I decided to take a little different approach to The Look Show competition and incorporate it into a post that I’ve wanted to write for a while. I don’t normally discuss many personal details on this blog, so today I want to write about why I love fashion, and blogging, and how I got into it.
It sounds like a huge cliché but fashion has always been one of my main loves. I remember when I was younger getting excited when one of my older sisters used to come home with her creations that she had made in her textiles class at school, and I remember watching my mum sew when I was younger and picking up skills from her.
When I was at GCSE level I decided to take on textiles and art and immersed myself into the glamorous world of fashion. I bought all the fashion magazines from a local market stall when they were a couple of months out of date for the bargain price of 70p and used to relish going on school trips to art museums. My walls were covered with Audrey Hepburn photos (always a firm style favourite on mine) and I used to lose myself in Vogue’s editorial pages.
One of the main reasons why I got so immersed in this fantasy world, is that it was a way out of my ordinary life. I had a really good childhood and have no bad memories of my family life, but for as long as I can remember (my first memory is from primary school aged about 6) I have been bullied. I don’t know why, but it happened from primary school until my college years. It would be about anything – for being too skinny, for talking to someone else’s friend, and particularly about my ‘huge’ nose. I didn’t tell anyone at the time, I was too frightened. Although I was always threatened with being physically beaten up I was lucky not to face that, but instead got verbally threatened and my confidence was literally beaten down to nothing.
When I was 18 I decided to do something quite dramatic and have plastic surgery on my nose. I’ve been paranoid about it since the bullying started. Maybe if I hadn’t been bullied so much about it, it wouldn’t have bothered me so much but to this day it has been one of the best things I have ever done. My confidence soared and it was around this time that I also discovered the blogging world. I started Katie Styles in May 2009, after reading other blogs for a few years beforehand and finally plucked up the courage to start mine. Although my blog hasn’t shot up in popularity as some others, and I dip in and out of the blogging world due to uni work and starting a ‘real’ job, starting up Katie Styles has been another one of my highlight of the last few years.
As well as being an entry post I also want to use this time to thank everyone who reads and follows my blog. Blogging has been amazing to me. Not in the way of freebies, or press days, or getting attention, but to the people I’ve met and who have shown me support. Not only have you made me a lot less self conscious of who I am you’ve also made me realise that complete strangers can be absolutely amazing. If I’ve ever had a problem or a down moment, there has always been someone there to talk to and to cheer me up. If your ever thinking about starting a blog and don’t have the confidence, then put this out of your mind, and just go fot it. The support you receive from fellow bloggers is amazing.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this post. I know it’s quite different from my ordinary outfit posts and it will probably be the last time I ever speak about this sort of thing, but with the Look Show coming up, I decided to push my blog a little further and talk more openly about things than I normally do. I think one of the main reasons why attending the Look Show for Katie Styles would be an amazing opportunity, is so I can finally meet some of you other wonderful bloggers. The fact that it would be on the FROW (front row - fashion talk darlin'!) would be a dream come true.
If anyone wants to talk about bullying or any issues then just comment below or email me at katiestyles_@hotmail.com … Over the years I’ve developed quite a few tactics to get rid of those horrible people in your life, and how to move on!
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