HEY GUYS, I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter 2017 filled with sunshine and chocolate eggs! I know mine was…Anyway, as promised here is the long awaited article featuring my modelling adventures in the beautiful city of York this Spring, ENJOY!
For those of you who follow my Instagram, a.little.and.a.lot, you may have seen that on the 7th April I participated as a volunteer model for Fashion City York‘s feature event ‘Six Days of Style’ at The Fashion Village on Parliament Street. FCY host a York based fashion occasion annually in the Spring, this year running from April 4th to April 9th promoting fashion, events and discounts across York! And lucky me, I happen to be friends with a fantastic woman involved in the planning and putting together of this marvellous week, Sam Lyth. She came to me a couple of years ago with the opportunity to model for a fantastic brand, Life & Soul clothing. And this year I was honoured to do it all over again, along with showing off some fabulous new designs by Little Ditsy whose designs were being featured for the first time by FCY.
The Fashion Village, a bustling marque set up in the heart of York featured stalls of various designer pieces, accessories, and wonderful people all collected together to celebrate fashion in all its glory. A charming refreshments van sat outside the entrance to the marque keeping both the audience and models alert before the start of the show at 14:00PM, and kept us all going until the final 15:00PM show ended. Crowds began to form filling the tent from end to end as the music started to play, and Official photographer, Olivia Brabbs stood front line and centre followed by my own personal photographer and boyfriend Stu Henderson (you’ll find his professional blog link here).
Here are just some of the brilliant snaps taken by Brabbs…
Modelling the Little Ditsy Collection Featuring a simplistic white vest with a scoop neckline, a delicate peach silk sleeveless kimono with floral stitching, and a rose gold statement necklace.
And a few images taken by Stuart Edward Henderson…
Image features Myself and Shelley, the designer behind L&F. Modelling the Life & Soul collection featuring a light blue button down shirt with pearl accents, silver heart design bracelets, and carrying a sheer neutral scarf with a simple floral print.
Modelling the Life & Soul collection featuring a sheer layered effect high neck black blouse, and a long silver statement necklace for accent.
Top image: Featuring myself and Clare, designer behind Little Ditsy. Modelling the Little Ditsy collection featuring a simplistic white vest with a scoop neckline, a delicate peach silk sleeveless kimono with floral stitching, and a rose gold statement necklace.
Bottom image: Modelling the Little Ditsy collection featuring a simplistic white vest with a scoop neckline, a crochet duck-egg blue vest overlay, tan leather belt, and a rose gold pompom accent statement necklace.
I would also like you all to pop on over to the official page of FCY blogger Elise where she has written outstanding fashion and lifestyle features that blow mine out of the water! FCY need your support, and following this marvellous blog is one big step in the right direction. And follow her on Instagram @eliseeverse to keep updated on upcoming articles and to get to know the people behind the face of Fashion City York.
Now, the sub-title of this article ‘In the name of fashion!’ is about more than just the ever growing love of style and increasing taste of the Yorkshire folk, but about how I dealt with a few personal issues IN THE NAME OF FASHION! Something I haven’t touched upon with all of you yet is that I have had a history with low self-esteem and anxiety. Since secondary school I have dealt with the repercussions of being bullied, having a warped self-image, and suffering from multiple skin conditions including being diagnosed with psoriasis. All of which resulted in wanting nothing more than to shy away from social situations and crawl into myself where no one else could see or judge me.
Considering this you can imagine just how anxious I was the first time I stepped up onto that stage and felt a dozen eyes on me, staring. And doing this even a second time around was such a big step for me. When I agreed to help out I had no idea what to expect. Standing on a runway waiting for my name to be called with dozens of people waiting on me sounded like a nightmare turned real…and frankly, I wasn’t sure I could follow through. However, with the knowledge that I would have the comfort of my fellow volunteers and the fabulous FCY team, I found the strength to power through. And to top it all off, the stunning women behind these pieces were nothing but supportive, friendly and positive. They encouraged us to work with them to find a balance between expressing our individuality and modelling their designs to suit their target audience. And when all is said and done, working with these inspiring women was the most fun I’ve ever had!
I would like to say that I had some fail safe plan or routine that helped me through the situation, or that I had some inner revelation that made all the negative emotions I was feeling just melt away into nothingness, but the fact of the matter is that none of that happened for me. And this is going to sound cliché, but at the end of the day the only one standing in your own way of over-coming your own anxieties is YOU. I decided that I would regret saying no, and being a by-stander every time a new opportunity came along more than if I took a chance on myself. What is the worst that could happen? Turns out, the worst thing that happened was that the bus that was taking me home afterwards turned up 5 minutes late!
Take a chance on yourselves people, and to quote A.A. Milne – “You are stronger than you seem, Braver than you believe, and smarter than you think you are.”
Get involved and tell me about experiences of your own, be they battling anxiety or maybe you have your own fashion stories to share? Don’t be shy and leave me a comment or two and let me know what you thought of this article, or any of my articles for that matter! (Criticisms accepted, I can only improve on what I know needs improving).
