I LOVE it when I see women turn their dreams into reality. When I heard about Carly and her new business: Little Lettie Boxes, I wanted to chat to her about how she turned an idea into a viable business venture. I am inspired by the number of mothers who are forging their own way with micro-businesses. It takes guts and self-belief and I am completely in awe of those that do it.
31 Days. 31 Frocks. 31 Ways. Frocktober.
You know what I think I love most about spring? Dresses. I could say it’s all about the sunshine, the freshly mown grass, the budding blooms and the promises of new life but I am siding with the dresses.
Next month dresses are all I will be wearing. For a reason. Frocktober raises money and awareness for Ovarian Cancer.
Unlike many other cancers there is no early detection test. Consequently ovarian cancer is often diagnosed in its late stages and only 20%-30% of women will survive beyond five years of diagnosis. In comparison, survival rates increase to 80-100% when ovarian cancer is detected and treated early.
(source: Frocktober everydayhero page)
That sounds to me like a really good reason to fund research for an early detection test and to bring awareness to a cancer we don’t talk about all that much. AND it’s fun to wear dresses all the time.
Last year, I am slightly embarrassed to admit, I didn’t need to re-wear any dresses. A recent dress re-count of my wardrobe and I could probably extend Frocktober well into Frockvember and still have a few unworn pieces. But I know not everyone is quite as dress-obsessed, makes their own clothes or has a spare downstairs wardrobe. So I put together some inspiration on how to wear dresses for thirty-one days straight.
Re-imagining Australian Fashion Week
Australian Fashion Week has always intrigued me. Every April, Sydney hosts an array of beautiful designers, celebrities, models, mag editors, buyers and bloggers. An idea imported from overseas and given a good dose of Aussie irreverence. Remember when Kristy Hinze wore a $5 million diamond-encrusted bikini by Tigerlily and a rather enamoured snake around her neck?
So when high-end fashion e-tailer, Farfetch, asked bloggers to re-imagine Australian Fashion Week, I was in.
If I took charge of Fashion Week, what would it look like?
Value, self-belief and the pay gap
For a long time I was convinced the only real difference between men and women was anatomy and up-bringing. That we were conditionally brought up to expect and act within certain norms according to gender. For me, that idea fell away once I had sons. They act like boys. They act nothing like their little girl peers. Nature is, it seems, stronger than nurture. I got to wondering how those innate differences play in the way women and men value themselves. And how that impacts inequality between the sexes.
What can I do?
Some posts write themselves. Others take longer. Untangling difficult thoughts. Trying to persuade them onto the page in an orderly manner. This post is one of the latter.
This is me trying to find sense in the senseless, understand the world we live in and, above all, wanting to change things for the better. So much has happened lately that makes me doubt the good, that horrifies me, that makes me fearful for the kind of world my boys will grow up in.
Self Belief: Turning around the things that limit us
I am about to change my life. My inner cheer-leader is finally going to be louder than my inner critic. I am going to extend the kindness I show to those around me, inward. I am going to turn around my struggle with self belief.
Because the wonderful thing about beliefs is that they can be changed. I can alter the way I think about things. I can change my perspective.