In which a gymphobe tells you to, just do it!

“Well I’m excited to wear my new leggings….Even though I just took the tags off and they are grey… sweat patches be damned.”

(A thought from one of my first sessions…)

My decided meaning for the Nike slogan, “just do it” occurred to me on a very busy Saturday in Oxford Circus, London. 

Having gotten over my initial – “I do not belong in a sport-shop, period.” fears, I had just asked the kind salesman in Nike for a pair of men’s, *gasp* vomero 12’s in their bright blue and I was feeling unnaturally chipper and upbeat.

The thing is, I’ve been doing a lot of conquering of my fitness fears of late. 

Breaking free from the 11 year old, secondary school fear of exercise god, at 26 I had finally started beating away the, too big for exercise demons I seem to have picked up somewhere along the line of mandatory leotard wearing at age 14. And now, finally 15 years later I have finally started understanding the Monika, “just do it”. 

The fact that the unfit don’t just get struck down by giant chocolate lightening bolts the moment we enter the gym is a god send and although I have to wear men’s trainers, there are somehow running shoes for six foot tall, accident prone women who apparently have a thing for neon blue.

Just do it of course, is the key. You want to loose weight? Then just do it! Want to lift weights until you look like John Cena? Then just do it! 

Need to ask the all too attractive men in Nike about trainers for post- stress fractures and broken ankles then just do it! Own it! And one day soon you might feel even braver! 

I realise I’ve just played into a simple marketing slogan but at this point I don’t care. I’m a gym-adrenaline junkie and I know it. I want to lift weights like the scary men in the free weights section, get arms and abs like The Bella Twins and you know how that’s gonna happen? 

Because I’m just gonna do it.

*have you got gym/workout fears, or just starting a new workout? Let me know below I want to hear all about your exercising adventures! (& Cheerlead too because I’m going all out!) 

Fashion and Feeling Good | The importance of work wear

| The importance of work wear

Work wear can feel boring, drab and restrictive. Whether you work with a strict suit & tie rule or are blessed with a smart-casual office, your work wear can have a huge impact on your working life and your confidence.

With recent events there is nothing more important than giving a boost to your workday and even better the clothes we put on our bodies can have just that effect!

So how can you ensure that your work wear empowers you rather than devalues you? Luckily there are three must have steps to purchasing and wearing a corporate or professional wardrobe.

• It needs to be able to make you both look and feel professional and from that give you confidence in your everyday tasks and meetings.
• It needs to be comfortable & functional
• Whilst also adhering to your firms dress code & culture all whilst reflecting your own personal style.

With this all in mind I would like to re direct you back to the traditional capsule for a while. If you like me feel like you need to hit the re set button on your work-drobes a capsule can be a great way to start a more functional wardrobe moving forward.

What I have created is a small collection of pieces which both make me feel good and which are a step up from my more traditional go too in the aim to make me feel smarter and better dressed at my 9-5.

The key to a great starter capsule is to make it easily mixable and easy on you to get dressed in the morning. My initial work wardrobe (5 days of clothes) is as follows,

• White eyelit Top (Next)
• Khaki Silk effect shirt (Next)
• White T shirt (New Look)
• Blue and white striped shirt dress (Lidl)
• Blue and white flippy Dress (Zara)
• Grey wrap midi skirt (Next)
• Blue pocket with white stitched skirt (Next)
• Blue and white spotted trousers (Next)
• Grey Longline jacket (Anthropologie)

Additional add ons: Grey A-symmetrical sweater (Zara), patterned Zara silk scarf and rose gold circular necklace (Topshop).

Shoe wise: Black and white snakeskin tasseled loafers (Clarks), Taupe suede brogues & tan cowgirl boots (New Look)

Why these pieces?

Choosing pieces for a capsule can be a complicated process. You need versatile pieces, which you both love and find they fit well. For this one in particular I feel in love with this image on Pinterest + a capsule sudoku! Can you dream up anything better?

For me my ultimate go to pieces are ones which are uber comfortable and second they are go to pieces which also fit in well with one another colour wise. I naturally gravitate towards blues so obviously there are lots of those but also a great mix of comfort with structure. For example the Anthropologie blazer is both soft as its jersey but also structured enough to wear to work. I also picked up this great shirtdress, which I love for mixing again structure with cool linen. I’ve also thrown in a white T-shirt, which paired with my smart skirts or even my harem trousers and heels can look that little more dressed up than you might expect.

Stay tuned . . . for how to mix up and style these pieces for a five day wardrobe of outfits & more!

On a more personal note, I wanted to briefly acknowledge the elephant in the room. Brexit.

Since this is a personal style blog I don’t want to talk too much on this but please know that I was deeply saddened and hurt (still am hurt) by the British publics decision to vote out of the EU. It was a reality I had hoped would never come to fruition but now that it has I honestly don’t know what is going to happen next or what any of our futures might shape up to be. It currently feels as if we are going through heartbreak where nothing will feel good again. 

With that being said I wanted to take this moment to say that I, this blog and my thoughts are not those of the Brexit. I was born a child of the world and myself and this blog will continue (I hope) to be a little place of solace for anyone looking for it, regardless of where we live in the world.

I hope that we can continue to support one another through this fresh hardship, to raise each other up to greater things. This comes with hope that soon, Gen Y, whose young, wise eyes can see the importance of a global community can build a new, better and more accepting world for our own children and grandchildren moving forward.