28 to 40

When I think of what or who motivates me, more often than not something about being successful as a woman or having a strong female role model to look up to will be somewhere on that list. Even today, I feel as though us women still really have to strive to get as far in life as men, in particular when it comes to work. I know that things are far from equal the other way, too- in particular, I think it’s very hard for men to take time off from work to look after children as the main carer when the sterotype is that this is a woman’s role.

For me, I’ve always felt that I must work particularly hard at my career at the very beginning, so that I am in a position that when I do eventually choose to take a break and have children, I will not fall behind colleagues when doing so. Despite the fact that I don’t intend to have children for quite some time, I do know that this is something I really want to do at some point and being female, I have to factor this into long-term career plans- something I think a lot of men may not even consider.

Something that I came across last week is 28 to 40– a project launched by Opportunity Now which seeks to find out what it’s like in the UK as a working woman today and what barriers are still facing us. They’ve launched a nationwide survey that it would be great if you could fill in. I’ll warn you, it’s a long one but it really made me think about a lot of my priorities in life (in a good way). You can read more about the project here and take the survey questionnaire here.

The other part? You don’t have to be aged 28 to 40, or even female to take part, so go ahead and complete the questions now! The more people who respond, the more accurate the results.

This post represents Day 24- ‘Motivations’ of Blog Every Day in November #BEDN with Rosalilium

Style

 

 

 

I’ve been dreading this topic since I first saw the #BEDN calendar back in October. Fashion posts aren’t exactly my thing. I don’t like to think I follow fashions- as much as I enjoy buying clothes and putting outfits together it is very definitely not a strength of mine and I wish I could pull off looking polished.

 

 

In recent months, I’ve been attempting to make my wardrobe staples more basic. I’d realised I bought a lot of things that I liked either because they were a bargain (and who doesn’t love one of those?) or just because I liked the item of clothing- without thinking what I could actually wear it with. I’ve been buying far fewer clothes this year than last, and I’ve been trying to restrict myself to only buying really classic pieces that won’t date, or items that I know will go with everything- an effort to create a more ‘capsule’ wardrobe of fewer items but more outfits if that makes sense?

 

Although I’ve always loved a good fashion magazine (Elle UK is my favourite glossy), recently I’ve been resorting to some books on style and styling to attempt to try and capture the effortless way of pulling together outfits that some women just seem to do with ease. I also love fashion photography and always pull out my favourite magazine images to cut up and stash away in a scrapbook. Getting some ideas from other people through magazines, books and blogs is easy enough, but having the confidence to try them myself is another matter. People watching tends to be my favourite source of outfit inspiration- I love hiding away in the front of a cafe somewhere and watching everyone go by.

Do you have any favourite sources of style ideas?

Lots of potential- now I just need to be brave enough to pull off the ideas I have and finally part with the ever expanding pile of unflattering/worn out/ill fitting wardrobe outcasts that are causing an ever increasing pile in the corner of our bedroom…

 

 

 

 

This post represents Day 20- ‘It’s only fashion, baby’ of Blog Every Day in November #BEDN with Rosalilium