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2022 – do people even blog anymore?

Hi

It’s another new year! Another new start and another new promise to myself to keep my blog alive.

It’s 2022 and I have not posted anything since 2020! I should take my own advice, and stick to a goal, get over my fears of imperfection and just post.

Perhaps at this point I should just delete this website completely, but there is a reason I’ve kept on paying the domain fee and hosting subscription and may be that means I’m just not ready to let it go… at least not without a fight or some ceremonial digital funeral.

With the increase in popularity of video apps and the decrease in our attention spans, TikTok has seen a surge in popularity (as we all know); competitors Instagram and YouTube are following suit by pushing their short-form portrait videos.

So it begs the question, are we still reading blogs?

Writing is a from of catharsis and gives a form of expression that viral videos can’t necessarily. When we want to put our minds to it, we will happily listen to a 90 minute podcast, watch a 3 hour film and so long-form content isn’t going anywhere.

So what’s been going on?

So – a quick overview of 2020 and 2021

Well I don’t need to go into lockdowns etc, we’ve all been there and got the loo roll, but with the exhaustion we all felt with the pandemic – not enough socialising without the use of screen-time and too much blue-light – I couldn’t bring myself to spend even more time sitting at a computer.

I was asked to go on BBC radio to talk about my blog.

I completed Red January and raised money for charity.

I pretty much gave up on Instagram and with it lost over 1,000 followers (2018 me would have been so upset!) and I couldn’t care less how low my reach is now.

I adopted the sweetest black and white kitten from Cats Protection.

Stephen Fry (Stephen Fry!), Anya Hindmarch, Richard Madeley, Griff Rhys Jones, and more, made videos for my Christmas campaign at work,

I learnt to be my own hairdresser – experimented with pastel colours and dyed over my salon perfect blonde highlighted mane with various colours of the rainbow. I bleached my hair. It didn’t go too badly. I grew it out and went back to my natural brunette shade. I got extensions. I lobbed it off again.

I have tried more colours, style and lengths in two years than I have in twenty.

I was a bridesmaid to one of my longest friends. Attended seven weddings!

I turned 30.

I was whisked to Paris by my boyfriend. Returned days later to find France shut its borders to the UK. *we made it to Disneyland just in time!*

Fulfilled one of my lifetime dreams of making a purchase in the 31 Rue Cambon CHANEL store and posed on Coco’s famous steps. Tears of joy!Β 

A few days ago I was asked to be a godmother.

Ignoring some really (really) shit parts of the last two years – this list shows there is so much to be grateful and happy for.

So, there are a lot of reasons I’ve been too busy to pretend that I’ve been living my best life on social media. Because I’ve just been living life.

How are my blogging friends? Hope you’re well and taking care.

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Is Burberry making a mistake? | Fashion fail

Is Riccardo Tisci going to f*ck up Burberry?

This is the second time that Burberry has been at the forefront of fashion news this fortnight. The first time for their disposal of their left-over stock. That’s another issue which I actually wanted to write about. But, this may surprise you… The second piece of news – the controversial logo change – now THAT Β has triggered me more than all of Burberry’s burning clothes.

THIS IS THE NEW BURBERRY LOGO (be prepared to be underwhelmed):

If you like this new logo, then your opinion is WRONG! πŸ˜›

Let me tell you why.

Christopher Bailey would not have committed such a crime when he was at the helm of Burberry.

To me, this logo change doesn’t seem to about Burberry. It screams ego-trip. It’s a power move by Tisci

What is it with new Creative Directors coming into historic brands and theΒ firstΒ thing they do is rebrand? Sometimes it’s needed. Burberry could use an overhaul in some areas of their public image, but one thing it did not need is a brand new logo.

Part of their brand identity is heritage and history. This logo is what translates that to me:

My issue isn’t necessarily with Tisci trying to modernise and bring the brand into 2018. Maybe if the new logo was still a serif font I’d have less vexation.

The issue here is that:

  1. The sans-serif just is too over-simplified to translate the luxury and history that Burberry is meant to be all about. I get that many other luxury brands use serif, but there is something about this logo that’s not fitting for Burberry.
  2. This took four weeks to design. Come on now. Apparently, this project actually needed four months! FOUR. MONTHS. To design this… Okay then.
  3. Where is the creativity? It looks like a watered down version of every. other. new. logo. out there.
  4. Following on from this, I feel like these rebranded logos have become a meme of their own. We have Hedi Slimane changing Yves Saint Laurent‘s beautiful script into the plain ‘Saint Laurent’ that we have today. Raf Simmons just changed Calvin Klein’s logo, which was designed byΒ Peter Saville, who, surprise suprise, has designed this new Burberry logo. I mean, just look at how diverse he can be…

We also have CΓ©line, Balenciaga, Diane Von Furstenburg… (the list goes on)Β with similar looking logos. To me, this new logo is this meme:

Can I copy your homework? sure just change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious... ok.

Even the new monogram is blah. Why do they need a monogram? We already have the iconic Burberry check. This monogram just looks like a souk’s version of Louis Vuitton and Goyard mashed together.

 

[Read:Β Five Fashion Fails: Lawsuits filed against fakes]

If it ain’t broke..

In his statement about taking the job [Tisci] said, β€œI have enormous respect for Burberry’s British heritage and global appeal,”

Vogue

Being British, Burberry is an important brand to me. 2016’s Christmas campaign starring Domhnall Gleeson as Thomas BurberryΒ perfectly captured what the brand is all about. Tisci coming in and demanding a complete rebrand within four weeks doesn’t seem to be someone who really wants to get in touch with the heart of the brand’s history. Imagine the research and archives you’d have at your disposal and the amount of time that it would really take to understand the complexities of what works and also what doesn’t work.

It’s a very bold move, even arrogant, to assume you know the failings and to overhaul everything when you’ve only been in post a couple of months.

To me, this logo change doesn’t seem to about Burberry. It screams ego-trip. It’s a power move by Tisci who wants to show everyone that he’s the new person in charge and he can do what he wants and he’ll get all the praise for any of the publicity it gets.

Italian designers can be brash and bold, which works for certain brands. But here, for Burberry, whose essence lies in innovative practicality – think back to the 1901 classic trench that was designed for British and French soldiers – I can’t see how Tisci is a good match. Come September, we’ll see if I’m proven wrong. IΒ do look forward to seeing Tisci’s first collection, however. Who knows, maybe I’ll review it?

A Burberry gift box

Do you have any thoughts on this? Am I overreacting??? Let me know if you disagree and you like the new logo; I’d be interested to know why!

If you like a ranty post check out my ‘trends that need to die in 2018’!

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#FAIL: I’m shit at blogging

This one is for everyone that has ever got stressed out about not being able to fit in the things you want to do around the things youΒ needΒ to do.

I suck at this.

So… I’ve been slacking. Anyone empathise?

I’m sure you’ve all have had that moment (or a lot of moments) where you’re doing something (or not) and just question if you’re doing it right, or whether you should be doing it at all?

Yeah, that’s what I’m wondering.

I started my blog because I wanted to have a project outside of my full-time job – something to allow me to be creative and have something to show for it.

But, checking my homepage I realise my last post was over THREE months ago!

Blogging requires posting frequently and I haven’t been.Β Just because it’s a side-project, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t stick to a schedule. Or does it? Now, I’m just second-guessing what the point of this is. I shouldn’t be stressing about it because it’s meant to be for fun and stressing isn’t fun.

Instead of accepting that I’ve inadvertently taken a blogging break and taking the time to recharge, I’m just getting worked up over it. My health hasn’t been great recently (something I’m not sure whether to go into here or not yet) and when I get in from work I’m too exhausted to do anything.

What I’m doing wrong

1. Not having enough time

Or should I phrase that to be ‘notΒ makingΒ enough time’?

I’m at work all day – I’m not an early riser, as I suffer from insomnia from time to time, so during the week, getting up early to blog before work is a no-go and the evenings are the only time I have left. Except that’s when I have dinner, spend time with the boyfriend and see friends. Plus, being sat at a screen all day in an office then continuing to do that well into the evening cases headaches (literally and metaphorically).

Also, we’ve been looking to buy a house since the New Year, (no luck so far) and if you’re familiar with the process, you’ll know that you need to book viewings as soon as you have a spare minute free, which, yes,Β of course, is after work. There is a lot to cram in! I am busy, yeah… but am I really more busy than everyone else who has a full-time job and other responsibilities? This is something I wondered before – we’re always ‘on’ so we always feel rushed off our feet and so the things we enjoy and don’t ‘need’ to do get pushed to the side.

So what about the weekends when I’m not at work?

As I’m sure, this happens to everyone, no matter what you want to do, the weekends end up jam-packed with plans with people you can’t see during the week, the things youΒ needΒ to do, the things you don’t need to do but feel obliged to and suddenly you haven’t got any time left to yourself.

When do you have time after all that, you just feel too mentally and physically tired toΒ do anything other than veg in front of the TV.

2. Not finishing posts

I contacted the lovely Primrose, who you probably already know blogs at Style Petal, to ask for her input into a post that I’m writing on Influencer Marketing and I’m also writing a collaboration post with Luke Christian about getting your motivation back (ironic lol) and I feel sooo bad that I haven’t published them yet!

The first post isΒ written, so I don’t know why butΒ I decided it needed to go more in depth. It needed to be the MOST DETAILED post ever written on influencer marketing. And it snowballed into a post that is longer than a dissertation and I can’t seem to structure it or put it into a logical order.

So, now I’m thinking it’s too long and messy and the perfectionist in me is not satisfied with posting it. I know I’ll end looking like this when it’s finished 👇 (and so will anyone who reads it).Skeleton waiting

(I’m sorry for being crap! I promise I’ll get around to publishing it).

So, not wanting to deal with the imperfect post that I’ve already started, I decided to write this oneΒ 😂. Which leads into the next point —> that I’m too much of a perfectionist.

3. Having too many expectations

I just have to admit it. IΒ can’t do everything all at once. I’m not a robot.

The perfectionist side of me wants every single post to have high-quality photos that I’ve created myself that are also relevant. For example, if I’m writing about office culture or fashion, I’d want a photo of me in the office. Can you imagine? Me lying on a desk in the middle of an open-plan office posing for a camera, like, “what are you looking at, Barbara from Procurement?!” It’s just not always possible to create the vision in my head, which is why I end up with a long list of ideas and unfinished blog posts.

4. Freaking out about what I’m not doing

Argh, I haven’t scheduled any Twitter content to promote my posts… I need to go and take loads of photos for Instagram, I’ve got to spend three hours commenting on other people’s blogs, I’ve not replied to that email about car tyres, I’ve been meaning to make business cards for four months now!

Okay, THIS does not help. I will always do this though, it’s just the way I am!

I’m happy that just one person has read my blog, so that is what I’m going to focus on – there is at least one person who’s read what I’ve written!

What I’m going to do instead

1. Low stats equal low moodΒ Don’t let stats affect me!

So many bloggers comment that when the stats go down, so does their mood. We really shouldn’t let this get to us. (Easier said than done).

I haven’t posted frequently on my site or on Instagram and the unfollows ensue and the page numbers drop. Ugh. I’ve put in so much effort for people to become disinterested. I know why they are low, so I know how to fix it. Frequent and quality posting is key to an engaged audience and I can’t expect numbers to rise when there’s nothing new to see.

There really is no point getting bummed out about something thatΒ really doesn’t matter all that much.

I’m happy that just one person has read my blog, so that is what I’m going to focus on – there is at least one person who’s read what I’ve written!

2. Don’t compare

Comparison Is the Thief of Joy

Yeah, there’s something in that.

I look at bloggers who have been doing this for years, turned it into their full-time career and churn out quality content consistently, alongside going to events and travelling and I think ‘wow, that’s amazing, why can’t my blog be like that?’.

Well, it can’t. Because this is just a hobby that I do after work and at the weekends (when I can – see point 1 above!). I shouldn’t feel bad about my work because of comparison. So, I haven’t posted in a while… I can’t compare that to someone whose literal job is to do just that.

You know that saying ‘you have the same amount of hours in a day as BeyoncΓ©’? It’s meant to be motivational, but it’s not.

True, you can’t make more time, but no one is in the same position as her. If you’re a single parent, who works a day job and are trying to make it as a musician, comparing your success as a musician to BeyoncΓ©’s isn’t logical. She has a huge support network, people who’ll look after her children when she can’t, assistants, cleaners, chefs, etc etc etc. So, she has as much time as she needs to put 100% effort and concentration into her craft. You get the point.

Everyone’s journey is different, so just be proud of what you’ve achieved πŸ™‚

3. REST and don’t make myself ill

There’s a reason I took a break (even though I didn’t mean to). I’ve had some difficult months and instead of just focusing on my health and my family, I’ve been beating myself up about not doing enough for my blog. And that’s been making it worse.

In the future, I’ll just listen to what my body’s saying, post a little notice on the blog saying ‘be back soon’ and don’t worry. This is for fun and I don’t know why I’m putting pressure on myself.

Thanks for reading, if you made it this far! Do let me know if you’ve ever felt the same and if you have some advice to share.

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Is Snapchat dead?

Did Kylie Jenner just kill Snapchat or was it already a sinking ship?

Snapchat boomed out of nowhere. Now, it’s an advertising platform for multi-million-pound companies; a far cry from being known as β€˜that shady app’ for people sent β€˜those kind of photos’ that conveniently disappeared.

It seems that Kylie Jenner killed Snapchat overnight with her tweet:

Kylie Jenner's tweet: 'sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad.'

A tweet that cost Snapchat ONE BILLION DOLLARS.

However, it’s probably a little more complicated than that. Snapchat was being beaten to the floor and Kylie’s just delivered the final blow.

I just have the image of Scar and Mufusa (RIP) at the edge of that cliff. Here’s the metaphor:
Mufusa = Snapchat. Kylie = Scar. Cliff = shit tonne of money.

Image of Kylie Jenner's face photoshopped onto Scar from the Lion King and the Snapchat ghost photoshopped onto Mufusa, hanging from a cliff.

This is the worst photoshop ever. But I wanted to bring the vision to life. (Rights belong to Disney)

Following this episode, they made a very distasteful joke about Rihanna’s domestic abuse at the hands of Chris Brown. This led to a lot of angry Rihanna fans, and well most people on Snapchat, leading to further damage to their bank account ($800 Million).

There were a few bumps in the road before this. Snapchat was growing fast and making so much money, that perhaps these blips weren’t taken seriously.

Here is the timeline of Snapchat’s ups and downs:

2011
Snapchat launches

Everyone’s like: β€˜hey I’m on Snapchat, add me!’ and then you’re like: β€˜WTF is Snapchat’
Everyone: β€˜It’s this thing where you send a photo to someone; it lasts for 10 seconds and then it disappears’
You: β€˜So, it’s for sending dodgy pics that you don’t want other people to save to their camera roll’.
Everyone: β€˜Uhhh… I guess’.

2012
Funding

Major funding goes on. They raise $10million and then value the company at $70million.
One of the funders of Instagram also invests.

October 2013
Stories

Snapchat launches the famous β€˜snap stories’ function, which was an instant success.

November 2013
Snapchat pisses off Facebook

Facebook tries to buy Snapchat for $3billion. To which they declined. This probably turned Facebook’s friendly competition into: β€œI WILL END YOU”.
That’s what I took from it, but both companies declined to make a statement, so that’s PR talk for β€˜i f*ckin h8 u now’.

2014
Hacked

Snapchat is hacked to send people spam pictures of fruit smoothies.

(Not that important. Highlights security problems, but I included this part mainly because this the nicest sort of spam you could receive).

2014
Snapchat gets in trouble

Snapchat broke the terms of the Federal Trade Commission. If you’re a blogger or in advertising, then you’ll be aware of how hot they are on their rules. Basically, Snapchat made out to the public that photos would not be saved and would disappear, when, in fact, that wasn’t the case and actually they were stored on a cloud somewhere.

2016
Snap’s estimated market value climbs to $25–35 billion.

August 2016
Facebook goes head-to-head

Facebook updates Instagram to include Instagram β€˜stories’. Like… Ohhhh no you di’n’t!’
The is one of the worst things that has actually happened to Snapchat.
Snapchat growth slowed 82% after Instagram Stories launched and a lot of its audience was lost to Instagram.

March 2017

Snap Inc. goes on the NY Stock Exchange, selling 200 million, priced at $17 per share, for a total of $3.4 billion

June 2017
Snapchat are worried

Downloads drop by 22% and Snap’s share price falls in one week from $27 a share back down to its IPO* of $17… In other words β€˜oh snap’ (pun intended).

August 2017
One year on since Instagram copies stories

Snap’s stats are crap.
Snapchat’s monthly active user rate down from 17.2% to 5%
Snapchat’s Stories users halts at 166 million daily users, whereas Instagram now has 250 million.

β€œFacebook and Instagram didn’t have to outdo Snapchat. They just needed to copy it and put it in a more convenient place in apps that people of all ages already use.”

Instagram Stories turns 1 as daily use surpasses Snapchat

January 2018
People hate Snapchat

Snapchat’s big redesign bashed in 83% of user reviews (*2.)

February 2018
Kylie’s tweet

One simple tweet from a reality person wiped $1billion of Snap’s stock market value.

March 2018
Rihanna vs. Snapchat

A ‘thrid party ad’ – put in airmarks, because Snapchat may be trying to place blame on someone else – slipped through their approval process and the ‘joke’ fell flat. It was a game of ‘would you rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown?’. This alludes to the domestic abuse that Rihanna suffered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend and massive douchebag Chris Brown.

The result? Snapchat loses $800 million

Snapchat stocks plunged by 4 percent on Thursday,Β losing the app nearly a billion dollars this weekβ€”evidently due to Rihanna fans who decided to delete the platform from their smartphones.

β€˜Snapchat Lost $800 Million After Rihanna Criticized Its Offensive Ad’

So what’s going to happen?
Predictions

I don’t have a crystal ball, but it’s not looking great for the app, although I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of Snapchat. Now there are a lot of investors and companies relying on the app to make big money, so they won’t let it die so easily. It may be the case that Snapchat stops growing and gradually users begin to become inactive over a period of a couple of years, as advertisers stop paying.

The developers will do all they can to claw back their reputation and the users. I think it could be heading for a MySpace funeral. A site that was once visited MORE THAN GOOGLE, MySpace is now probably only visited by people looking up their old profile to have a laugh at photos from year 7. To fill you in, MySpace lost its users as soon as new owners began to monetise it. This is exactly what everyone is getting annoyed with on Snapchat.

What I think Snapchat might try next

Live videos

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and even YouTube all have live video facilities. To compete and stay relevant, Snapchat may end up doing the same. Well, they’ll need to do the same. They dabbled with broadcasting the Winter Olympics in February, however, have no plans to let users launch their own live videos. Missing a trick there.

Influencer Marketing

They’ve had a lot of bad press from some of the biggest names in celebrity culture, so maybe to counteract it, maybe they’ll try some proactive positive PR by using celebrities to promote it, to counteract the negative from Kylie and Rihanna.

Make advertising easier for brands

Digital marketing research showed that “brands and media buyers believe Snapchat is the hardest platform to advertise on” over Facebook, Twitter, Google and Amazon. It’s also one of the most difficult to gauge Return On Investment. If Snapchat is to survive, they need to stay competitive with Facebook – where marketers put most of their marketing budget – so, Snapchat need to lure back their advertisers, so they can keep their investors happy and retain profit.

Snapchat will most likely have a few more tricks up its sleeves before it disappears. What do you think will happen to Snapchat?

Do you think Snapchat has had its day? Or do you think it will ride out the rough patch and survive?

Sources

1. Twitter

2. Tech Crunch

3. Forbes

4. Vanity Fair

5. Digiday

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Be kind this Christmas: this one gift will help the homeless

How you can easily help the homeless this Christmas by buying a Β£10 calendar

β€˜It’s the most wonderful time of year’ as it’s famously sung.Β For others, though, Christmas can be cruel.

A couple of days ago I was wandering around Spitalfields Market, walking amongst the stalls and the Christmas lights; everything felt so festive.

I was stopped by a volunteer with a charity box. A lot of people would be thinking, like I did: ‘what am I going to be roped into now?’.

But I stayed to listen. And I’m glad I did.

I had just beenΒ wandering around the city doing a spot of Christmas shopping. I saw something sparkly in the window of a luxury watch boutique with a price tag that had a few noughts on the end. I thought, “I wish I could just go in and buy that!”

Then, I feel a pang of guilt as I thought about people sleeping rough, who are probably wishing they could afford a Β£3 sandwich.

That’s when this lovely lady approached me and explained CafΓ© Art’s initiative: the MY LONDON calendar.

CafΓ© ArtΒ 2018 MYLONDON calendar

In the middle of Spitalfields Market there is currently a photography exhibition of stunning imagery of London life.

COVER OF 2018 CALENDAR: Angel Kid, Shoreditch.

Cover of 2018 Calendar: https://www.cafeart.org.uk/gallery

All of the photos you see were taken on disposable cameras and by homeless people. And they are amazing.

This is what the MY LONDON calendar is all about:

Thirteen beautiful photographs, taken by 100 homeless people over five days, are part of the 2018 MyLondon calendar.

“Every year we have a photography contest with disposable cameras. We give them out with the goal of empowering people affected by homelessness – to give them skills, confidence and eventually to earn some money by selling the photos and the annual MyLondon calendar.

On 30 June 2017, 100 Fujifilm one-time-use cameras were given out at St Paul’s Cathedral. The goal was not to focus on homelessness, but to capture the London they love.”

I love this whole idea. The photos are stunning and showcased some beautiful hidden sides to London. It makes sense that I should buy the calendar. London is my favourite place, the photos are amazing and you get to give back at the same time. It is wonderful to allow people to be creative in this way, and benefit from it, in more ways than just monetary. Plus, the calendar is such good quality.

This is such an easy way you can be a part of this amazing project. Just pick up a copy when you’re out Christmas shopping or just add it to your basket if you’re online; it’s easy. By buying the calendar, we help complete the circle and give back to those people who captured such brilliant shots of the city.

Buy the calendar here!

If you’re getting one anyway, it might as well be this one.

So, for 2018, instead of buying a Harry Styles calendar or whatever, why not give a gift with a purpose that gives back?

*Image belongs toΒ Michelle Goldberg and CafΓ© ArtΒ in the 2018 calendar. Buy your own copy here.

It was lovely to meet you, CafΓ© Art!

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What would Daenerys wear?

Style Inspiration: Daenerys Targaryen

Unless you’ve been living under a (Casterly) rock, you’ll know that season seven of Game of Thrones is in full swing! …Even if you don’t watch it.

I’ve already written one post on GoT, but, the force of nature that is Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, deserved her own post.

Dany’s style is forever evolving along with her character, much like Sansa’s, and as we all know, WINTER IS COMING so her costumes are getting darker as she prepares for war.

Let’s get to the part where I dress up πŸ˜‰ I thought it would be fun to interpret Dany’s style if she were to live and breathe and walk through fire in our realm in 2017 (you know, if she wasn’t fictional) and I feel this gunmetal foil jumpsuit would be the kind of thing she’d wear.

*Disclaimer* This has not been photoshopped; that wild dragon happened to be there.

Jumpsuit: Topshop (colour out of stock) same jumpsuit in grey | Earring: Amazon | Necklace:Β Topshop (Out of stock) similar | Boots: Topshop

Although I don’t think she would pop into Topshop to try on outfits, cos for sure I think she would resurrect Alexander McQueen to custom-make her clothes from 24k gold spun silk and lizard skin, Topshop was the next best thing.

After all, sheΒ isΒ Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, first of her name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men (claimant), Protector of the Realm (claimant),Β Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Mother of Dragons, The Unburnt, Breaker of Chains, Princess of Dragonstone… and all round feminist badass. Whew, that’s so long. Hands up if you just glanced over that part. I feel a meme is appropriate here:

10 Daenerys costume facts

  1. It took two and a half months and seven wigs to find the perfect tone of that β€˜Daenerys silver-white’ hair. In my look, I put a few of her signature plaits in my hair.
  2. Sticking with the theme of hair, in the book when Dany emerges from the flames, her hair is completely burnt off. So, if the show had followed the books, she would’ve been bald for at least a season before her hair grew back!
  3. As blue’s a Dothraki colour, Dany wore a lot of blue dresses in season four, as a sign of respect and mourning for her late husband Khal Drogo.
  4. However, the following season sees her wearing white and pale colours as she asserts her authority. In the episode “The Dance of Dragons“, Dany wears white to show her neutrality as gladiators take to the fighting pit to battle to the death. Michele Clapton, GoT costume designer said:

    “Now she’s got this sense of power and also a sense of immortality. […] I wanted to give this rather untouchable quality to her. The idea behind the white and pale grey is the sense of removal, a removal from reality”.

    Michele Clapton

  5. Not a little-known fact, but for those who don’t know, Dany’s eyes should be purple. They tried filming the first episodes with Emilia Clarke wearing lilac contact lenses, but they were too uncomfortable, so they decided to film without.
  6. Dany’s armour-like dragon necklace, which she wore in the scene I referred to in no.4,Β was commissioned by a London jewellery maker Yunus & Eliza.Β I drew Daenerys in this necklace which I added below πŸ™‚
  7. …and YOU CAN ACTUALLY BUY THE ACTUAL JEWELLERY! (It’s pricey though).
  8. Dany always wears trousers and boots underneath her dresses, no matter how extravagant the dress. That’s why I chose to go with a jumpsuit for this look. It’s the best of a dress and trousers; the silhouette remains feminine, but is still more practical than a dress, whereas the boots toughen it up a bit.

    “There’s always a fear in her that she will have to leave so it gives her the freedom to always escape and run. If she had silly shoes on she’d lose all her strength.”

  9. In this new season, Daenerys is leaving her blues and whites behind and going for the dark colours like steel, charcoal and burgundy. After all, her house colours are red and black and she’s here to claim the throne in the name of House Targaryen. I love this necklace that I paired with the silver jumpsuit: with its layered silver chains and purple stone that looks like it could be a dragon claw, its the perfect touch to finish this outfit.

    Now you do finally start seeing [red] creeping in through the scaling and embroidery on her dresses. It’s just a touch. And she now has this fantastic new chain we’ve created. I didn’t want her to have a crown, I wanted her to have a chain.

  10. Gone are the floaty gowns in season seven. She’s going to a colder climate, so she’ll be more covered up and now that’s she’s a conquerer, her outfits are more structured and sharp to reflect that. Ironically, we see Dany’s outfit looking very reminiscent of her sadistic brother’s in season one – perhaps Viserys’ costume actually foreshadowed Daenerys’ success?

    Dany’s setting foot on the shores of her homeland and preparing to reclaim her birthright which means she needs an outfit that reflects her position of power.

    β€œShe’s this figurehead of her army,” Clapton says. β€œI wanted her to be able to stand in front of the Unsullied and be their leader.”

    Michele Clapton

I hope you enjoyed this post!
If you think I’m a bit of a nerd after reading this, then you’re right! πŸ˜› Let me know what you think of my interpretation of Daenerys’ season seven outfit in the comments ♥

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My drawing of Daenerys for my bestie!

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Game of Threads: the fashion behind the Thrones

Game of Thrones: what are the secrets behind the show’s fashion?

The most successful and expensive show of all time needs no introduction. HBO’s Game of Thrones returns to our screens on 16 July and I CANNOT wait! What better time to delve into the world of the Seven Kingdoms and its fashion?!

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