ON THE GRID

Yes the title is a reference to 'Tron', the greatest movie of all time! When I first so the Sci Fi classic back in the pre-teens, I was blown away by the special effects and seriously wanted a magic disk thing and a light cycle of my own. From a nerdy kid to a super nerdy adult - I've made my peace with it, we can't all be the cool kids, otherwise how on earth would they validate themselves than by thinking they are better than us. Bitter? Me? Well yes actually, what was so wrong with doing my homework on time?

Monochrome Check Shift Dress, Coco & Cleo - Same here.
Red Satchel, Next - Similar Here

Anyway, I picked up this lovely grid print shift dress in the Coco & Cleo sale, for just £5. For that price it is a total bargain - the material is of reat quality, the fit is lovely and I can see getting plenty of wear out of it. I do love a shift dress, but because I have a small frame (10 year old boy small), I tend to add a bit of shape with a waisted belt. A red lip and satchel to add colour, and my trusty leather jacket and I hope I pulled off simple chic.

I'm so full of cold at the minute, I resemble a swamp monster, so I'm sorry I'm not commenting or replying as much as I usually do. Once I'm feeling and looking human again, I will be back. Don't forget I'm selling a few bits on eBay, so check them out, you might be able to grab yourself a bargain.

I hope everyone is feeling good!

Gems x

FOR THE JOY OF MONDAY

Denim Shift Dress, Joy - Same Here

No there is no Joy on Monday, I hate Mondays. In fact, I don't care much for Tuesdays either and Wednesdays used to be OK until people started to call it 'Hump Day'. The Joy comes from this gorgeous denim shift dress from online retailer Joy. As you probably know by now, I love anything with a little bit of a retro vibe, and the cut of this dress, with the patchwork denim is pure sixties. So a big thanks to the boyfriend for buying it for me.

Now before anyone says anything, yes I am aware of the faux pas made by a member of Joy's social media team on Twitter, the ignorant remarks made about bipolar disorder. In fact a well known mental health blogger was not impressed with my decision to purchase from Joy, even though it was purchased before the incident. This blogger certainly did not appreciate that as someone who has battled mental illness, I did not feel personally offended and outraged at the remarks. They even accused me of not challenging discrimination and that I was ignoring the harm such remarks can cause.

If this individual had visited my blog, they would have seen that I do my best to help others with mental illness by talking frankly and openly about my own situation. Hopefully, I have made at least one person feel less alone...

Were they upset that on asking my opinion that I was not going to play a victim? Or simply mad that someone with mental illness did not share their view and chose not to be offended by a few insensitive tweets that were apologised for? I don't know, what I do know is that their hurtful tweets to me, did not stop until someone else on Twitter stood up for me and spoke of 'Freedom of choice'.

It is my choice not to be offended and to accept Joy's apology. If I wrote off everyone who said something offensive or ignorant about mental illness, I wouldn't know anyone. I don't believe this is the answer, it is just a way to become more bitter at your own personal situation, angry at the world for the stigma still attached to mental illness. For me the answer is education, to make people more informed about mental illness, so things like Twitter-gate happen less. So no, I wont completely write of an entire company for the remarks of one individual, and just hope that the person who made them is better informed in the future.

I hope this one wasn't too wordy for you, I just wanted to get my feelings across. If you got bored part of the way through I do apologise and Happy Monday!!

Gems x