I always get mocked for my love of color and my sometimes – um – vibrant – fashion choices. But, as you can see, it started early for me… Two hats, hot pink, tartan – some of my favourite outfits

This one to the right is one of my favourite baby pics. It’s from my very first dance show. I think I was about 3 or 4. You’ll notice that my white tennis shoes aren’t exactly plain white I apparently flat refused to wear white tennis shoes so I attacked them with glitter glue!

Recently I watched Eat Pray Love. Now you don’t really have to try very hard to work out what the film is about and not much in the film is particularly ground breaking or thought provoking. Liz, played by Julia Roberts (whom I love as an actress!), gets divorced and finds that her life is empty and meaningless. So she sets off, in true chick flick style, on a round the world trip to find herself. Guess what, she does.

So why watch this film? I’m not really sure to be honest, the characters weren’t exactly new and the whole storyline of learning to love yourself isn’t really all that inspiring, or again, that new. But there was something that I liked, something sweet and endearing about the film that made me smile. I also found myself craving good Italian food

So to go with some more cliche, Eat Pray Love is is a nice stop-and-smell-the-roses film. I’m happy that I added it to my journey through life. And remember, life is a journey, not a destination.

OK, I’ll stop now… I’m annoying myself too

Be different

While I was still in university my mother and I spotted this pair of purple boots. I fell in love with them instantly! But I didn’t buy them… What would I do with a pair of purple boots? Where would I wear them? What would I wear them with? It just seemed a little too much and too over the top. My mom wanted me to have them so badly she ended up buying them for me. Basically she decided that these were “me” boots and my life wouldn’t be OK without them. She was right… (Always listen to your mother, she really does know best.)

So what made these boots so life altering? I’m not a hundred percent sure actually. They are just cute boots, little kitten heels, mid-calf height, round toe… Oh and they are purple.

The Purple Boots

Up until this point, I’d always had a slightly off-beat sense of style but never really shown it. I was a shy kid, and still can be very shy, and I grew up going to school that had a uniform, so fashion and style was never really something I had much opportunity for. I knew what I liked but didn’t really buy much of it. At university was the first time in my life I could explore this notion and I really had started slowly. I sought constant approval from those around me and always looked at what other people were wearing so I didn’t get it wrong. I guess always being surrounded by people wearing the same uniform as you kinda rubbed off.

These boots to me were a bold thing. They weren’t a basic colour that would go with everything and they were fun and a little different. This was life changing for me. I always got comments when I wore them, good comments. It slowly dawned on me that the reason they were different and not what I saw other people wearing was because everyone else thought the way I had originally: I love things that are different but I don’t have the guts to wear them, people don’t wear things like this, only the risk takers do. Will I get approval from those around me if I take a risk?

Now I know I’m only talking about a pair of purple boots, it’s hardly Lady Gaga level of out there-ness, but for me it was a big deal. I suddenly had flashbacks to when I was little and I had begged my mom to buy this pair of shorts that I LOVED. They were yellow with pink polka dots and pink bows on the sides (I was about 6 here so that was cute, OK). I wore them once. I am actually still berating myself for that. I loved the shorts but they were so “look at me” I couldn’t wear them. So all my life I’ve wanted to be a risk taker and enjoy fashion, but I’d never been able to.

So now I had my purple boots and I wore them all the time I’ll never forget rocking up to a friend’s place in my purple boots and my red trench coat (other clothes were worn underneath, I promise) and my friend saying “Only Fae would wear a red trench and purple boots! And only Fae could pull it off!” I had arrived and I had found my style… And I approved of it first, I didn’t wait and get approval from others. That came after I had accepted it.

So I have to say thank you to my mom, for knowing me better than I know myself some times. And thank you to the purple boots for igniting my style. And even a thank you to those poor yellow shorts that only got worn once, you remind me to give myself and my choices approval, because no one else will do it for me.

OK, I can’t keep quiet anymore! I just can’t! Crocs are ugly and they are a crime against humanity!

There, I said it, and I feel so much better for it.

Fine, OK, they’re “comfortable” but where in the dictionary does it say that comfortable shoes have to look so fugly they make my eyes want to bleed?

Not here...

Nor here!

I mean, these shoes here are comfortable. So comfortable I bought two pairs! They are pretty and cute too. And for all those people who say but Crocs are great cuz you can wash them off really easily if they get dirty. Well these shoes are plastic, I rinse them off under a tap whenever they get dirty and they are as good as new. So no, I don't believe your argument that Crocs are good shoes. There is no real argument there, you are lying to yourselves... That is all I have to say...

I have decided that this is my new favourite outfit…

It’s just a simple dress, strapless, full length, made from stretch cotton. I spotted it in a sale at Woolworths (winter sale of all places) and decided to buy it in a “why not” moment. It hung in my cupboard for a few months and I all but forgot about it. Then suddenly the sun came out and I was caught with hairy legs (a regular occurance in Spring) and I discovered the dress I had never worn. I didn’t think the dress was particularly special, it just fitted nicely and is comfortable and it does hide a multitude of sins.

So the reason I love the dress is that every time I wear it, I get compliments. This dress, totally unexpectedly, makes me feel like a million dollars!

Everyone needs an outfit like this…