Resort 18' Baby ✧*

Athletic stripes. Block colours. Oversized garments. Turtlenecks. Circular detailing.

The resort 18' runways showcased a variety of new and reworked styles, with many designers either showcasing floral feminine textures and cuts, or androgynous thought-provoking layers and garments. Though the fashion calendar may be half a year ahead of Australia, not seeing any of the current international trends trickle down into our stores until about six months after they're shown, the resort 18 collections are a great way to gather a sense of what will be popular in the next coming months. Plus it's another excuse to spend hours trawling the internet and day-dreaming over expensive pieces of clothing that you may never own..... guilty as charged!

Check out some of the best (in my opinion) resort 18 collections from the most recent season!
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#1 Solace London

Combining simplistic block colours with artistic and unconventional cuts, Solace London showcased beautiful garments made from ribbed fabric, shiny leather style material and dark-wash denim. An almost androgynous collection, Solace London proves that style and comfort can easily be streamlined. 

#2 Edun

Attaining a funky and fresh vibe, Edun's resort 18 collection once again uses block colours and textures in their collection. Taking inspiration from African colours and patterns, this collection evokes a sense of happiness and refreshment. Edun is also focused around sustainability and promoting a sustainable fashion industry, which really interests me as well. 

#3 A.L.C 

With a darker colour palette, androgynous cuts and my personal favourite, turtlenecks, A.L.C puts forward the idea of a powerful young woman who doesn't let her style define her, she lets it only contribute to her domination. This collection focuses heavily on turtlenecks, darker colours with pops of mustard and brings it into the current fashion spectrum by including white sneakers as the continuous footwear in the look book. 

#4 Maggie Marilyn

Maggie Marilyn takes on classic style in this resort 18 collection. Stripes and ruffles are the focal point of this collection, with the main colours being red, white, blue, green and yellow, once again all block colours. Taking a minimalistic approach with oversized garments, Maggie Marilyn puts forward the idea of letting small amounts of colour draw your attention in outfits. 

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Do It For The Gram

Instagram is actually fucked. So is pretty much all social media for that matter. We're all such vivid consumers of social media that we often don't stop to think about the impact it's had on our lives. Each day we wake up, scroll through Instagram, see how many likes our latest photo got, check messages and then maybe we get out of bed only to check our phone again while munching on a thin slice of slightly burnt toast. Has anyone ever stop to think that the more we share online, the less we grow?

Scroll through your Instagram feed and you'll notice a common theme, stick thin girls promoting the latest fad weight loss trend or teeth whitening kit. I didn't even know how much it was affecting our younger generation as much as it us until I was with my younger cousins and their friends one day and I saw that they already had Instagram and were following these types of girls. My younger cousins and their friends are 11 years old. Imagine growing up with these images bleeding into your brain on a daily basis. Influential women unknowingly promoting an unhealthy message to your younger girls.

Don't get me wrong, Instagram can be used as such a great tool. It can be a means for communication, inspiration and growing your business. It's great that people are growing and creating careers in what they love. I mean, I love scrolling through Instagram looking for outfit inspiration. But I think we need to be more diligent about the message we're displaying on social media. Growing up as a girl is already hard enough without the added pressure to look perfect on all fronts of social media. A study has recently come out that shows how Instagram is fuelling a mental health crisis.  The chief executive of the study has stated "social media has been described as more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol, and is now so entrenched in the lives of young people that it is no longer possible to ignore it when talking about young people's mental health issues."

I think the most important thing to remember is that what people post on Instagram is an edited version of their lives, a sugar-coated reality. A short glimpse into a pre-conceived altered state of being. What people are posting on social media isn't always what's really happening. And it's so important that we show our younger generation that social media isn't all it's made up to be.

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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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