dressing appropriately

Although I write about a variety of different things on my blog, this post is a little more personal than usual and is, somewhat, mixed in subject matter. It is 50% about my holiday and 50% about how I dress for things which sounds vague and a little pointless but, stay with me and all will become clear...

When I was younger, and a lot less confident than I am now (mainly during the latter of my teenage years 15-19), I struggled to dress for occasions. By this, I mean, I had a set few items of clothes I limited myself to and that I felt comfortable in and unfortunately it became a one-outfit-fits-all-occasions kind of situation. I mostly wore leggings, a dress of a certain length, a cardigan and ballet pumps because that is how I thought I looked best. When summer came I didn't lose the cardigan or the leggings so I was crazily hot. A terribly embarrassing example of this occurred while I was away on holiday one year in Spain. I must have been about about 15 and we were spending the day on the beach. I remember being sat under an umbrella in a maxi dress with a cardigan on and under my maxi dress I had on a pair of leggings! It was the middle of August and the weather must've been 30 degrees Celsius (or more) and I was feeling so hot, I almost felt sick. I wanted to be in my swimwear like everyone else and go and swim in the sea but I didn't have the confidence so instead I just put up with the heat and it was a miserable day and needless to say, I must've looked ridiculous. Looking back on this makes me feel annoyed and sorry for my old self but also happy to be in a better place. 

Things weren't much different when the winter came, I hated how boots made my legs look short so, once again, I used to wear pumps and freeze my feet off (even when it was practically snowing I didn't let up). Autumn and Spring were easier months because they were less radical but throughout the rest of year, I always felt fed up with how I looked and felt. In scenarios where casual clothes (jeans, t-shirt, trainers etc) were appropriate I would stand out and when things were more dressed up, I could make my outfit a little more dressy but still, I felt bored by it.  

I've loved fashion since I can remember so restricting myself so much was frustrating and pretty crappy. Then I reached an age where things seemed to change and I gained a better perspective of things. This change probably began when I first read Gabi Gregg's blog Gabi Fresh (which was then called Young, Fat and Fabulous). I began wearing season/weather/situation appropriate clothing and from this, I started enjoying things a little more.

As I said at the start of this post, the point of this wasn't just about my confidence in the past, it was also, somewhat, about the holiday I just got back from (which actually prompted me to write this). Whilst I was away this Easter in the French Alps, I realised that I was actually wearing appropriate clothing that I felt happy in. I found it funny when I thought back to how I would've dressed had my 16 year old self come instead of my 22 year old self. It just felt like a bit of progress that for some reason, I decided I wanted to share! Although I didn't get any decent photos of my outfits on my DSLR I got some pretty good ones on my phone that I shared on Instagram (follow me @hheartsfashion) so I decided to share them on here as well. Don't get me wrong, my outfits aren't amazing and my make-up and hair were low key but that's the whole point, I guess. 

Anyway, if you made this far, thanks. This was a slightly longer post than usual but hopefully it was worth the read!

Please let me know your thoughts and feel free to share any similar experiences or comment about the craziness of me wearing leggings on a beach!