My frustration with so-called fashion bloggers.

October 24, 2016October 23, 20167 Comments

I understand the fact that everyone, eventually, wants to make some money out of their blogs. But that doesn’t mean that you should only try and link things from the affiliate programs that you are part of.

I recently saw a gorgeous dress on Pinterest. I clicked on the link and it took me to the Asos website. Stupidly, I bought the dress without properly checking that it is the same dress because I was sooooo excited to get this lovely dress. It was only when I opened the package that I realized that this was not the dress I wanted. It was however, the dress I ordered.

The Dress I saw…

The dress I got…

I realize that it’s my own fault for not looking at the details, but at that moment it looked like the same dress. I am just annoyed that someone would link something totally unrelated and say that this is what they bought from a particular shop. This is just one example. The other day I also saw a blogger wearing a lovely jersey but none of the products that she linked was the jersey she was wearing.

So please don’t just link stuff to get sales. There is a reason we follow these bloggers and it’s because they have great style and typically, if we like something that they are wearing we would like to buy the SAME thing. Not something similar….

Here is what the dress looks like.

The Accountant – Review

October 21, 2016October 19, 2016Leave a comment

A movie about loyalty and Asperger’s.

Plot

Christian Wolff ( Ben Afleck) is an accountant for some of the most dangerous people in the world. As a Ray King(J.K Simmons), the head of the department of treasury Crime enforcement division, is preparing to retire he is adamant to find out who ‘The Accountant’ is. Christian takes on a legitimate client, who’s accounting clerk found an in discrepancy in the books amounting up to millions of dollars. As Christian uncovers the truth, the bodies start to drop.

The movie is deeper than the plot suggest. My one friend commented that the accountant is the nerdy Batman, which was pretty funny at the moment. The movie however is about a man with Asperger’s, an Autism spectrum disorder. He was raised in an Army family. His mother left him and his brother with their father when she couldn’t deal with the pressures of having a son with Autism. His father was more of a ‘no pain no gain’ kind of guy and believed that instead of creating a sensory environment for his son where he won’t have to deal with sensory overload, he believes that ‘if bright lights and loud noises bothers his son, then those are the things that needs to be increased because the world is a noisy place’. He sends his sons to various martial arts institutes to train with masters from different art forms. Therefore making him a ‘killing machines’.

The movies touches on some aspects of Asperger’s in a way I haven’t really seen in a movie, it also gives the world some information on what a person with Asperger’s goes through socially.

The movie was interesting and there were sufficient action, it also had a good story line for an action movie.

If you are interested in Asperger’s and don’t want to read psychology books about it you can always read HOUSE RULES by Jodi Picoult. She gives us a deep look into the lives of Aspies, their families and the communities they live in.

5 Delicious Paleo inspired recipe’s for everyday use.

October 20, 2016December 8, 2016Leave a comment

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Kebab

One of the easiest recipes ever. All you need is some chicken breast cut into cubes and streaks of bacon. Spice with some salt, pepper and any of your other favourite spices. Wrap the bacon around the chicken breast cubes and bake until the bacon is crispy. This wonderful recipe and picture is from ifoodbloggger.com, check out their blog for more awesome ideas.

Paleo Taco Pie

Another really easy and equally delicious recipe at Paleoleap.com.

INGREDIENTS

Pie Crust Ingredients

1 1/2 cups almond flour;
1/4 cup butter, or clarified butter, melted;
1 tsp salt;

Pie Filling Ingredients

1 lb ground beef;
1 tbsp Paleo cooking fat;
1/2 onion, chopped;
1/2 cup homemade barbecue sauce; OR any of your favourite sauce.
1 cup lettuce, chopped;
1 red bell pepper, sliced;
1 avocado, chopped;
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste;

Pecan chicken

This is one of my favourite recipe’s and my husband also loves it. It’s quite fast to make and you can add any side dishes you like. This recipe and picture is from Sally’sbakingaddiction

INGREDIENTS

3-4 chicken breasts cut into strips.
1 Cup Almond flour
1/2 crushed pecans
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
paprika, parsley and dijon mustard

Mix the almond flour, pecans, paprika, parsley, mustard and salt in a bowl. Mix the Honey and Olive oil in a separate bowl.

Dip the chicken strips in the honey mixture. When covered dip it in the dry mixture. Cover well. Lay the covered chicken pieces in a baking dish and bake until golden brown or until well done.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Vegan, Paleo and low cal. Recipe Here, also from Paleoleap.com

INGREDIENTS

1 or 2 butternut squashes (1 is good for about 3 good portions); ( can also go 1/2 and 1/2 with sweet potatoes.
1 or 2 cans of coconut milk, depending on the number of squashes you prepare. (you’ll find it in most grocery stores and at your health food store, look for organic without any other ingredient except maybe guar gum);
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;
Any fresh or dried herb you’ve got laying around;

Banana Muffins

Full recipe here, recipe and picture from thankyourbody.com

INGREDIENTS

4 ripe organic bananas, mashed
4 organic cage-free eggs
½ cup organic almond or coconut flour
2 tablespoons organic coconut oil, melted (where to buy)
1 teaspoon organic real vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground organic cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground organic nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground organic clove
¼ teaspoon ground organic ginger
1 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Optional: 1-2 Tablespoons organic honey or maple syruP

Personally I always just use the banana’s, 1 egg, almond flour and honey and it tastes great all the same 🙂 If the mixture seems dry I usually just add more banana.

Black and White Wedding/Ball ideas

October 19, 2016October 21, 2016Leave a comment

Flowers

Black flowers aren’t the easiest thing to find. There are basically 3 types of black flowers you could use and their more purple than black. Arum lilies are in season mostly in December, Dark purple tulips are only in season during spring but you could possible import them at a very high price. The third option is black roses or black morning glories, but it’s more like a dark red than a black

Bridal bouquet.

Instead of using black flowers you always have the option of adding black ribbons, organza and feathers.

Table arrangements

Predominantly White

luxury-black-and-white-wedding-table-settings-95-to-your-inspiration-to-remodel-home-with-black-and-white-wedding-table-settings

Predominantly Black

Stripes

Decor

black-white-sphere-wedding-centerpiece-1

Some more flower ideas

awesome-ideas-for-a-black-and-white-wedding-14

The cake

The Dress

alba-black-and-white-antonio-riva-wedding-dress-primary

atelier-aimee-black-and-white-juliet-romeo-wedding-dres

black-hand-pieced-chantilly-lace-applique-overlay-tulle-bridal-gown

The wedding party

Why The Lack Of Body Diversity In Street Style Photography Is Offensive

October 18, 2016October 17, 20162 Comments

Fashion is about expression, it shouldn’t be homogenised

Article by Billie Bhatia- Elle Magazine

Fashion week isn’t just about the clothes coming down the catwalk anymore. It is also about the hectic furore outside the show of street style photographers frantically snapping show-goers.

Street style photography shouldn’t be homogenised
Street style photography has become a mad circus of flashbulbs, shouting, scrambling and people genuinely can’t get enough of it. The demand for street style pictures is bordering on outrageous – to see what these supposedly ‘real’ women are candidly wearing. These are the images that are supposed to inspire us in the way we get dressed, the way we can utilise our wardrobes so they feel fresh, unique and fashion-forward. We want to see real women like us getting it right, not models – we have the catwalk to fulfill all of those needs. But what part of that is actually real?
Dressing for fashion week as a non sample size-girl is already tough enough: there is the mandatory break down on Thursday night when exhaustion has set in and I find myself buried under a sea of white shirts and black roll necks sobbing that I have nothing to wear. Once the tears have subsided and I have managed to scrape together an outfit in which I feel ‘fashion’ enough to be accepted by the bludgeoning mob, I remember I am about to pitted against my peers in the fashion week extravaganza and it all comes crumbling down again.
Not only am I, and my body shape, dismissed with a certain disdain by street style photographers I am deliberately pushed, tripped and shunned whilst racing to capture someone slimmer, someone deemed much more stylish than me.

I hardly deserve the crown of ‘Most Stylish Woman Of The Year’ (because I get it wrong at least once a week), but I would like to think working for the biggest selling women’s magazine has imparted some sense of style.

22-billie-bhatia-what-elle-wears-to-work-21-june-2016-38.jpg

What ELLE Wears to Work: 21 June 2016 | ELLE UK
This is me, in a What ELLE Wears shoot
VICTORIA ADAMSON
Agreed, I am not in the same league as the Chiara Ferragnis and Miroslava Dumas of the world, but I thought the point of the street-style photography was that it was real?

ARE PLUS-SIZE GIRLS NOT REAL? SHOULD WE NOT BE REPRESENTED?
It appears street style, which was intended to be the modern lens of fashion has been disillusioned into thinking it is capturing something different and new, in its essence. In fact, it’s falling into an eye-rollingly old trap.
On the Sunday of London Fashion Week I happened to stumble into a beautiful girl wearing an almost identical outfit to myself – lace edged skirt, grey cashmere roll neck and bomber jacket. We smiled at each other and before I knew it the photographers had come running.

Here it is, the outfit in question, in our What ELLE Wears to London Fashion Week gallery
VICTORIA ADAMSON
For a split second I thought, ‘Ha! They have seen we are twinning and want to get a picture of it.’ Don’t be naïve, Billie. As I was quite literally pushed to one side, it was all too apparent that the picture they sought was of the tall, slim brunette because she was aspirational and I was not…despite our style being the same.
I thought that street style was supposed to be a point of difference from the girls coming down the catwalk, but it’s not different at all. In fact it’s worse, because it represents an unconscious bias that we still have sitting there always in the back of most people’s minds.

At least in most of the shows, there is now pressure to be a little more diverse. Now, more than ever, designers are making sure to use a cast of different skin tones. And when they don’t, they are being pulled up on it.

gallery-1476336341-model-parisgettyimages-611908844.jpg
Paris Fashion Week Fails To Champion Diversity
But among the photographers snapping away outside of the shows, there isn’t the same pressure to be consciously diverse in choice of subject matter. Which means old paradigms about what is attractive and beautiful come to the fore.

Where are the women representing style in their 30, 40 and 50s? As according to the images out there style only surfaces either in the under 30s and the peppered over 75s that have been deemed icon worthy. If what we are seeing is all one woman, how does that match who are?
We have some amazing photographers that shoot our street style on ELLE – namely Victoria Adamson and Georgia Devey-Smith – who have always made me feel part of the team when they take my picture, when I have nailed the outfit they tell me that I’m owning it and when I haven’t they aren’t afraid of telling me that either. But as I sit here and research street style trends for the coming season, the one trend that is painfully obvious is that girls with curves are irrelevant.
Style doesn’t equate to a body size, it doesn’t equate to a shape, age or colour. It transcends all of those boundaries. At a time when female empowerment is at its peak, I think it’s about time we stopped judging and started embracing difference.