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https://bit.ly/2BHlSd  Hello! It's day 1,639 of quarantining! Time flies when you've been staring at the same four walls for two months... Everyone of us has had different ways of coping with the "new normal", whether it's doing yoga every morning, baking or just trying to keep your routine as normal as possible. Some of you might not be coping so well, and that's okay too! For the most part, I have enjoyed the free time I've had the past few months, some times I've really struggled. Self care is so much more than plastering a face mask on or having a glass of wine in the bath... That being said, I am very fond of drinking in the bath while wearing a face mask. So please don't think I'm shitting on face masks and baths, I'm most certainly not! I have a few different ways of practicing some self care, from calling a loved one, taking naps, or getting out of the house and into a bit of nature. A lot of the time when I

https://instagram.com/stasknop/ Lets talk about vintage... More and more people are wearing vintage clothes and I love it! Be it for some chic festival fashion or cute everyday outfits. So what makes a piece of clothing vintage?  Vintage is commonly used to describe an old style of clothes, anything 20 years or older is considered vintage. That's right, the 90's right up to the year 2000 is now considered vintage. So 90's kids, we're not old... we're vintage!  I have been second hand shopping since I was a child with my mam, nanny and aunt, but my vintage journey started about a year ago. The first piece I ever bought was an Adidas shell jacket from Finders Keepers in Bray. Now, I have a massive vintage collection from tie dye tees, jeans, dresses and coats. A lot of people think of vintage clothes as old and frumpy, but that is far from true! I have come across some absolutely stunning vintage pieces. Vintage clothes can be super chic and t

https://instagram.com/kai.pilger/ If you follow my Instagram... (@forgetmenotsfashion ) You'll know I'm a big fan of the tee and jeans combo, specifically band tees! Slogan tees however, are a different story. About two years ago, I couldn't walk into Penney's or any other high street shop on Grafton street and not pick up the latest t-shirt with a catchphrase from the latest movie or a saying that went viral because of a goddess-like creature from Love Island. I had to have them! Now, however, the more I research the fast fashion industry the more I realize how much damage those slogan tees are inflicting on the environment and humanity. Cotton is seen as a nice, clean fabric. How could it be harmful when it's so soft and grown naturally unlike synthetic fabrics? But you may be surprised to learn that, in fact, cotton isn't that great at all. It takes 2,700 litres of water to make one single cotton t-shirt, which is enough water for one pe

http://pixabay.com/?ref=pexels Today is Wednesday, the 268th of April. Or at least it feels like it... We are coming into the fifth week of lockdown now, and thus far I haven't attempted to cut my own or anyone else's hair, I haven't baked banana or sourdough bread. I have been baking though, mainly brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cheese cake and rice crispy buns in an effort to get rid of all the Easter chocolate!  I binged The Tiger King series on Netflix in a matter of hours, I mean if you haven't watched it are you even quarantining?! There is honestly nothing more compelling than watching a polygamous gay hillbilly zoo owner in an all out war with a woman, who may or may not have fed her husband to a tiger...  This whole experience really has been an emotional roller coaster. Most days it's grand, I keep myself busy by planning out blogs, baking, getting out for a walk in the evenings or sitting out in the garden with a book when the we

https://instagram.com/cottonbro/ I have spent the majority of this lockdown rewarding myself for being an upstanding citizen and not leaving the house, by buying the entire contents of Depop... " I didn't leave the house today, I deserve that dress... " " I washed my hands and that blouse is only €6... " " I got out of bed today. * clicks add to cart* You get my point. Founded in 2011, Depop is an app where you can buy and sell your pre-loved clothes and much more! Depop helps creates a circular economy in the fashion industry by regenerating the clothes we wear by passing them on to someone else. On average our clothes get between seven to ten wears before we consider them old and throw them out. Remember that floral summer dress you just had to have, you wore it out to a couple of barbecues and a boozy brunch with the girls, now it's in a creased mess at the back of your wardrobe, destined to be thrown out in your next wardrobe clea

Artem Beliaikin -  https://www.shutterstock.com Thrift /second hand/charity shopping - whatever you call it! I come from a long line of thrifters, my mam, nanny, and great aunt showed me the ropes at a young age. In this blog, I want to show you those very same ropes. So you too can say, " thanks hun, Oxfam!" Every saturday morning, I went shopping with my nanny Lolie and great aunt May. We used to comb through every charity shop in Bray. We'd start at the top of the town and work our way down, May and Lolie would scan the rails with military percision, rummage through the bargin bins like a pair of hungry racoons in your trash. I could be found either at the books or the toy boxes searching for toy horses to add to my collection... you know the girl in your class that was obsessed with horses... yeah that was me! After successfully aquiring a new horse, we would do the food shop and pick up my grandads weekly pidgeon magazine, yep that's actually a

Finally something that isn't about Covid - 19. I thought I'd break up the doom and gloom of the current state of the world with an update on the sustainable wedding of the year ( it definitely isn't!) Plans were full steam ahead this time last month, but unfortunately they have come to a grinding halt... Well the fun stuff has anyway. Every Sunday for a solid month, myself and my mam went to various different wedding fairs, hotel wedding events, anywhere we could get some free prosecco really! We went to the bride of the year show in the RDS at the beginning of the year, we browsed the different venues on offer, ate free cake samples, and watched a bridal cat walk show where we seen some gorgeous dresses! Other Sundays were spent wandering around hotel ballrooms showcasing all the different table settings they can do for our big day, banqueting staff float around with different finger foods and prosecco all of which we accepted without hesitation! On Sunday 2nd Fe

Okay, this blog is going to be a little serious! This week I want to talk to you about the importance of shopping local, shopping small and shopping online. Now more than ever small businesses need us, they need us to support them any way we can. The big dog businesses are going to come out of this relatively okay, but small local businesses might not, it could take months maybe even years to come back from this! That's why it's so important for us to shop as locally as we can. When I shop, I keep it as local as possible. Whether its clothes shopping, or just grabbing a coffee, I stay in my local town. When clothes shopping, I shop in my local charity shops or my favorite vintage shop  Finders Keepers  . Ruth, the vintage mastermind behind Bray's first vintage shop, is so knowledgeable about vintage clothes and is just an overall gem of a person! I go into her shop for some vintage goods, and stay for chats with Ruth about anything from what we're binging

Day 14 I haven't gone mad yet, so that's good! I've been managing pretty well with self isolation thus far, I'm not one for just sitting around and there's only so much Netflix you can watch, so I thought I'd really struggle. But I've kept busy by reading, walking and eating... so much eating. I've also been keeping a routine as best I can, getting up when I normally would, getting dressed and doing my make up. I find it helps a lot but I also embrace the days when I just want to stay in my Pjs. Walking is a big one for me, I love being out in the fresh air, pottering along with my dog or hiking up the Sugar Loaf mountains, which are both on my doorstep. However, I have avoided the mountains, the national parks and beaches lately as so many are just not taking the social distancing guide lines seriously. Glendalough, Devil's Glen, the Wicklow Gap and other popular tourist areas were crammed with people all weekend, food truck queues were packed

This is not a Covid - 19 blog.. Well, it kind of is. This blog is about what you can do to keep yourself busy while also keeping yourself (and others) safe at home. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months or have been in the big brother house in Germany you'll know all about the rapid spread of the Corona virus throughout the world. We have been asked to self isolate and only go out if truly necessary, avoid crowded areas, we've been asked to work from home and some businesses have closed up until further notice. But like I said this blog isn't about all that, it's about how you can keep busy and stay somewhat sane while at home.  If like me, you find yourself feeling extra anxious the past few days, meditation is a great tool to calm your mind and make you feel more at ease! You can find loads of guided meditation videos on Youtube or download a meditation app on your phone, Headspace is one I use quite a bit. Yoga is also great f

Periods.. The bane of female existence. The mood swings, the bloating, the endless hunger for junk food for five days out of the month, the constant ability to show up in the most inconvenient time! Periods are a part of our lives from a young age. I remember my first period, I was 11 years old on a day trip into Dublin with my aunt May and my uncle Slip (not his actual name obvs). The Luas was still pretty new so we decided to go out to Dublin and see it ( I live in Wicklow so going out to Dublin was a big deal okay...). I was wearing the the latest fashion for 11 year old's at the time, remember those cargo pants with all the random bits hanging off them? Yeah...baby blue ones. So we got off the Luas, wandered around the city centre and decided to go for some lunch in a nearby cafe, I went to the bathroom and that's when I saw the absolute bloodbath in my underwear... sorry, that's a little graphic haha! Anyway, thankfully I knew what was going on as I had already

Happy International Women's Day!! So this is a late one, I've been ill all week with the flu and though I tried, I just could not write! Then today I was at the  SustainableFashionDublin  's International woman's day event today were I met some seriously amazing women, there was spoken word artists, journalists, influencers and singers, all talking about how they are trying to be that little bit more sustainable. I felt so inspired by all these women, and with it being #IWD2020 I wanted to do a bit of a serious blog this week about how fast fashion is indeed a feminist issue. I won't name name's but all week certain brands have been trying to sell you t - shirts with catchy feminist slogans in the run up to today, these same brand's use factories that pay their workers ( 80% of whom are women) well below minimum wage, these women often have to work over time just to make ends meet. The women in these factories are seen as docile and unlikely to speak u

Hello there! This week's blog is all about zero waste. I was at a Lush Cosmetic's zero waste work shop on Monday and felt inspired to write about how little changes can have a big impact! At the Lush event, I was shocked when we were told the equivalent of one garbage truck full of plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute! By 2030 that is likely to rise to two trucks per minute and by 2050 it's estimated that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Plastic in our oceans is causing so much damage to our marine life. I know you've all seen the video a while back of the poor sea turtle with a straw stuck in his nostril, that was a horrific watch and people pledged to get rid of plastic straws, which is great, but plastic straws are only a very small part of the problem! Thankfully, there are so many ways to reduce our plastic consumption now. So now I'm going to highlight some ways you can go zero waste! Reusing glass jars.  Glass jars can

Hello lovelies! This week, I'm writing about sustainable underwear. If, like me, you are sick of buying knickers for €3, only to replace them again with another €3 pair two weeks later, or you just want more ethically-made undies - then this blog is for you! First up, why should you choose a more ethical underwear brand? As I said, if it's cheap, prepare to be sucked into the cycle of repeat buying cheap again and again. There's a reason they're cheap, the people making them are on a ridiculously low wage and they are churning out these clothes in poor conditions and often are working long hours with no breaks, not even to pop to the loo! This is allowed to happen because of the demand we have for the latest, trendiest thing. I want to do a separate blog on this topic so I won't go into too much detail yet! Another reason to shop for more ethical undies is the environment. The fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to pollution today. From dye

Valentines day.. I detest Valentines day! To me everyday should be Valentines day, you should show your significant other that you love them everyday not via a Facebook / Instagram post one day out of the year! But anyway, in this blog I'll share some tips on how to make your Valentines day a little more sustainable and show the earth that you love her too! Cards :  Instead of buying a hallmark generic card, why not make your own? or simply write a nice letter, it's a lot more personal and you're not buying into the mass consumerism that is Valentines day! A guy I work with told me that he and his wife have used the same Valentines cards for each other for the past five years! So instead of buying a new one every year they simply write a new message in the current card they have! Personally I love this idea, imagine re - reading all the cute messages your partner has written over the years and then adding new ones each time! You can also go down the route of buy

weddings... Weddings are great, it's a day where it's all about you.. and your significant other I suppose. It's a day that you get to wear a gorgeous dress, feel like a princess, and drink prosecco at 10am and not be frowned upon. If, like me, you are getting married in the near future (yay!), but are worried about the negative impact your wedding could have on the environment, or you're just looking to cut down on the cost,  I've come up with some tips on how to have a more sustainable wedding and save a few bob in the process! The Invites/Stationary:   For more sustainable stationary, use a company that specializes in recycled paper. I found a few on Etsy that were very good! You could also make your own using recycled pages of your favourite love stories or poems. It's a nice personal touch and it could be a bit of fun for you putting them together. Pinterest would be ideal to get ideas from, I've pretty much planned my entire wedding using Pin

Hello lovelies! So I decided to put together a blog along side my Instagram to chat all about sustainability in a little more detail, I'll dive into a few topics like, how I manage to find so many nice things in charity shops to the more serious side of  things like how fast fashion is having an unprecedented effect on the environment. I've always had an interest in clothes and fashion, my style has always been a little "out there" , I studied fashion design in college for two years and loved the hands on sewing and pattern drafting modules. Unfortunately I never completed the full three years of my college course, but I've never lost my love for designing and hopefully one day I can get back too it ( in a sustainable manner of course). One of my fondest childhood memories is going down the town on a Saturday with my nanny Lolie and my aunt May, they were the literal queens of charity shops! They knew all the good ones, it amazed me the bargains they'd f