I've loved Taylor Swift since I was 12. I'm not a big pop music person, but there's always been a special place in my heart for Taylor. After 6 years I finally got the opportunity to see Taylor live on the 1989 world tour in Hyde Park, London for British Summer Time festival. it was incredible.
As the concert was part of British Summer Time, I also got to see Rae Morris, Vance Joy, John Newman and Ellie Goulding. Everyone was amazing, but it was Rae Morris that blew me away. I've been a fan of Rae's for a year or so now, and she was absolutely amazing live, her performance was beautiful! I was also pleasantly surprised by John Newman, I've never been a massive fan of his, but his performance was so full of energy and got everyone dancing.
Standing for 6 hours through support acts isn't fun, especially in a massive crowd in 30 degree heat. But the second Taylor stepped on stage it was all worth it, and I totally forgot about my achy feet as she sang the opening lyrics of Welcome To New York. And from that point on the show was flawless, every note, every song, every outfit, every speech she gave, EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT! Seeing her play old hits such as Love Story made my 12 year old self so happy as I sang along to lyrics I've known off by heart for years and have spent many hours singing to myself in the mirror (we all do it)
Not only did I get to see the Goddess that is Taylor Swift, while singing along to Style, Taylor announced "Please welcome to the 1989 runway, Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner!". Everyone was freaking out but oh it didn't stop there. Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Martha Hunt, Karlie Kloss, Serena Williams and Cara Delevingne (!!!!!!!) graced the 1989 runway that night. I almost fainted when I saw Cara, everyone knows how much I'm obsessed with her. Later on twitter I saw that Emma Watson was also there, making Hyde Park the hub of girl power that night.
After dancing for 8 hours and screaming lyrics at the top of my lungs, I was shattered. But oh I was happy.
1989 was released just when I needed it, just as I was going through a break-up and trying desperately to re-invent myself and find a happy place. And so along came Taylor Swift, gifting me with songs like clean which got me through and continues to mean soooo much to me personally, and New Romantics which never fails to make me feel good. But 1989 isn't like other Taylor Swift albums. Taylor described it as "An album I wrote when I was 25 and single in New York City", an album that was born after she felt the need to cut her hair, re-invent herself. I think that's what I love so much about this album. There are no songs that say "oh I'm sooo lonely" or "oh whhhhy did he hurt me?". Instead, 1989 screams of empowerment, telling stories of love and heart break from the view point of a girl that is strong and unbroken, moving past the pain, learning from it and being okay. And so seeing Taylor perform these songs live, dancing to New romantics and blank space while smiling like a lone, made me so happy. so so so happy.
I feel like I've grown up with Taylor just like so many other fans have. Her songs serve as almost a survival guide of love, friendships, heartbreak, growing up and getting over things. The speeches she gave before songs and the advice she offered to the crowd on subjects like bullying, heartbreak, being positive, avoiding negativity on social media, and loving yourself just confirmed her status as a total goddess and one of my main role models.
Taylor Swift, you really are enchanting.
(live footage of me losing my chill and revealing my inner fan-girl)
That is why seeing #bodyposi all over my twitter timeline makes me so happy.
Girls and guys all across the world of all races, all weights, all body shapes are fearlessly sharing photos to express that they love/or are beginning to love their body and saying"hey you know what i look great and i feel great!" It's such a simple act but having the confidence to share a body photo and openly express your confidence is something that can be exceptionally daunting. However with over 300,000 posts tagged with #bodypositive on instagram and a long list of twitter accounts dedicated to sharing #bodyposi posts and dishing our support and compliments like there's no tomorrow (eg. @staybodyposi and @bodyposikitties) it's clear that the simple act of posting a photo is having a big impact online.
I think what I love most about seeing #bodyposi posts is that there is always a stream of comments from girls across the world saying things like "you're so beautiful!", "you're a work of art!!!", "you are a goddess", "slay" etc. There's so much love and support and heart-eyed emojis being thrown around it makes me so happy. Too often women can be so negative towards others, we can be a horrible bitchy species! But seeing hundreds of thousands of beautiful, empowering women saying kind, confidence-building things about other women is something I want to see every single day. And that's why I love the #bodyposi hashtag so much because not only can you see women complimenting themselves.
My best friend Rachelle has always been massively inspirational to me with her body confidence. I have never once heard her insult another woman's body and she is always ready with an inspirational speech whenever I'm having a moment of negativity towards my body. She shared a #bodyposi image on instagram (@heartshapedteen) with this caption which I think sums it up.
The hashtag #bodyposi hasn't wiped the internet of self-hatred and body shaming but it's a way to break up the negativity and show people that it's acceptable to love yourself IT'S GREAT TO LOVE YOURSELF!
I think until you take a moment and think about it, you don't realise just how much we needed a #bodyposi movement. Body shaming has almost second nature to us to the point when we often don't notice it any more. But still insulting someone's body and shaming them for their shape or size isn't cool, and it's about time we became active about changing it.
(such an anthem)
 |
| (all images from pinterest) |
Basically I want my bedroom to be Misty Day's hut from American Horror Story coven, a space I can be free to spin around like Stevie Nicks at my hearts content...
 |
| me in approx 2 months |
Find my pinterest board full of bedroom inspo HERE
 |
| Silver Apatite ring(*)- Violet Plum Jewellery |
Over the past months I've gone from wearing no jewellery, to being a total addict. And I have no doubt that this will be the start of a large ring collection.
After opening the parcel I was immediately struck by how dainty the ring is. It is so thin and delicate, yet the structure is still solid and it fits perfectly. My taste in jewellery is very simple so this is perfect for me as it is so subtle but so beautiful. I'm normally put off wearing rings as I feel like they get in the way but not this one, the apatite piece is so small and the ring is so weightless that I can hardly feeling it on my finger and it causes me no hassle throughout the day. PERFECT!
Violet Plum Jewellery has so many lovely pieces. Only a day or two before winning my ring I was actually on the verge of buying another of their rings, and I'll definitely be treating myself to one of their necklaces in the future (I've got my eye on their Titanium Quartz necklace)
I'd really recommend checking out their stuff if you're on the hunt for some affordable but still beautifully detailed jewellery.
Find Violet Plum Jewellery-
Website- www.violet-plum.co.uk
Instagram- @violetplumjewellery
Twitter- @violetplumjewel
Facebook- Violet Plum Jewellery
