Fashions Little Lambs

 

What makes a sheep? I’m not talking about the woolly kind that live on hills and ‘baa'. I mean sheep in terms of people, or to give a further description; people/persons that follow the crowd. Maybe this is just an English expression, hence the description, just in case you wondered why I turned all Wikipedia /Collins dictionary on you. The reason I ask the question is because, I wonder if I am one?

Let me explain. The other day I bought a t-shirt (pictured) that I had seen on another blogger (the man repeller) and loved it so much I felt my shallow life would be incomplete without it. But does this make me a sheep? If you asked me when I was in high school I would have said yes, the thought of someone copying my style when I was younger would fill me with dread and although my mum gave me the advice 'take it as a compliment’ I never could, as I always felt it was like someone trying to steal my identity.

As I have grown older (not wiser) I have started not to care or notice as much when a friend has the same item of clothing as me, but I draw the line at wearing it at the same time! With the increase in fashion blogs and access to the worlds street style you would think it would be inevitable that someone somewhere would have the same taste and buy something that you would want to buy, maybe I'm just making excuses because I bought a T-shirt I saw on someone else! I started wondering if I was a sheep again the other day when I was shopping and I overheard a conversation between two girls (clears throat) ‘I hate those boots, people only wear them because they ‘think’ they are cool, such sheep!’ As I looked at the boots the girls were giving there 'informed' critique on, I noticed they were a pair that I own and I wondered again, 'am I a sheep?' However (in my defence) I bought these particular boots because I liked them not because everyone else had them and to be honest when I bought them, not many other people had them. But now if I wear them, regardless of when I bought them, I look like I am following the crowd. So does this make me a sheep? 
Maybe I should stop caring so much about what others think and if I like it, wear it, or maybe I should just stop being nosey and listening to fellow shoppers conversations!   

To summarise, in my opinion, a 'fashion sheep' is someone who likes something, but doesn't have the courage to wear it until everyone else does. Mainly so they do not stand out from the crowd, which means they cannot be open to criticism. With this in mind I think that this T-shirt does the total opposite, so maybe I am not a sheep? Maybe I am just paying a fellow blogger a compliment and reinforcing that product placement works! What do you think makes a 'sheep'? 

Hollie x

T-shirt-Diesel

Skirt-Topshop

Boots-Primark

Coat- Zara 

What I wore today

 

  

   

Just a simple post of what I wore today. Enjoy your weekend. 
Hollie x

Shirt-La Boyfriend

Dress-Topshop

Shoes- Primark

Staples Pieces

 

   

So often I hear the phrase 'its an investment' or 'its a staple piece', more often than not the phrase is coming out my mouth and I am often justifying to myself another piece of clothing that I don't really need. So, with these phrases in mind I started to think what actually makes a piece of clothing a 'staple item'? I started thinking about this today when I was deciding what to wear and I came across a black tweed blazer I bought using the exact two phrases above. The truth is I have probably worn the blazer three times, which for the price I paid, does not justify it! After getting over the slight pang of guilt I feel every time I don't wear an expensive item, I started to quandary why I thought the piece would be a 'staple item' what makes any item a 'staple' and with the rate fashion changes, is any item no matter how timeless really a 'staple'? (Could I say staple any more in the last sentence?). You may admire the cut of a piece, or the designer, but there will probably be a point were it sits in your wardrobe and you admire it, but don't wear it. I think I probably do this with a lot of my clothing and honestly I don't know why they sit there waiting to be worn especially as there supposedly 'staples' and I should be wearing them weekly. Really though, what I am waiting for? I am not a child, I wont spill my dinner on them or play in the mud (I promise). I know exactly why I bought the blazer, because I thought it would make any outfit more put together, but more specifically it's what I had heard/read or saw and finally I caved and thought I 'should' have it. I know, I know shame on me for buckling under the pressure of a well placed magazine article, but I started thinking 'why don't I have a blazer?', instead of 'will I ever wear the blazer?' With me, there is always the fear that I will think of the perfect outfit and not have the item in my wardrobe, I think that's why I don't throw items away, maybe the phrase 'staple' is also just another way of me justifying my hoarding habit.
I sometimes think maybe its the colour that makes an item a 'staple'. For example, I seem to wear a lot of black, but then my blazer is black and I hardly ever wear it, perhaps if you have to justify an item to buy it you sort of deem it practical, which is fine, but shouldn't you love each piece of clothing you own? And if you don't, why is it still hanging in your wardrobe? Maybe that's why I don't wear the blazer a lot, my heart just wasn't in it when I bought it, I thought I needed a blazer in my wardrobe, not, 'I love this item I need to have it'. After reading this back I think I am being a bit harsh on my poor blazer, maybe it is just the items time to wait it out until I forget it was bought for practical reasons and fall back in love with it. So, what other items would I truly deem as a staple in my wardrobe... It varies, give me a couple of months and it well might be my black blazer.
Do you have a staple item in your wardrobe? Or like me do you go through different phases?
On a totally unrelated matter here is what I wore today all black but still not 'staples'... well not yet!
Hollie x

Dress-Charity Shop

Shoes-River Island

Jumper- http://www.culture-vulture.co.uk/

Anything to add?

 

   

I think everything you could probably write about black has already been written, but that's not going stop me writing something else about the colour. For a colour that is so simple to wear it seems to get a bad rep sometimes, almost as if its simplicity is something we should frown upon. Lately I have been drawn to a lot of black clothing and it is usually when I am extremely busy. It's just so easy to get it right when you are wearing all black. Should I be punished for what some might call a lack of imagination? Believe me, I do this myself sometimes when I find myself in a full black outfit. I feel like I have failed to make an effort, but after saying this, when you think about it, it is in fact the effortlessness of the colour that makes the outfit chic. Take, for example, Marc Jacobs final show for Louis Vuitton in Paris. Nearly the entire collection was made up of black and I defy anyone not to find at least one piece they would not wear, and why is that? Well, apart from the amazing design, it has to be the colour, it really is the colour everyone can wear. For me, when I wear a full black outfit I try to add contrast through texture. Which is what I did today, by adding a thick knit roll neck Jumper from H&M with one of their faux alligator style leather skirts. What do you think to the colour black? Does it bore you, or ignite your imagination when you get dressed?
Hollies x

Jumper- H&M

Skirt- H&M

Shoes- River Island