Some final outfit photos from holiday! I decided to take this dress with me on a spur of the moment, thinking it would work well for the mountain pastures of Austria (idealist, I know!). Well, in the end it didn’t get worn in Austria as the weather was a bit up and down and days in the mountains were for walking and exploring, not for frolicking in pretty dresses. In the end, the dress made its holiday outing on our first evening in Venice.
I was a bit wary of it because the lace/crochet inserts shrunk after the first wash meaning that the arms had slightly tight bands on, the section above the chest pulls a little tight, and the hem doesn’t flow quite right any more – it’s all pulled upwards a little bit so is also a bit shorter now too. Nevertheless, it worked and was a good outfit for a more casual night in Venice. The dress is about 3 years old from Matalan and the shoes are my silver sandals from ASOS.
We also managed to catch the most beautiful sunset this evening, so I just have to share some photos of that – I know you can’t really see the outfit in them, but it’s pretty! I was determined that Ben and I would get some nice photos of us together on this holiday as we never seem to end up in photos together, and we finally managed it!
It’s my dad’s birthday coming up in a couple of weeks so we’ve been planning ideas for that recently – I really like these as he’s a big fan of whisky (although it does make him snore, sshh!) – there are some more ideas here which seem like good ones for him even if they are aimed at groomsmen rather than dads! I’ve only come across Uncommon Goods recently but I’ve ended up searching there quite a bit for gifts (I seem to have a huge amount of birthdays, friends and family members in the next month or two!) – I just really like the fact that they offer gifts that are sourced responsibly, including handmade, organic and recycled products as well as sustainable, even providing every employee with a living wage and health insurance.
We talk a lot about supporting ethical companies at BCLC but it’s not something I mention much here – I guess because it doesn’t mesh well with my old fast fashion ways. But recently I’m starting to get better at this. I do still buy basics from Primark, but I also make better decisions to choose companies that I know have better practices. I’m also cutting down a lot of my clothing spending and instead purchasing only occasionally. I got rid of a lot of clothes again recently and I’m far more likely to buy fabric now and make my own clothes than I am to buy clothes. And because of the time that goes into the creation of the clothes, my wardrobe isn’t filling up too quickly again. I also try to wear and rewear my clothing, mixing it up rather than buying new pieces. Like the dress in these photos, which I’ve had for at least 3 years now. Ethical fashion and products are more expensive, but you know that everybody in the chain of getting it to you is being treated properly and fairly, so it makes a difference.
