coat, blouse, flares and heels from boden
Another Boden look, this time with a ‘Bianca Jagger in da club’ vibe. If Bianca Jagger had a love child with Sully from Monsters Inc, that is. Anyone else think the story of their romance would make for a great rom com? Just me? Okay then.
As much as I would like it to be, this post is unfortunately not about possibly the best Pixar movie (the Incredibles was pretty good too, it’s a tough call!).
It’s not really a fashion one either, but then I’ve never been much good at the whole ‘those shoes with that coat’ lark. No, todays post is more a self-indulgent ramble on the weighty topics of the day. A social commentary if you will, from a girl with a laptop lying in bed in a leopard print onesie (super cosy, I recommend).
I thought I would weigh in on the whole Essena O’Neill thing, now that the hype has died down a bit. Whether her actions (in case you’ve been living under a rock, the insta-star recently denounced social media for it’s fakery and instilling negative aspirations in teens) were brave or a sly marketing move, I’ll leave up to you.
Personally, what I find strange is that people are so shocked by the whole thing, and that it has carried so much weight and had such a wide reach.
Are we really surprised? That social media doesn’t portray life in all it’s gritty, unpleasant and often simply banal reality surely comes as no big shock. Of course we only share the best versions of ourselves, Instagram is a performative platform.
In many ways, social media mirrors life. We try to present our best selves, in terms of what we wear, say, and how we act. Social media is no different, and sure, some people are profiting from it, but it’s not like people haven’t always been profiting from their personalities (hello, the reality tv star) for some time, whether those personalities are staged or otherwise.
I can’t imagine that her actions will have any long term consequences. People will continue to follow hot, skinny, white, blonde females for #thinspo #fitspo #whateveristrendyrightnow-spo, knowing full well that what they’re seeing is only half the story. But as long as we take it with a pinch of salt, does it really matter?
Perhaps this is a reminder to be a bit more discerning in what we visually consume. There are certain people out there with gorgeous feeds that I have had to make myself unfollow, because I found I was comparing myself in a way that was unconstructive (specifically Tash Oakley in a bikini, kind of made me want to cry).
In the spirit of honestly, I can confirm that I really do love the look I’m wearing in these pictures (particularly the coat, swoooon). However shooting it wasn’t as smooth as the photos might suggest, we were at the British Museum which is packed with tourists, so had to patiently wait until the concourse was free before snapping like crazy, such a drag. Looking back at it, maybe I’d have gone for the top in another colour, too avoid it looking to uniform-y, or maybe paired it with an a-line skirt, but nonetheless I think it works. And I promise to keep being honest, but I can’t deny that what I’m sharing with you are the better bits of my life. Because really, does anyone want to see pictures of a scruffy girl in her bed in a leopard print onesie?
I’d love to hear what you think about the whole thing – Essena O’Neill, social media’s role in self-validation, whether those shoes do indeed go with that coat!
For the rest of my Boden looks, make sure you head to their blog.
