Shopping responsibly during the pandemic

Boredom buying. It's something that as a generation we are pretty guilty of, myself definitely included. And now at a time when we find ourselves stuck inside, trying to find ways to keep ourselves entertained, it can be all too easy to scroll through your favourite 'new in' section, but I think that now more than ever it is important to think about all of the people and processes that your packages go through to get to your front door.

You may have seen that a few of the most popular online shopping brands have come under fire this week from workers claiming that consumers are ordering over 3x more items than a 'regular' week and this is putting a huge strain on the company. As a result, workers are working 12 hour shifts and struggling to maintain their 2m social distancing in such a busy warehouse, alongside trying to hit targets. 

 Fashion is an industry that I have chosen to be a tiny part of, because I know how much of a positive impact fashion can have as a creative outlet and how it can help empower people and boost confidence which I'm sure that a lot of us are in need of right now. But at a time like this, we have to think about the bigger picture. Think of the amount of people who are having this huge strain added to their already dangerous jobs of mixing with other workers, in order to get your clothes delivery to you. In my mind it isn't worth it just to keep boredom at bay. Now, I'm not claiming that we should stop online shopping altogether, for example if you are currently bored of wearing the same joggers 5 times a week and you want to treat yourself to some new loungewear or 'quarantine' clothes - or if you have a special occasion that you are planning and looking forward to once this is all over. I think something like that will help keep your spirits up a bit and is definitely more worth while. I mean, the way things are going, it's looking like my birthday is going to be spent in quarantine, so I plan on treating myself a little bit and postponing the celebrations until the coast is clear and we are all let out again. It will give me something to look forward to and help keep up the positive outlook on everything! But all I'm saying is that at a time when we are all stripping down to basics, take the time to consider whether what you are buying would be classed as a 'non-essential' and maybe keep it in the basket for later, when shops open back up and we return to business as usual.

Take this time to focus on more important things like family, hobbies and catching up with friends, or even just getting creative with outfits you already have in your wardrobe if you need a fashion fix. 

T x

Is lockdown showing us the 'real' influencers?

It's a Sunday afternoon as I'm writing this and - just the same as most Sunday's - I'm sat all cosy at home, scrolling through some of my favourite bloggers weekly content. Not much seems to have changed, except it has. In the past week, so many of us have lost our jobs, connections to our friends and family and our freedom to go outside. It is a scary and alien feeling, living under government restrictions to protect ourselves and our loved ones from an invisible virus that is sweeping world and to be absolutely honest, it all still feels a bit like I am stuck inside a movie, but the first 20 minutes before all the bad stuff starts to happen..

To keep my brain off all the doom and gloom I've been writing down lots of positives that are coming out of this and one thing that I am starting to realise is becoming really important is sense of community. I live in a suburban village so everyone has pulled together there and we are seeing lots more smily faces and people helping each other - but I also think this can be applied to the blogging community too.

 Now that everyone is shut in lockdown we are all in the same position and I think there has been a bit of uncertainty whether bloggers and influencers should carry on with a 'business as usual' attitude or would be insensitive and inappropriate considering everything going on in the world. If you are anything like me, being stuck indoors for 23 hours a day has obviously meant an increase in screen time and with the rest of the world being flipped on it's head, being able to go to an app with an online community still posting, engaging and supporting each other has been a source of comfort. 

However, I think what this time has done, is forced bloggers to rethink how we work, we can no longer go to our favourite streets to shoot, get photos in that fancy restaurant and you feel a little silly putting a dress and heels on to take a photo in your lounge. In a way, the playing field has been levelled, everyone is in the same boat and has to create content from within four walls. And I think that what is growing out of this is that we are being forced to show more of our authentic selves - I have seen more 'no makeup' selfies in the past week than I ever have, people taking the time to showcase talents that they have never put online before such as singing, dancing, baking, yoga or painting, and lots more stories spending time with family and letting loose and being a bit more silly. We are starting to see less of the curated, filtered world and more of what is really important when it boils down to it. I am loving getting to know more about some of my favourite bloggers personalities, hobbies and lives and I think this could be a really positive thing the start of breaking down the world of 'perfect' Instagram. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Sunday and hope you all stay positive and healthy amongst the madness!

X 

Switching up how I 'hashtag'

So I popped some insights from some recent posts on my story and received floods of messages from you guys interested in how I have been using hashtags to improve my reach on instagram after what feels like the longest stale period ever. I am a well known offender of a few "algorithm rants" because I know how frustrating it is when you work really hard to create content, often dedicating a whole day to it, sending it off to brands -  they are watching - you are watching -  you've done all the things you should be, engaging 20 mins before and after posting blah blah blah and NOTHING. You check the insights at the end of the evening and see "523 accounts reached" WHAT. 

Anyway whether its a sheer brush of luck, or some things which I have been doing a little differently recently, I have suddenly gone from this to between 6000-9000 reach on my recent posts, often 90% of these from hashtags alone (so the algorithm is still screwing me with my own followers but another day) and I thought I would share a few tips on how my have been finding and using hashtags. Like I said I am by no means an expert and it will be sods law that as soon as I post this my next one will flop but here we go anyway!

1. Have a hashtag bank on your notes 

What I mean by this is save any set of hashtags that do well into a little bank in the notes app on your phone and try trial and error to figure out which ones are working (p.s. don't use the exact same hashtags on every post - I've heard this can get you shadowbanned)

2.  Different hashtag banks for different categories of photos 

Use different hashtag banks for different sets of photos - eg ones which work well for outfit photos, flatlays , going out photos, casual outfits, beauty photos etc etc, keeping them as niche and specific as possible!

3.  Put hashtags in the comments of your photo

I put my hashtags in the comments of my photo immediately after posting it, with 5 bullet points above so that they don't show up and it keeps the comments looking neat and tidy.

Now we get technical

4 . 5-10 hashtags describing the outfit

This feels a little strange at first but I start off by describing EXACTLY what is in the photo, eg if its an outfit photo, I describe the top, what the jeans look like, what material the dress is, what shoes I'm wearing, what jewellery I'm wearing. All feels a bit simple but seems to work so I don't ask questions!

5. Find brand specific hashtags

For any brands you are wearing, go to their own instagram page and find the hashtag they ask people to use to be featured like #boohoobabes - more likely that the brand will find you and therefore more people!

6. Hashtag wherever you are

Same goes for location, any restaurants, bars, locations in London

7. Hashtags where you would wear this outfit

Is it a #goingoutoutfit or #datenightoutfit or #casualoutfit or #springoutfit? Get inventive and think about what you would be searching for inspiration for if you wanted an outfit similar to this.

8. Add a few popular hashtags

Experiment with these, these are the wildcards that you can switch up and see which work, I usually find them by going on some profiles which have a similar style to me and looking up which generalised hashtags they are using eg #londonfashionblogger #fbloggeruk #discoverunder10k 

9. Research NICHE hashtags applicable to your photo

This is the bit that takes a lot of time but it pays off, I search some very specific hashtags to the photo for example #parisianstyle and click up the top on some similar hashtags that instagram recommends and keep doing this until you've got yourself lost down a deep dark instagram rabbit hole. For this I tend to do a mixture of hashtags that are pretty popular (10k + posts) and some more obscure ones (2000 or less) so that you have a mixture of lots of people potentially seeing it in 'RECENT' or the increased chance of you being in the 'TOP' tab.

10. #Gifted

Now I wasn't sure whether to put this one in as its a catch 22 really because in reality it's a legal requirement, however I have noticed recently is that any posted which is #gifted or #ad (even if I put AD at the start without a hashtag to try and be legal but also trick the evil IG computer), it is automatically restricted and hidden from many of my own followers. Do with that information what you will, because we all technically have to include it to avoid fines and be transparent with our audience and all that jazz - but the way I'm looking at it is that I have to now ramp up my own personal content that isn't including gifted outfits/ products in order to keep up the momentum. 

And thats about all folks. But in all seriousness, this is all when I'm feeling particularly extra and if I'm having a busy or lazy day I will just copy and paste a few from and old photo which was kind of the same and be done with it, so don't feel too pressured into all this bollocks, Instagram isn't real life. Just have fun with using instagram as a creative outlet and don't get caught up in the numbers, they may all be gone next year anyway!

Good Luck, let me know if you have any success with any of it and may the algorithm be forever in your favour!

X

Escaping London with Coppa Club

After a hectic few weeks with work - I say weeks, I had 2 months without a weekend off - and in a moment of madness and stress I booked Ryan and I a weekend away just to spend some proper time together without me running off to the theatre at 7pm on a Saturday night. 

Although I knew we wanted to get away from the city, I also knew that neither of us had the time to actually book time off, and as sods law goes I actually had to squeeze in an industry event on the night we were meant to go, so somewhere we could drive to within 2 hours but also was a bit of a countryside escape, was important.

When I saw a deal come up for The Great House at Sonning, it looked perfect - a cosy hotel alongside a gorgeous river but also partnered with Coppa Club, so I knew it would be a bit of a treat and we could rely on them for the comforts of good cocktails and food from the reputation of the London branches. And even better, only took us 1hr 15 to drive there! 

We got everything we expected and even more, starting with a very kind room upgrade when we arrived from a Cosy Room to a Deluxe Room in The Palace Yard - which was gorgeous. All the rooms have a modern countryside feel to them but luxurious at the same time, and the bathroom was probably bigger than my bedroom at home - so there's that! We had brunch at the Coppa club (which I heard is George Clooney's local - but no sightings so cannot confirm nor deny) and then headed into Windsor for the day as it was a little cloudy and I hadn't been there since I was a little girl. I also slyly wanted to pretend I was Megan Markle walking down that aisle but Ryan was too distracted by the weapons and armour so I got away with it. After wandering around the town for the afternoon, we relaxed back in the room and then headed back down to the Coppa Club for an evening of food and slightly too many of the incredible cocktails. They have a gorgeous outdoor terrace covered in fairylights which we sat underneath for a lot of the evening - very instagrammable and will be making an appearance on there in the near future.

After checking out the next morning we indulged in yet another brunch - the hollandaise sauce was the best I've had so I couldn't resist another Eggs Benedict. The sunshine had made an appearance for our last morning so we made a half hearted effort to burn the calories off by taking a stroll along the river. It was such a beautiful little walk, with all the boats rolling past and Mr Birdwatcher Ryan spotting a kingfisher, a heron and god knows what else, I swear that boy is the next Dr Dolittle. As we came back to the pub, everyone was sitting in the beach chairs in the garden while they had a BBQ getting fired up, the outdoor bar opening, boats mooring up and dogs jumping in and out of the river. It was so lovely and had to drag ourselves away to get ready for a Monday back at work! Will definitely try and come back in the summer and make the most of the pub garden and terrace in the sunshine.

Anyway, haven't written a blog post in a little while so I hope you guys enjoyed and that I have answered a few questions that some of you sent me about our stay. I will pop the hotels website down below for any of you interested - they also have way more venues than I expected so will try to visit a few more. But also worth keeping an eye on Secret Escapes, as that was where I booked ours and it was such a great deal!

https://greathouseatsonning.co.uk/ 

Tara-Jade x

*All views are my own and this was not a gifted trip or collaboration*

Is Instagram culture contributing to climate change?

I'm sure you all saw in the news this week and plastered all over Facebook, Twitter etc - the scary headlines along the lines of "WE HAVE 12 YEARS TO CHANGE EVERYTHING OR THE PLANET WILL BE DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR". Now this along with the suspiciously high 21 degree temperatures in London this week meant that everyones ears suddenly pricked up and we all started to ask ourselves what we could do to be a tiny part of this change.

Could I become vegetarian for a few days a week and cut down my meat consumption? Probably. Could I also stop buying drinks and plastic packaged foods for lunch, cutting down plastic waste? Also yes. But these are all things that are shovelled down our throats constantly and there is already a big buzz around them. What I became more interested in is the impact that our generation in particular is having on the planet, the habits we are introducing and how we can try and create a buzz around these less talked about factors that actually have more of an effect than we might think.

If you are following or reading my blog, you will more than likely be here for the fashion chit chat, the outfit links and all that jazz. However for this post I am glad to announce that there are absolutely no website links for this ootd, simply because its all old and god forbid HAND ME DOWNS. The skirt is roughly 7 years old from a dress that I had when I was about 14 years old which I have cut up and saved for so long just because I adored the fabric and new that someday I would be able to make something beautiful out of it (helps that mum's a seamstress cough cough). And the jumper was an unwanted hand me down which scratches a little bit but was originally from a lovely high end store so I didn't want to part with. I was inspired to do a set of outfit photos using only recycled/ out of season clothes to try and spark up a conversation between girls that follow me because I think the whole of instagram has started to become so focused on constant consumption of fast fashion, a new outfit for every occassion, constant browsing of the New In sections from our favourite shops, the fear of being an 'outfit repeater', and just wanting to constantly be a part of all the fleeting trends.

I am absolutely a contributer to the problem myself, most Sundays spent browsing instagram, spotting something I love on someone, clicking through to the outfit link and then spending the next few hours lost in the depths of the asos new in section - but I am starting to wake up to the harm it is causing and trying to make a conscious effort to only buy pieces that I know I can style in different ways, create different outfits to wear more than once, resell old pieces that I know I won't wear again, and steer away from any trends that I know will be shoved to the back of my wardrobe in the next month or so - such as a neon green roll neck that looked cool on that one girl but I will definitely try on once, realise I look like a knob and shamefully hide any evidence of my mad 5 minutes at the bottom of a drawer somewhere - you know the ones.

"If one million women bought their next item of clothing secondhand instead of new, we would save 6 million kg of carbon pollution from entering the atmosphere"

Shocking right? So here I am doing my teeny tiny bit and trying to get a few of you to do a double think before you do your weekend shop - in the words of Vivienne Westwood "Buy less, choose well"

If you want to share your own recycled/ old season/ reworked outfits it would be really cool to start up a hashtag so we can use each other for inspiration and make this a thing! Add #oldseasoninspo and I'll share them on my story.

Why I'm happier without abs and without the gym

First of all, let's take a moment to laugh at how ridiculous I look in the photo above, clutching my boobs and laughing like an absolute goofball. There's a funny story behind it -  I went to go take some pics with my sister and halfway through she goes, "Tara one of your boobs looks way smaller than the other" and this was the face I pulled immediately before I said, "It probably is!". Kind of a nothing story I know but I actually kind of love this photo because a year ago there was no way I would have posted it - I would have pointed out my goofy teeth, unsymmetrical boobs, belly overhang and hip dips and deleted it straight out. But this year has given me so much more perspective on what is important to me, who I am becoming and honestly just not caring what other people think.

  I know I have gone on far too many times about how busy this year has been for me but it has and - although the theme of these photos may be a bit misleading - it has been over a year since I have done any proper exercise. In my first and second year of uni I got very caught up in how I looked and this whole 'gym culture' that seems to be expected of you on Instagram nowadays. I was pushed over the edge when one of my old dance teachers said "you are very unfit now, don't turn into one of those fat uni students" although I know she meant nothing by it and said it as a helpful passing comment, it was enough to make me look at myself a little differently and cave into the pressure that I was already feeling. Now I'm not saying that I went unhealthy about it - in fact I was probably the most physically fit I have ever been but it was just excessive pressure on myself that I didn't need. I would be going to the gym 4/5 times a week, every time trying to beat my personal best of the amount of time that I could stay on the treadmill and not letting myself get off until I had. I constantly feeling guilty about what I was eating, how much longer I would need to go to the gym, if I skipped gym one evening I would drag myself to the gym in my halls as late as 11pm as a sort of punishment. As much as my body was healthier for it, my mentality towards it wasn't, and when it came to my third year of university, I just knew that this sort of pressure on top of everything else was going to make me crumble. So I just stopped it and I focused on writing my dissertation as well as working 2 jobs, finishing my degree, staying in the studio until 8pm most nights and working freelance, and I bloody smashed it! Yes I may have lost my abs, my legs and hips are a bit jiggly now and I probably couldn't last 10 minutes on a treadmill, but I gained SO much more. 

It's all about about balance. Now that I have a bit more time to myself I want to concentrate on earning some more money, getting my career started at the same time and probably at some point getting my fitness back but I will do it in a much more healthy and gentle way and hopefully in not so much isolation as I was feeling last time. What I have learnt from this past year is that if you focus on the physical results of how you look to make you feel happy and a sense of achievement, you will never be happy. Even when I was at my slimmest and could run for an hour, I would still want to lose a bit more, run a bit longer. It never ends and you have to focus on what is going to benefit you most at that point in time, and for me that was focusing on getting my career goals focused, getting a first to help me do that and working to be able to afford it as well as building my portfolio and making industry contacts along the way.

Now I am always a bit cautious of using the words 'body confidence' because I am aware that I am a still naturally slim size 8 and a lot of people will scoff at you for even trying to put yourself in that category but I think that everyone will always criticise their own body way more than anyone else does and that everyone can lack confidence in their own skin at some point. For me it was just about realising that honestly NO ONE CARES. None of my family, friends or boyfriend have even noticed a change in my body in the past year, so why the hell was I worrying so much. So for the foreseeable future you will find me under a blanket and with a pack of Haribo, and I am absolutely ok with that!

Tara - Jade x

Outfit details:

Top: Boux Avenue here

Leggings: Boux Avenue here

Use code : TARACTIVE20 for 20% off until 30th September

10 things I wish I knew before starting university

If any of you follow my design Instagram you will have seen this over on my stories but I thought I would dedicate a blog post to it because I'm sure lots of my followers are just about to start 1st year at uni and it can be bloody scary! Some of these points are very art school based but hopefully most of them are relatable to anyone!

Don’t put pressure on it to live up to the expectations of what everyone says uni will be like. 

Especially at a London university, it will be most likely be a different experience for you than the stories you have heard. It may be the best 3 years of your life when you make incredible friends for life and you may party 3 nights a week and spend every night socialising at the SU. But also it may not and thats ok. Don’t feel like you have to push yourself to fit in with this stereotype of the uni experience, keep hold of what you enjoy doing, time to yourself and time for your old friends and family and you will be just fine.

You get out of university what you put in.

No matter how amazing your course is, at the end of the day, the amount of effort that you put into your work will be reflected in how much you gain from those 3 years. Give every project and opportunity your best shot and it will be so much more worth the money!

If you can, DO WORK EXPERIENCE!

If you have spare time to do work experience atall, do it as much as you can too! These are the contacts that will help you get ahead once you have graduated because you have a strong relationship with them and they trust your work and work ethic.

Learn 5 recipes that you can make in 20 minutes or less.

When you are busy with work, staying late at the studio or even just rushing a quick meal before you go on a night out, the last thing you are going to want to do is cook or think of a meal to try and make. I kept a whole stock of curry sauces, pasta sauces etc that you can just stick on the hob with some sort of carbs for 15 minutes and fry up some chicken/ veg etc to put with it and you will save a whole load on ready meals! 

Have a secret stash of cutlery

Sounds silly but I’m sure my flatmates ATE cutlery, it all seemed to go missing. Having a spare set in my room saved me having to eat all my meals with a spoon on many occasions.

Keep your uni room as a nice relaxing space to come home to.

This one will help with homesickness and general stress levels. I started to realise that I felt so much more stressed when my uni room was a mess and my bed wasn’t made and laundry wasn’t done. Try and make your room as homely as possibly with photos/ decoration that makes it feel like your space and somewhere that you look forward to coming home too.

Before you start uni, try and save up a bit of money to use as your freshers fund and overflow money.

From the date you move in in September, there is a while month until you get your first student loan instalment, which I didn’t realise! Your student loan is paid on the first week of your actual university course. So unless you want to go into your shiny new overdraft straight away, have some back up money ready.

Art supplies that you use regularly, buy in bulk online

For me things like sketchbooks, scalpel blades, mountboard and foamboard really started to add up when you buy them all singularly from the art shop and I found that buying them in bulk on ebay made such a difference, even if you buy them and split it between your mates!

Learn to budget very early on!

As soon as I got my first student loan payment, I worked out how many weeks I had until the next one and then divided how much money I had between those weeks. That was my budget for the week and if I went below that I put extra money into the ‘overflow pot’ I spoke about earlier and then took out of that if I needed it. It seems like a lot of faff but trust me you will thank me later when you need extra money for birthday presents or event tickets or christmas!

 However you are feeling, someone else is feeling the exact same way.

It's a big change to begin with, give yourself a bit of slack and be kind to everyone. You are all a bit scared and anxious but just relax and know that - as cliché as it sounds - everyone is in the same boat, everyone is putting on a brave face and everyone is only putting the best bits on social media!

Tara-Jade x