I love a nostalgic photo, so when I was asked to take part in the Five Year Fashion Flashback project from vouchercodes.co.uk I jumped at the chance.
This is in honour of Voucher Codes' 5th birthday and I'm one of five bloggers chosen to
Back in summer 2008, I hadn't even started this blog yet, and I hadn't quite found my fashion mojo after becoming a mum, but I was getting there. During that summer, El and I had popped over to France to visit my mum and it was probably the first time in my life that I pre-styled every outfit before we set foot on the ferry and even wrote down a list that I referred to during the holiday. You can see the way things were going with my fashion attitude.
During the break en France, my funky mother suggested we go to the Vieilles Charrues festival, which is pretty much in her back garden.
El was the only child in amongst about 200,000 French festies, but he was looked after very well (a kind teen hoisted him up on his shoulders for Kasabian, for example) and it set a good precedent in terms of my mission to be the ultimate rock & roll mum.
Wardrobe-wise, wellies were a must, I went khaki with a matching Ed Hardy tee (from TK Maxx), a sneaky denim waistcoat and red jeans that I still treasure (and can just about squeeze in to) from Topshop.
You'll notice that I didn't have my trademark red hair back then (shocking!) and it was pre-wearing-a-brace, so the front teeth are very much (ahem) out there. I won't lie, setting up this blog in 2010 definitely made me reconsider certain aspects of my appearance and I started making much more of an effort.
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| The youngest swinger in town |
On day two I was wearing slightly questionable denim shorts (again Topshop) with the wellies and a Ramones sleeveless tee. The shorts have been cast aside but the Kate Moss @ Topshop khaki jacket and t-shirt are still very much in circulation (I've worn them both during the course of this week).
I'm not going to say I look back on these photos and think I was looking my best (nooooo way) but I was working things out, for sure. I'm not cringing as I type - and besides, my cute, tiny sidekick takes the edge off a bit.
Things have definitely changed since then. In 2008, I was an absolute Topshop devotee - now I'm more interested in the Peekaboo vintage concession whenever I venture to the fashion Mecca that is Oxford Circus.
My style inspiration back then was Kate Moss (hence the jacket) - because, of course, it was before the heady days of New Girl and Made in Chelsea, where most of my celeb fashion fixes come from these days.
I don't think my shopping budget has changed all that much. I bought more clothes back then - and had to ditch a lot of them too. Quantity does not equate quality. Now I'm much more likely to spend on a key piece or two from the high street each month, and at least one vintage treasure, rather than bulging bags of fast fashion from Primark (yuk).
Those red jeans were probably my favourite item of clothing back then. Now I'd be hard pressed to name a fave - I just love my vintage wardrobe. I'm lucky enough to have collected quite a few fabulous dresses: the one I'm wearing today (very pink, very sparkly) is right up there (I'll show you later).
And as for the best trend I was wearing five years ago - it has to be the enduring skinny jeans. I've never really had the thighs for them, but man, are they versatile.
So, enough about me - over to you guys.
If you want the chance to win two tickets on the Eurostar to Paris*, you simply need to do the same as me. Do yourself a blog post, name checking the Five Year Fashion Flashback and Voucher Codes' 5th birthday, and make sure you answer the following questions, casting your mind back five years...
What was your:
1. Favourite place to shop
2. Style inspiration
3. Typical shopping budget
4. Favourite item of clothing
5. Favourite trend that you were wearing.
Easy peasy.
Good luck - and may the fashion time lords be kind!
* Winner will be picked through random.org and full terms and conditions will be published on vouchercodes.co.uk/competitions
