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Positivity

Monday 18 February 2013


I don't usually do the whole giving-things-up-for-Lent thing. I'm not particularly religious so it doesn't seem vital to me and I already know full well that I'm capable of denying myself nice food. I did it for sodding ages when I was losing weight. The next 35 days or so won't see me giving up anything physical. Instead (and I'm trying not to sound too wanky and self-help guide here), I'm trying to give up being negative about myself.

It's hard.

For starters I'm English, therefore genetically incapable of being positive about myself without feeling immensely awkward. When it gets to annual PDR time at work I'm generally found gnashing my teeth and trying to think of inventive ways to describe what I've done over the course of the year without sounding like an egomaniac. And I am good at my job: I really am. If I was American I'd be whooping and "way to go Alex"-ing myself. But I'm not, so I don't. 

I'm quite horrible to myself a lot of the time, especially when it comes to my appearance. I take about 90 photos everytime I do an outfit post - thank goodness for the multishot setting. I am harsh when I go through them to select which ones to edit and use. I reckon if I bit the bullet and used most of the ones I discard for making me look too fat/treble-chinned/just plain weird, you probably wouldn't see what I see. You'd just see Alex wearing some clothes in front of a brick wall, looking much the same as normal . I would never read someone else's blog and think "god, she looks terrible in those photos", yet I do it to myself with 90% of the pictures I take.  

My default mode in outfit photos is always to stare at the floor and try and disguise the worst points about myself but this isn't possible when you rope in a family member to take photos and they're all "Look at the camera!" "Stop looking at the floor!" "Stop looking grumpy!" "Smile!" "Say sausages!"

So how do I word this without sounding negative? Um. I am not particularly fond of how I look in these photos.  But I do absolutely adore this new coat and it deserves to be shown off, so I shall show it off. It was quite a discovery. We used to have a Vero Moda in Liverpool but I think it's gone now.  I never shopped there much anyway so it's not a brand I tend to remember to look at online.  Equally I didn't expect to find it stocked at Spartoo: I associate them with shoes, not clothes! I came across it during an idle lunchtime browse and had to have it.

The Peter Pan collar is dead. Long live the Puritan collar!

It's such nice quality - lovely, warm material that makes it perfect for that spring weather when you don't want to bundle up in an ankle length winter coat but need something a bit more substantial than a summer jacket.  I like it when a piece of clothing makes you feel happier.

Dress - New Look via New Life
Cardi - Gap sale
Shoes - Next clearance

Here's to positivity and smiling more.

The moral of this story is that a tripod can never make you laugh like your mum can.

17 comments:

  1. excelent idea....... I shall attempt to follow your lead......fab coat too!!

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  2. oh, I know what you mean about the photos! I sometimes think it's such a waste of time, the amount of pictures I discard, but then I'm vain! I titally know what you mean, I NEVER think that about anyone that they don't look nice.

    I love that coat! I used to go into vero moda quite a lot when I used to still go shopping in Germany, they have them everywhere.

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  3. Well, I'm afraid I don't think I have the inner strength to b positive about myself for the whole of lent. Good luck with this, I'm sure it will get much easier? Maybe even natural?
    The coat is lovely, especially that collar! x

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  4. I did notice your fabulous new blog design - so good. Sorry if it was done ages back and I've just been oblivious for weeks :)

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  5. You look lovely, nothing is better than a smile :) Interesting to see you style this dress here, I have it too but have only worn it in summer before.

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  6. Ah Alex, I'm with you on this. I have managed to take negativity about myself to an extreme to the point that at the beginning of this year I had zero self esteem left and developed an anxiety disorder. It's taken me a year to realise that being good to yourself is actually a beneficial thing! I don't know why we are so hard on ourselves - we'd never treat anyone else as badly as we sometimes do ourselves.

    I think you look lovely in all these pictures (the coat and dress are gorgeous!) and I LOVE the one of you laughing. Sometimes the least planned/edited pics are actually the best :) xxx

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  7. Yay positivity, being negative is a good thing to give up x

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  8. Yay I like smiley pictures! And your excellent new coat... :)

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  9. Hi Alex, I never comment because I am sooooo lazy!
    But I just wanted to say that I really really love your "A blogging good read" posts (thanks a lot for McBride!)
    And your puritan collar...fantastic! ;)

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  10. Hello, lurker-reader here! Just wanted to say I think you look particularly pretty in those photos - really kind of fresh, youthful and glowy if you know what I mean. So it just goes to show how your own perception of yourself can be so massively off doesn't it (I'm very guilty of it with myself too!). P.S. Totally gorgeous coat, love it!

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  11. Love this outfit! I'm exactly the same when it comes to being positive about myself (I think most people are...). Life's hard when you're beating yourself up though. I'm tyring to give up excessive worrying for Lent. It's going ok so far... xx

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  12. You look adorable in your smiley pic :D

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  13. I always think you look lovely in your shots but WHAT a difference the smile makes (as you know I am a firm advocate for your smile! ;-) ), it lights you up!
    OOOOh, love the coat! How lovely that collar is!x

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  14. Alex your blog is amazing and you always look great! Your personality shines through your blog, Odd socks is always a pleasure to read. You are fabulous, massive congrats for putting yourself out there even when feeling the way you do, that takes balls!! Xxx

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  15. I LOVE this outfit, you look gorgeous and I always love how you put outfits together!

    Maria xxx

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  16. I love this outfit! I keep eyeing this coat so it's amazing to see it on a REAL person (instead of the glum models). Might have to buy it. :)

    Also I've been terrible at reading blogs lately but your new blog design is beautiful!

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