Autumn Staples

Autumn is finally upon us! Which means colder weather, warm hearty food and Halloween. Autumn and Winter are quite possibly my favourite times of year. Actually, they definitely are. I love everything about the colder seasons; I prefer cold weather as some of you may already know (see my post about being pale in summer for reasons why!), the food, Christmas and of course the clothes.

Which brings me to this post, my Autumn Staples! (You can find all of these items at NewLook!)

First staple for the season: Tartan!

I love tartan clothes and Autumn is the best time for them. They always remind of Clueless and their outfits are so chic!

Second staple: Corduroy.

So, corduroy, it’s the fabric we all wore in the 90’s it feels like and it’s made a come back! Particularly in skirts, which is actually great because it’s quite a warm fabric and looks great paired with thick or patterned tights!

On to staple three: Burgundy, Mustard and Plum.

These are colours that come back in fashion near enough every Autumn and winter, they’re just great colours for the season.

Number four is another lot of colours: Pastels.

Pastel colours typically remind me of Winter and Spring, but I think they can look great when paired with some of the warmer, darker colours they can look great for Autumn too.

My fifth Autumn staple is: Bold patterns.

Bold patterns tend to look good throughout the year, but they seem to be making a bigger impact than usual this season! Especially check patterns!

Autumn staple six is: All black everything with bright/bold accessories.

I love how much of a statement this is. All of the focus goes on your accessories which makes picking them out in the morning a lot of fun. My personal favourite combo at the moment for this style is a baggy roll neck jumper, high waisted skinny jeans, bright red boots, bright blue bag and a bright yellow necklace. This sort of outfit goes really well with any stand out shoes and accessories to be honest, the bolder the better!

My final Autumn staple is: Comfy Jumpers.

I won’t lie, if I could get away with wearing a comfy oversized jumper, scarf, leggings, chunky socks and boots everyday, I definitely would. I love that aesthetic over all others. Pretty much because I think it can look super cute and I’m a sucker for comfort.

So that’s my Autumn staples! What are you wearing this season? Let me know in the comments or tag me in your instas @theweightofmyworlds so I can see your lovely faces and clothes! Have a great weekend everyone! Love,

What It’s Like Being Super Pale In Summer

This is going to be a bit bizarre of a post for some of you, but if you’re super pale like me, or a Winter person.. then you’re going to understand where I’m coming from with this.

To start, you may or may not notice the fact that the UK at the moment is in the midst of the longest heatwave EVER. Which for the majority of people is amazing, but for me, not so much. I’m a self-proclaimed Winter lover. Not because I hate the sunshine, BBQs, Summer fun or anything like that (I love that stuff), but because I love bundling up in layers, wearing my Autumn/Winter boots, the gorgeous food and hot drinks that come with Winter, everything it so prettily decorated and of course, I can’t leave Christmas out of that list. Oh I forgot Christmas movies.. nevermind, the list could go on forever.

What can I say, I’m a bit of a romantic when it comes to Winter! Why I prefer the colder seasons is not only because of the above list, but also because of one other thing. I’m as pale as a sheet of paper. No, I’m being serious. I basically reflect sunlight.

Don’t believe me? Here’s Exhibit A:

And being this pale in Summer results in being told the same thing over and over again. The most infamous of these sayings being:

·         “Get out in the sun!!”

·         “OMG you’re SOOOO pale”

·         “Why don’t you just sit out in it and get a tan”

·         “She must be a vampire”

·         “Have you thought about a spray tan?”

·         “Just sit in the sun for 5 minutes, it won’t kill you”

(If you’re as pale as me then you may have heard a lot of these.)

And, guess what? I’m happy with my skin tone, I don’t tan anyway, I only burn and somehow end up paler than before. It’s taken a long time for me to realise that I don’t need to change it because everyone thinks I should be more tanned. Or that tanned skin is the typical skin tone showed in pretty much every women’s magazine, especially when advertising ‘bikini bodies’. Brief side note – more skin tones need to be shown in advertising and magazines etc. because all skin tones are beautiful and no one should feel like their skin is not as good as someone else’s (I could also say the same about body types..). But I won’t go on about that right now (not in this post anyway).

One thing I’m constantly struck with in Summer is trying to find clothes that I’m comfortable in, I’m a bit of a disaster in the heat, I just can’t function. I hate feeling clammy and sweaty, as does everyone, and I’m constantly in fear of my legs sticking to chairs and having it feel like my skin has been waxed off every time I stand up. And I won’t even go on about sweat patches.

Another thing us pale skinned people have to deal with is the constant going bright red when you’ve literally only walked up a flight of stairs; I look as if I’ve ran a bloody marathon, and people always think I’m really unfit or worn out when in reality I’m totally fine. Or you get this whilst you’re out and about and aren’t sure if your face is sunburnt or if your skin has decided it wants to emulate a tomato.

Which brings me on to the biggest reason I for why I prefer Winter to Summer, sunburn. I can’t actually remember a Summer where I haven’t been severely sunburnt and got sun stroke whilst wear factor 50+ sun cream. And I know what you’re going to say, “you got to re-apply!!”; trust me I know. I practically bathe in the stuff at least every 30 minutes, sit in the shade and still burn.

A lot of people tell me that I’ll tan as I get older, whether or not I will, we’ll just have to wait and see. Being super pale is one of those things that I hated when I was younger, I tried multiple fake tans, including one at the start of May this year only to result in looking like a tangerine and feeling dirty because I’m not used to seeing anything other than white on me. For people using fake tan I applaud you because it always looks natural on you, and I don’t know how you do it! Fake tan + me just doesn’t end well. Nowadays I’ve come to realise that my skin is one of the things that makes me, me. And although every now and again I still long for a darker skin tone, I just don’t think it’ll suit me and if I were to decide I wanted to be more tanned, I’d be too scared to go and get a spray tan for the fear I’ll look like Ross from that episode on Friends..

Whether or not you’re a fellow pale skinned person or someone of any skin tone, what I would love for you to take away from this is that no matter what someone says about your skin tone, it’s beautiful and you shouldn’t feel like it needs to change to fit in with other people’s ideals.

That’s if from my today, I hope you’re enjoying your Summer and staying safe in this heatwave!

As for me, I’m just going to go back to sitting in front of my fan where I can shop for all the new Autumn/Winter collections!

Have fun in the sun, or shade.. everyone!! Love,