inhabiting a human vessel, learning new things. We all vibrate frequencies with the Universe. So really, why do we judge others?

Growing up, as girls, we're always subconsciously taught to view other girls as competition. As someone we need to be better than. We're taught that 'you're not like other girls' is one of the highest compliments you can receive from a guy. But why? There are so many beautiful, interesting and complex girls out there. Each one is beautiful in their own way. In every country and every town, there's girls who's lives are as beautiful and precious as one another.

Western media bleeds images and songs and stories into our ears everyday. There are websites dedicated to deciding who wore an outfit better, or who's prettier. It's so evident that this way of thinking has made it's way into our everyday minds. Going out to a club is the easiest example of this. Walking through any club, there are girls who eye you off. Judge your pretty new dress. Death glare you because you looked at them the wrong way. I once had a girl try and fight me because I was wearing glitter. I mean, REALLY? Surely me wearing glitter can't affect you that much!

Apparently some research has shown that women often act this way because of patriarchy. If we supposedly find our value in the way men treat us and perceive us, we view other women that threaten this as a threat. Hence we degrade them to make ourselves appear better. But really, this negative response to other girls out there is just in turn a reflection of how we sometimes view ourselves. I certainly understand this feeling. In the past I've been a jealous WRECK around some other girls. Constantly scared that they're better than me or that everyone is going to like them more. But as soon as I started to change my outlook on things, I could feel my attitude changing as well. We don't have to degrade one another to make ourselves feel better. We're all unique and there is never going to be another version of us. Everyone has something that makes them irreplaceable and we don't have to be scared that another girl is going to take that away from us.

The 21st century culture and the pressure to look a certain way, which is evident in most media and advertising, also plays a huge part in the way we perceive one another. So many girls are out there scrolling through the hashtag 'body goals' staring at unrealistic images of what the media says we should look like. People's opinions are thrown into the mix and it soon can become a vicious cycle of body-bashing. Shaming people for being bigger, shaming people for being smaller. It's just a toxic environment.

Basically, we just have to learn to all love each-other and not view other girls as competition. There's this great quote by poet Nikita Gill, who perfectly sums up a world where we don't view each-other as competition:

"If all girls were taught how to love each-other fiercely instead of how to compete with each-other and hate their own bodies, what a different and beautiful world we would live in"

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Conversations With The Moon

Every night she waits patiently for the sound of her father's door to shut gently. The familiar click is the last echo of sound through the dark house as her father settles into bed. Holding her breath, she opens her bedroom door and tiptoes out, her feet padding softly on the carpet. Closing the door behind her, she creeps down the hallway past her siblings bedrooms where they lay in bed, their heads in their dream lands. She lets out a soft sigh of relief as she reaches the lounge-room. Her hands managed to find the window ledge in the darkness, and she lifts the glass. Fumbling awkwardly, she heaves her body out the window and lands on her two feet. She smiled as the wind instantly began blowing her hair in beautiful dancing motions. Leaving her house behind, she began on her nightly journey.

Her feet finally found the coarse dirt as she came off the roads and in a thick gathering of trees. It wasn't long until she found herself atop a rocky waterfall. The water cascaded down in a trance like state. The soothing sound of crashing water against rocks mixed with the moonlit forest. It was like pure ecstasy. She lay down. Smiling up at her familiar friend, she greeted the moon's light with ease, much like the soft breeze that blew through the tree tops.

The moon began to tell her about his day. He talked on and on, eagerly about the sun and how he craves her sweet sticky warmth. He knows he can never have her, two souls on a different course yet so besotted. Conflict in its purest form.

"My child," The moon said. His tone changing every so slightly. To an untrained ear, it would have gone unnoticed. But she looked up intently at the moon.

"There will be a boy who will come into your life. A boy with hazel eyes and a wicked smile. He'll show you the world. You'll think that you can't live without him. His venomous words will drip with meanings of feelings left untold. Those eyes you will love will soon become depraved and virulent. His wandering eyes won't rest on you alone when the moonlight replaces the sunset. You'll spend countless days tossing and turning, wondering if it ever meant anything. He'll keep turning you and turning you, like you're his toy. Until one day you break."
"But my child, just hold on. Things will get better. You'll become your own world"

And with that the moon disappeared breathlessly behind a cloud. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the wind hugging the trees.

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BFM Promo Shoot

Last Tuesday I attended a photo-shoot for Courier Mail. Perched high on the Kangaroo Point cliffs, I met with the rest of the team for a promo shoot for Brisbane Fashion Month. Being an intern for BFM, I helped out on the shoot with Carly Vidal-Wallace. Alongside Carly was stylist Laura Churchill and Isabella Longginou, a fashion designer. 

Isabella wore a dress made by her, which I was super envious of. Carly wore two outfits throughout the shoot and Laura was dressed achromatically in an outfit which gave no reference to the blaring hot sun. All in all, I was incredibly envious of all their outfits and the entire shoot just cemented me desire to be a stylist!

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