The Christmas Tag

As we all know Christmas is coming thick and fast with the heartbreaking adverts, the mince pies selling everywhere, christmas music is being played and party outfits are being planned. Safe to say I love this time of year, no other holidays come close. I have loads of festive posts planned and I am so thankful to Bethany from curiousclaptrap for nominating me in the Christmas tag...so here we go!

1. What is your favourite Christmas movie?

My favourite christmas movie has to be Elf. Such a fun loving and hilarious film that I watch every year...closely followed by The Grinch.

2. Do you open your presents Christmas eve or morning?

In our family we usually drag out the presents all day to make them last longer. In the morning I usually get woken up by brother (who is 27) asking me what I've got in my stocking this year, we sit on my bed and go through then go see what he's got. After that we head downstairs and wait for the rest of the family to arrive. Then we open a few presents before and after lunch so it's not all over in one go. 

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?

I am lucky enough to have so many favourite memories of christmas, but i'll try keep them short. One would have to be the first christmas with my first dog, Tilly. She was so small and she was sat in the kitchen while mum was preparing the turkey. It made us both laugh watching her sit and look as she wasn't even the same size as it. Another would be my first christmas with my beautiful baby niece Pippa. She was so adorable in her penguin onesie it just brought our whole family so much closer together. My final one would have to be when Lord Of The Rings is on TV. My father and I would sit together and watch them all whilst sharing some Bailey's. They are some silly memories but they will forever be so important to me.

4. Favourite Festive Food?

Anyone who knows me knows I love food, so this question is impossible...BUT it isn't christmas without mince pies!

5. Favourite Christmas Gift?

My favourite christmas gift...this is tough. I am thankful for all gifts I get every year. Everyone is always so thoughtful and tried to think of something I will love and I'm never disppointed. Last year though had to be my presents from my best friend Lisa. She got me a Jack Wills bracelet and Jack Wills mittens. She knew how much I loved them and I honestly had tears in my eyes when I opened them. I don't know where I'd be without her.

6. Favourite Christmas Scent?

Christmas comes in many smells for me. But definitely the cinnamonny, vanlliary, spicey smell...like in mulled wine...you know what I mean right?

7. What tops your tree? 

As every year...a gold star.

8. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?

As I usually work every Christmas Eve unfortunately I don't have any traditions however much I would love one. But there is always amazing festive films on TV and when I do finish work we all spend the evening watching some and usually drinking some kind of christmas drink. 

9. As a kid, what was one Christmas present you wished for, but never received?

When I was little (littler) I was obsessed with 101 Dalmatians and every year I would wish for a puppy. That's all I ever wanted. Not barbies, not toys, just a puppy and when we got Tilly (not for christmas but a few months before) it was the best christmas ever...a dream come true.

10. Whats the best part of Christmas for you?

The best part of christmas for me is having all my family around. I'm so lucky to come from a bigger family, 2 big sisters, 1 big brother and extended family, niece and nephew and brother in law. We all get on so well and only ever get closer, but thankfully we all share a very rare sense of humour which only gets stronger when we are around eachother. So as you can imagine christmas games are hilarious. Onesie twister is now a christmas game and Articulate is by far the funniest game you can play with my family. The laughs at christmas are definitely the best part, shared with the people that mean the most to me.

I would like to tag Rachel from raylynnonline.blogspot.com, Hollie from holliegarner44.blogspot.com, Rebecca from rawrrbeccabeauty.blogspot.co.uk and Bethany from whatshedid.co.uk and my sister Holly from hollypips.wordpress.com. Time to get festive ladies and answer these questions, can't wait to read them, enjoy! 

Perfect Strangers

Perfect Strangers is a lovely idea that I have taken part in this Novemeber. You sign up, write a little bit about what you like then at random you get paired with someone who you create a little package for. The girl I was paired with liked stationary, swallows, bath bits, and loved postcards. So I tried to give her a little bit of everything she liked. Above are the images of the package I put together for her. As I'm feeling super festive how could I not involve some christmassy bits? So of course there had to be chocolate coins and a couple of christmas decorations to share the festive mood. 

I stated in my little bio that I am a fashion blogger and love chocolate and anything sparkly and bless her she gave me some lovely treats. Being a big kid I was so excited to receive christmas stickers, not sure where I will put them yet but they are so sweet. She obviously tried so hard to send things that I can involve into my blog and modelling so the earrings were super lovely to receive and they will be featuring in some festive posts. I can't explain how gorgeous the Barry M dust is, it's such a beautiful colour and I can't wait to wear it in shoots and over christmas.

I thought today was the perfect time to show you this as it's thanksgiving in America and this was such a lovely idea and I'm so happy that I took part. It's always nice to share with people and treat them to things they aren't expecting. A lovely way to get into the festive feeling by giving something back, even to strangers. There is so much negativity in the world it's nice to take part in something that can put a smile on someones face.

SkinnieBelle

Winter is closing in fast but every now and again the sun comes out and makes it fresh and crisp. After days of rain the sun came out for a whole afternoon ready to shoot this gorgeous midi skirt from Skinniebelle. Believe it or not this is my first ever midi skirt and I absolutely love it. It's a look that I'm not used to but one I will definitely be pulling off a lot more. Making the look more wintery with my turtle neck jumper, keeping it all monochrome (another current obsession of mine). Paired with my Dune heels for an extra feminine look, I felt so grown up shooting this. A classy and on trend outfit that could be worn with tights when winter closes in more, perfect for christmas drinks or a works party. 

Adding little details to an outfit like this can make it even better, either dressing it up or dressing for a more casual look. I opted for a casual style and paired it with the beautiful Opalite Chocker also from Skinniebelle. I can't express how happy I am that chokers have made a come back. When I was little my big sister used to wear them and I used to think she was so cool...now I have one. (Sad I know) I am fascinated by this Opalite choker, it almost changes colour and glows, its beautiful. 

It's amazing how certain outfits can change how you feel about yourself, change your outlook or just raise your confidence. This outfit does all the above. A wonderful winter look for those looking for a way to stand out in all the right ways.

Shop this look here: www.skinniebelle.com

Photos by: Griffin Photography

FiveFootFour Is On Youtube!!!

I thought about it, I spoke about it, I laughed about it...AND NOW I'VE DONE IT! 

My first ever YouTube video is now live and I'm so excited. It is pretty bad quality and I shot it all in one go (no editing) mainly because I thought I would let you guys see what I'm really like instead of reading what my thoughts are and just seeing images of me up here. For those who know how strange I am I promise this doesn't disappoint, I even laugh at myself. 

Thought I'd do a few facts about me to start off my channel to get you knowing me a little better but I will be posting about shopping hauls, outfits, modelling, make up and anything you guys ask me to (within reason of course). The next videos will be better quality and I will edit them, I promise they will get better! 

Hope you guys still like me after this, dear me...well here is the link, laugh, comment, like and please SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzQRqUtqzKY

Sherbet Lemon

Here is a little bit fun for you all today. My lovely friend is working with sweet themes for a project at the moment and chose me to be lemon sherbet. I'm not too good with angry faces but this was such a fun shoot and was totally out my comfort zone. This was also planned before I dyed my hair back (sorry again Jordan) so it would have fitted so much better when I was blonde but I think the red hair makes it all that more fierce. I love doing over the top shoots like this with bright colours and wacky themes.

I feel so lucky to be living somewhere that I'm surrounded by creative people who let me get involved with projects I never usually would be involved in. It's amazing to hear peoples ideas and aims, I find it just rubs off on me to work even harder. Always surround yourself with like minded people who inspire you to chase your dreams.

Watch this space for more photography from Jordan Kilford on here with some fashion outfits for fivefootfour. In the mean time you can check his work out here: www.jordankilford.photography/

Be Brave

So in my last post I said I would explain a little bit more about me and why embracing my natural hair colour was such a hard decision. Before I start this isn't something I normally write about, talk about or even like to think about much, but from writing my other blog and helping people be brave enough to be themselves I thought it was only fair I opened up a little bit more. Please refrain from writing any horrible comments on this post as I will just delete them and I already feel nervous about posting it.

As we all know the teenage years can either be the best or the worst of your life, mine are not the fondest memories I hold to say the least. Once you are told something over and over everyday you do start to believe things you are told, "You're just ugly and ginger" "you won't get anywhere in life" "you're just fat, ginger and you have no friends"...these are just some comments that got rammed into my brain when I was younger. 

There is so much stigma about having red hair in society it's become a big joke, something to laugh at, something to point out in social situations to make others laugh...not thinking that it effects people and makes them very self conscious. As soon as I was allowed I started dying my hair any colour I could to cover it up in hope the comments would stop and I would be accepted instead of pointed out as a freak for it. This was my mask to also dealing with eating problems and self esteem as well as my hair colour. Looking back I wish someone had told me how awful my hair colours were but you live and learn, everyone has had a bad hair experience once in their life, mine just lasted a few years. After going through school and college, I started getting highlights to get my hair lighter and lighter until it was blonde. Weirdly I felt comfortable with myself, like being blonde was who I am. 

Then I started working for a photographer as a studio manager and he asked me if I want to try modelling. I was beyond scared as I had never done it before and knew I wasn't the tallest or skinniest person around, but after I got used to it I became very comfortable and it helped with my self confidence. I moved down to Falmouth and started modelling for Griffin Photography and I actually felt prettier being blonde. I'd get compliments on how nice my hair is, no one pointing it out for negative reasons. This was a first and I was finally getting confident in who I was and feeling like I was one of the pretty people for once.

My lovely photographer Emma became like family to me and she kept telling me to embrace being a red head and dye it back but it wasn't until recently I really thought I should. I wanted a change, a new me and a new start but I built up so much anxiety over it, thinking about changing my hair would make me feel sick, bringing back all the comments that I was ugly when I had red hair. I was scared having red hair would change everyones opinions of me. Luckily for me the fashion world is embracing red heads which made me feel a little better that there are people wanting to have my colour hair and dying their naturally brown or blonde hair to be red. 

I finally sucked it up and committed to the big change, which for everyone reading this won't seem like a big deal but for me it was a massive step in accepting who I am and really being confident in myself; like I tell so many of you to be. I felt I'd be a hypocrite if I couldn't be myself in front of you all. After a few paranoid moments, feeling very insecure and a few days of not wanting to leave my flat I started to get used to it and now I really am embracing my natural self. I am more confident now than I've ever been and to be totally honest it really is thanks to all of you. The lovely comments and the amazing support really helps me to be myself and be proud of who I am. I may not be perfect but I'm the only version of me in the world. Bad times don't last forever. However bad things get they won't last, something good is just around the corner. If nothing bad ever happened we wouldn't be grateful when we have good moments occur in our lives. Never be afraid of who you are, embrace it because no one is the same. You can't be anyone but you so be the best version of you that you can be and show it off!

I hope this wasn't too boring for you all to read but I thought I'd let you in a bit more into why I am the way I am today and if it's just reached one of you and helped you have a little more confidence than I'm glad I wrote it! 

Generic Selfie

Everyone loves a selfie these days so here are a couple in my lovely playsuit with freshly dyed hair. Love getting back to being auburn, it's finally sunk in and I'm getting used to it after the first few weeks of initial shock. I am determind to wear this over christmas even though its summery but I love the colours and with high boots, long socks or tights and a jacket I'm sure it can be wintery too.

After being blonde for years trying to hide my red hair I finally decided to embrace it and be who I am. Will be posting a serious blog post about why this was such a hard decision soon, a chance to get to know me a little better and a chance for those of you who are feeling insecure to maybe get some advice and help from it, I hope.

(Ignore my bruised knee, too much rum punch is never a good idea.)

Love From Milan

I have the absolute pleasure to introduce you all to LoveFromMilan. 

I did post a little teaser on my Instagram and here is what was hiding in the gorgeously wrapped box. They sell the most wonderful statement jewellery and I am lucky enough to bring you a peak at this stunning Grey Snowdrop Necklace. This is definitely going to be my christmas necklace for parties and Christmas Day; how could it not be? I'm sure every girl is just as much of a magpie as I am but jewellery is my biggest weakness, anything with sparkle and I'm head over heels for it and this piece is no exception. This will also be featuring in a shoot next week so see if you can spot it.

With sparkle, glitter, multicoloured stones, big and small, basically anything you can imagine they sell it but with only a few for sale each time you have to get in quick to get your perfect festive necklace or even the perfect christmas gift. It's wonderful knowing they come wonderfully wrapped so each item is ready for sharing. So start shopping for your magical christmas pieces to bling up your festive nights out!

You can place orders here: sayhello@withlovefrommilan.co.uk

And find them on Instagram: @LOVEFROMMILAN

And facebook: facebook.com/lovefrommilan

Favourite Find

On my mini haul I went with the purpose of finding some winter warmers but this caught my eye in River Island and it's just so fitting. Who has ever gone shopping, found something they love but for some reason you talk yourself out of buying it? "I'll come back" or "If it's still here next time I'll get it"; only to return and find that it's gone or they have it but not in your size. This is only made worse when you see other people wearing it and looking fabulous. Yes, this has happened way too often to me and sometimes you should listen to your mother and just get it.

This shirt was one of those items that I didn't know whether to buy it or not but I'm glad I caved. I love it and I'm sure I can find shoots for this to feature in and you can never ever have enough oversized shirts. Love the design and the gold lettering on En Vogue, there is so many ways to style this. Tucked into a skirt, with leggings, by itself for lazy days, wear it baggy with skinny jeans, so many options. Safe to say this was my best buy. 

Mini Haul

After a weeks of not being able to go shopping as I've been way too busy I finally caved and decided to go on a mini haul. I've been hunting for a big oversized jumper for a while now that would be perfect to pair with either long socks or leggings and found this cream knitted jumper from FatFace. Perfect for this time of year and lightening up some dark outfits that I tend to get into the habit of wearing. 

The blue pyjama shorts are also from FatFace. I've been looking for some winter ones, but as sleeping in trousers causes me to get tangled in my sleep finding some cute shorts has been more than a challenge but these are adorable and I LOVE the floral trim. Maybe I'll still keep my eyes out for a PJ set with leggings ready for the winter weather to really hit when I move home for christmas.

I really only wanted to get a big jumper but I came across the perfect shirt in RiverIsland. Caption tees are something that have become a must-have lately but none have caught my eye to the point where I HAD to buy it. But this seemed very fitting as it was my first shop in a while. I'll be blogging about it very soon as I love it so much!

Lots of pretty things coming to the blog in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out for some FiveFootFourFashion.

November Festivities

Feeling overly festive for this time of year but the Christmas spirit has very much already taken over. So what better way to fuel the festive cravings than making some mulled wine?

I LOVE mulled wine and mulled cider, it just captures the smells of christmas perfectly. Cinnamon, vanilla, oranges, sugar, star anise, cloves, cranberries and juniper berries are just some of the elements all mixed in to make this batch of mulled wine. Even the colour is festive and with all the bits floating around it you can either filter it or just add it all into your glass and let the flavours spread more.

Taking a little time out to get some christmas wish list inspiration with a glass and my room smells amazing. Can't wait to start posting more festive articles so I can rub a little bit of my  christmas spirit off onto you all. 

Horse Whispering

Throwing it back today to the shoot I did for Blakely Clothing in the Brooke Burgundy dress. As summer came into autumn, the evening light was amazing coming through the trees creating such magical light to be shot in with some beautiful horses. This is one of the comfiest dresses I own, with super soft cotton and free flowing it's so easy to wear. It can be hard to find dresses suitable for everyday but this is my favourite in my wardrobe. Even in the colder weather you can pair it with tights and a blazer or even put a jumper over the top. Blakely Clothing is fast becoming a must-have brand with each item being of high quality, not only looking great but fitting perfectly. 

This shoot was one of my favourites I have done to date, I love horses and wish I had more time to spend with them but this evening in particular was wonderful even if they were more photogenic than me, even pushing me out of shot at times but it was lovely working with them. I can't say enough how perfect the lighting was for this it reminded me of a scene from a film it was totally other worldly. 

In this shoot I wore a small. If you haven't already purchased from Blakely Clothing is it a must-have brand, shop tees, jumpers, dresses and more here: www.blakelyclothing.com


Photos by: Martha Lily Photography