Butterfly Kisses
Collaboration with B You Boutique:Part I
In a paradise made up of dreams, swirls of peach intermingle with ashes, fighting to overcome evil, looking for a way out. Escape exits are futile, even the butterflies cannot escape the hungry garden lurking with forbidden secrets. Forbidden is the gardens motto, thriving on a system of secrecy, where good means evil and evil means good. In the topsy turvy world of make believe be careful who you trust, walk blindly into the path of butterfly kisses and let them rain upon you like a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter. Like a purification ritual, the kiss of a butterfly will numb your senses, drifting into a death trap, a guise of dripping sacharine delight draining you of free will, taking away your life. The butterflies circle one by one, feeding upon their prey like hunters in the night.
Like butterflies we are attracted to the sweet nectar of materialism and present ourselves as leaders of capitalism. Capitalism is the driving force behind our obsession with materialistic pleasures and I am guilty of shopping until I drop! So it should come as no surprise to announce the news that I have become a brand rep for B You Boutique, a unique store with a feminine yet edgy vibe, borrowing key patterns and textures from Lipsy without the expensive price label. B You Boutique launched in August 2015 with the desire to provide affordable high quality fashion and has been making waves ever since. As a child I was not interested in fashion, taught that it was a hedonistic pleasure that only the wealthy could afford. My financial situation meant that I did not have the freedom to choose clothing and I would often be teased for looking 'tatty' and off trend. Fashion is not about following trends, fashion is about choosing key pieces that mirror or reflect your identity and it is only now that I have come to realize that. I was drawn to B You because of its smart business driven ethos that catered to women like me who want to look stylish but do not have the funds to splash out on high end wear. In an age where designer labels determines your status as an 'independent' woman we must challenge this archaic ideal and show that wealth does not equate to being more fashionable.
Growing up I had severe self-esteem issues constantly told that I would never amount to anything because of the way I looked. I seemed to recall one conversation that advised me to keep a low profile because only 'beautiful women could get ahead' and us 'lowly averages' must remain subservient to women who possessed the genetic lottery. For a while I believed it, during secondary school the popular clique was made up of beautiful girls and boys which made us loathe and admire them in equal measure. At first I wanted to be them but then realized that their 'perfection' was a facade. Popularity is measured on beauty but it is a beauty I would rather not be associated with. I was a victim of the popular kids taunted, called names and laughed at- some were physically and verbally abusive but I was always blamed. I began cutting class afraid of being singled out as the loner, even now I despise being alone because of its connotations (and I have many friends). I was given detention after detention labelled as a problem child, despite my continued complaints against the system that made my life a living hell.
Whoever invented the phrase ' sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me' understood the corruption of the justice system that governs our existience. We are lost in abyss of self-destruction, consumed by our need to break others to justify our own insecurities. I ask you why are victims blamed for their downfall, why are we seen as pretenders to the throne of life, seeking solace through a victim complex when we are puppets in a grander scheme? I have lost count of how many times I have been told that my illnesses, my childhood trauma and bullying is a direct result of my own actions. This is wrong, we victims must stick together and fight for our survival in the wheel fortune. We are not scapegoats but humans with a conscience and a duty to promote equal rights.
The struggle to promote equality is something we can all attest to so why sit on your laurels when you can join the fight against adversity? B You understands what it is like to be an outsider, a lamb caught between two fences, caught between two worlds. When Kirsty Prie founder of B You Boutique contacted me I jumped at the chance to represent a brand that directly correlated with both personal taste and ethos. Many mainstream labels reject smaller bloggers like myself simply because they favour bloggers with a bigger social media presence. The amount of followers or likes that you accumulate does not attest to your brilliance and creativity as a blogger. I know ( without naming names) bloggers who put minimal effort into presentation and communication with fans and yet are heralded as heros by the media and its people. Kirsty approached me not because of stats but because she geninuely loved my personal style and that is a rare find in the blogging industry.
As a brand rep I am allowed to choose two items to review and I picked this peach bodycon split midi and a sleeveless khaki waistcoat [which will be reviewed in another post). The bodycon dress is both demure and flirtatious, perfect for a day at the races. The watercolour print is juxtaposed against the peach hue and the skirt has a subtle split creating a pencil skirt effect. What I love about the dress is its similuarity to the current Lipsy selection fronted by Michelle Keegan, a style icon in her own right. As we transcend into fall why ditch the bright tropical colours of the summer when you can stand apart from the crowd?
To make the dress pop I added pillarbox red accessories in the form of heavenly red lace-up heels and a red wrapover clutch which suprisingly enhanced the flirtatious beauty of the dress. To top off the look I added a black floppy hat and pink cat-eye sunglasses borrowing inspiration from romantic bohemianism. A cross between Romantic Bohemianism and the Flirty 50's my look is influenced by old Hollywood glamour with a modern twist.
It goes without saying that fashion comes from within and should not be dictated by institutional prejudice. Without labels, without trends we can have the freedom to be true to ourselves and cement our individual qualities. Why be enslaved to homogeniety when we have free will? Being a mindless sheep means fitting in and as an outsider I embrace my difference, even if I do not embrace my flaws. Learn to use fashion as a positive platform to celebrate the talents of others and not as a cult hellbent on destroying your rivals self-confidence.
Let your confidence shine through and embrace your shape, size and anything else that makes you unique. We were all created with our own fingerprints, DNA and we shouldn't give all that up for the sake of peer pressure or to satisfy institutional greed. Corrupt as humanity may be a seed of purity still remains and it is our last speck of hope left to claim as our own.
The B You Boutique shoot was inspired by the auestere darkness of a forgotten church, locked in a sea of rubble and demolition. Stone and gravel adorn each path creating a stark contrast against the tranquil beauty of the dress and accessories. Located by a unused church, the atmosphere is dank yet hauntingly melodic, the notes of a forgotten hymn echoing through.
The dress juxtaposed against the church reminds us of the vitality of life, never give up on your dreams as one day those dreams will disappear into matter, millions of lost particles floating in purgatory. We must remind ourselves that we should celebrate our achievements and live each day as though it was our last. Life is precious and sometimes we take our life for granted.
Does anyone ever question their existience, a belief that a higher power is sometimes controlling our thoughts and emotions. Like the Truman show it can be hard to step outside a Post-Modern world where the difference between reality and fantasy becomes unrecognizable.
In an age defined by social media reality is harder to digest; no longer is there a clear distinction between reality and fantasy but instead a parrellel universe exists where the two worlds collide. With that in mind consider this... are we victims of social propoganda or has our very existience been engineered to create conflict? The answer is the latter, from a small speck in the womb into a fully fledged adult we have are the product of the aftermath of hybrid reality. I am a hybrid, a network of paradoxes designed to shock and surprise my readers. With me there is no black and white archetype conditioned by the media to think and speak like others. I am an anti-disestablishatarian and proud to rebel against conformity.
Much Love Springbots xox
Photography- Jummana Khanom
Dress- B You Boutique
Shoes- Primark
Bag- Lollipop
Hat- Asos