Long time no speak!!!

Oh it has been a while. I hope you are all good? Lockdown is over, normal life has resumed and yes, once again chaos. I actually believed myself when I said I was going to massively slow down but life is busier than ever. The kids have activities most evenings and generally at the weekend too. It is nice to watch them at their activities though but having the odd evening in the house is much appreciated.

My instagram page has actually changed names to @stylebykbm which are my initials and because I am doing a personal styling course. It is very exciting and something I have always wanted to do. I love teaching but fashion is my passion as cliche as that sounds.

I am back to posting regular on my instagram page too as there are periods of time when I lose motivation or in the business forget to take an outfit post. I have to say though I am really enjoying it again and actually more confident when it comes to posting after reading the book ‘The life- changing magic of not giving a F**k’. If you haven’t read it, I would strongly recommend. I also intend to write more on here about not only fashion but life in general. I am looking forward to the summer holidays and having time to focus on my blog and instagram page.

I hope you can join me along the way.

Karla xx

Here we go……

I genuinely like a mixture of most things and feel I can be every bit as comfy in my casual wear as I can in my dressy clothing. So for example one day I might be wearing my mom jeans with a biker jacket and Dr Martens and the next day it could be a floral tea dress……. I think there are various factors that come into play when choosing an outfit and it can be very much related to your mood, the weather, the occasion (obvs) and then maybe just what is current in fashion at a particular time. The term ‘Fast Fashion ‘ is thrown around a lot now and it is good that people are becoming more ethically aware when it comes to fashion- there is, in my opinion, a happy medium.

So…. how you dress and your style depends greatly on a variety of factors. There are people who more often than not wear dresses and when you see them in trousers its like….’Oh you look different’ and pretty often its good different. Some rarely wear a dress and are always in trousers….. again down to personal taste, mood, and body hang ups which also play a part in the way we dress……….

Now in all honestly and I mean this I would never have shied away from any item of clothing based on a body hang up in my teens and early 20’s but I distinctly remember one day a friend of mine talking about ‘cankles’ and much to my dismay I discovered that actually I had cankles!!!! Oh the horror….. and I know that there are people with real problems but it did become an issue for me. Well issue is maybe too strong but it became a factor when choosing an outfit. I began avoiding sandals with an ankle strap (I still do unless I’m wearing trousers with them) a 3/4 length skirt was out of the question and I was googling cankle surgery!!!!! I know, I know I seem crazy! Since beginning my instagram page and subsequent blog I thought sod it- I look fine wearing things like this, I even wore a mini dress quite recently and I actually felt good. Possibly this is why I would attempt to wear anything….

However, there are different styles I completely love and would gravitate more to than others but I think out of each style bracket that is out there, there is something fab about each one whether it be biker, gothic, bohoo….vintage….sophisticated……chic…..artsy. Most of us mix them at one time or other. There is inspiration everywhere and having my instagram page has definitely allowed me to widen my style horizon. On instagram there are of course the hashtags which again allow us to choose a particular outfit to reflect the particular tag. One at the moment that is doing really well is #istoleherlook which is absolutely brilliant as it allows us that opportunity to copy a look that a) may be completely different from our usual and b) a risk that if it doesn’t pay off you can always blame the tag!!!!! I am already looking at what look I am going to copy for the next instalment of this tag. Watch the space…… Reading other peoples fashion pages and listening to their stories is definitely a favourite past time of mine because this way you get an insight into why people choose the fashion they do and a wee bit about their personal style. A fellow blogger, Holly from @astylebyhgt, has given us more of an opportunity with interviews that she does each week with bloggers, I actually get excited to see who she is going to have on next as it really is so nice to hear what these women have to say especially when they are being asked specific questions which they may not have ever spoken about on their stories.

Signature style brings a lot into play and in my opinion is something that is formed over a period of years and can be whatever YOU want, thats the beauty of fashion. Again you don’t have to fit into a category and can wear whatever you want. You know yourself what you feel good in and thats all that really matters. Fashion is a way of expressing yourself and that is what I find so fascinating about it all!

Do you think about your signature style when you dress?

Oh and here is a good one for you….. what do you think my signature style is?

Hope you have enjoyed!!

Karla xx

So I think this is something that everyone has struggled a little with especially in the beginning as understandably we all felt a little funny about posting fashion in the middle of a global pandemic. For me personally I never judged anyone for posting fashion as for me my instagram account is all about an escape anyway. Somewhere I can be myself. I spoke briefly about what was going on but didn’t dwell on it because there are experts for that and I am certainly not one of them. Trying to navigate my own family through this was enough. I naturally found while working, my instagram and blog took a back seat at times because work is so busy and then with three kids, a husband, a new house and a dog…… well lets just say there wasn’t much free time to focus on my page or indeed blog. I have tried to ensure I put a little more time into it. Yes there are much more important things but for me this is my hobby and I love it!!

During the lockdown I found my ‘escape’ even more so being my instagram page and building up a following, engaging with other bloggers, seeking inspiration and often advice………..yip, all from people I generally haven’t met before. Strange concept to some but for me I could probably ask advice better to someone I don’t know than those I do. Is it something to do with being judged? I don’t know.

It was during this time I was added to a group of other bloggers named @mineyoursandherstyle. These girls have been just fantastic, I feel really part of a group of like minded people. They have given me inspiration but also confidence to continue doing what I am and that actually I have good content. This is something you often question when having an instagram blogging page as followers are hard to come by for most of us. For me when I began my new page (I had one years ago, about 6 years ago now) followers were something that yes I wanted, we all do, there is no point otherwise but my aim was 1k. I have made it to that and am actually now at slightly over 1500. It does make the journey more worthwhile but I try not to get too hung up on numbers, something being part of the blogger group has taught me.

Fashion during lockdown has understandably been different for most. Some found themselves adding to their loungewear collection, some (horrified people) found themselves actually purchasing loungewear for the first time ever…….. and other continued with their usual style albeit dropping their handbag and focusing more on other accessories or indeed their shoes to do the talking. Some have made the decision not to make fashion purchases during this time while for others it has been the complete opposite. Each to their own is all I say. Me personally I have made a few purchases, nothing over the top because we are still trying to finish our house (I will do a separate blog post for anyone who is interested). For any of you who follow my instagram page you will know that my style is a mixture but generally casual. I like new trends and do sometimes buy into the fast fashion but generally I try to rewear my wardrobe as best I can. Shoes for me are a great buy because they will always fit (especially after months of lockdown eating) During this time I fell completely for Dr Martens. I bought a pair of boots, totally loved them and then came along the sandals!! I debated the sandals for a while because in all honesty I loved them but wondered if I would get the wear out of them and the fact that they are definitely not everyones cup of tea…….sometimes I buy something thats trendy and really go off it!! Anyway they are everywhere which is good as I plan to get a lot of wear out of them- again you can see this on my page. Actually a girl that lives In my area sent me a lovely text a couple of weeks back to show me her sandals and how I completely influenced her to buy them……messages like that are lovely. The chunky shoe look is everywhere at the minute and I suppose if you don’t want to be out the money on DrMartens as they can be expensive, there are many alternatives in Topshop, ASOS and Mango. I plan on wearing mine until my toes turn blue!!

As mentioned loungewear has really taken off though and people (even myself) find it acceptable to wear track bottoms with heels!!!! I never thought I would see the day that I would get excited about a pair of Adidas bottoms with a 5 inch heel but there you have it! I didn’t purchase any new loungewear and just wore what I had at home as I had a couple of pairs of track bottoms that were years old……..wasn’t I glad I didn’t send them to the charity shop! I had been viewing some sets online and had been tempted at times but didn’t succumb to purchasing.

Another trend which has taken off during this time are the smock dresses or the man repeller dresses as I like to call them! Simply because my husband hates them and likes to remind me when I wear them that they are like my maternity dresses! Cheers Sean! I think they are fab and hide a multitude so whats not to like. I had a few dresses this style down at my mums so it was great being able to pull these out again. I did though buy two but they were from Everything5pounds. Again these feature on my instagram page quite a bit…….

Chunky trainers aren’t going anywhere either and again in the beginning not a look I LOVED, they kind of grew on me. The first pair I bought were from Steve Madden and they are fantastic as for the white chunky trainers I wasn’t convinced…. I do have a pair now but they aren’t chunky chunky if you know what I mean. They definitely suit some people but for me I prefer them a little more subtle. When I think of lockdown though, these are definitely some of the footwear that springs to mind.

Another lock down look has been Tees with padded shoulders, or turned up sleeves. This is definitely a look I love but I’m planning on getting my arms in a bit of nick first (hahahaha) this may not happen anytime soon though!!! Would really like one or a couple and although inexpensive I haven’t taken the plunge.

I think when we look back over this time we won’t necessarily be thinking of fashion but I will think of how having fashion through my page made me feel during this time and honestly that was good! A welcome escape in all the chaos and dare I say a bit of stability in an ever changing world……dramatic? maybe…..true? absolutely!!! Its definitely a passion guys and if you get it you get it!

I hope I haven’t bored you all silly and you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing!

Love to you all

K xx

Yes yes…. it has been a while!!

When I started this blog back in the summer I promised myself that I would write often, not just for the sake of it but often. Turns out life had other plans. Nothing really bad happened but it was just a difficult time probably more emotionally than anything.

We were in the middle of building our house, three kids and living with my MIL. I was approaching the end of maternity leave- this made me feel anxious because I was leaving my baby but also in a way I was craving the normality of work……. this however would be short lived considering I was to return at the end of June. We decided very early July that we would try to rent somewhere until our house was finished. As it turned out my uncles house became available and we moved there. As you can imagine all of this while caring for three young children was pretty difficult, not to mention trying to choose things for a house and ensure we were in the house ASAP.

Anyway…. fast forward to now and things are somewhat different. We are in our house and have been since December. It was the busiest time! We moved on the 22nd December, we like a challenge!!! Moving coupled with getting ready for Christmas was just something else! We (hubby and I) were in the town on Monday buying a Christmas tree and getting everything else we needed for Christmas. We did it though and were so glad we did. We were advised by so many people not to move in before Christmas, that we were ‘mad’, that after Christmas wouldn’t change much etc etc. You get my point but honestly we never regretted it for a second. Once we were in that was it. Yes, it wasn’t finished but it was ours. And actually after Christmas when work resumed we got so much done and very quickly. Now it is just home and we all love it.

We have been in our house three months now and it is unbleievable the situation we are living in now. It is difficult times and something that you could never have imagined but here we are trying to navigate our way through the madness. We as a family just try to keep things as ‘normal’ as possible for the kids. A lot of people are talking about home schooling and things to keep the kids occupied. Our days vary, I am not one for strict routine anyway, each to their own and one must do what suits their family. The days may not be routine but we still do school work (with Darcey), arts and crafts, a walk (just down our lane) and reading. The kids will also watch TV, their iPads and play. This week we also baked banana bread and they really enjoyed this, I suppose it was something very different as in the normal run of things I haven’t time to do this. Sounds awful but its true! I suppose through all of the pandemonium we will have to look back and think about all the happy times during this.

I have to say thats why instagram and this blog is something that I am so glad I began as there is so much positivity and a real community feeling on here and extraordinary people who live through so many difficult times and are doing their very best every day. I was thinking yesterday how glad I was that I could log on to my fashion account on instagram and chat to like minded people and not feel judged or under pressure. I find I can totally be myself as I am what I am and nobody expects anything different. When people who ‘know me’ in my personal life, follow my blog, in the beginning, I used to have anxiety but now I just think what odds, I am who I am, I will take fashion pics and interior pics (the odd time) and if they don’t like it they know what to do!!

At the risk of sounding cliche, I hope over the next while we all have the opportunity to reconnect with our families, enjoy time in our homes, bake, read, watch movies, cook nice meals, enjoy our children, play and of course look after ourselves in whatever way we can and whatever way gets us through the next few weeks.

It is so important to #staysafe #stayhome and get through this!!!! We can do it!!!

Thanks for reading (my next blog post will be about fashion I promise!!!!)

K xxx

I felt it only right to introduce my blog with a bit of info about myself and why I actually started this! Here goes……

So first of all my name is Karla. I actually didn’t realise that I hadn’t shared that on my instagram until a few people mailed to ask my name. I am married to Sean and we have three children, Darcey (4) Micah (3) and Cian (8 months) I am a secondary school teacher and assistant SENCo/acting SENCo. I am currently on maternity leave and enjoying every minute! We had recently started to build a house which makes me so happy and very excited.

I started my instagram page in late December and have been loving it so far. I actually started a blog approximately 5 years ago-before I had Darcey and actually stopped it when I fell pregnant with Darcey just because it was my first baby and well I was so excited/nervous and very very very sick so that was the end of ‘wonderandawesome’. It is not that I regretted that decision, it was right for me at that time in my life but I have always missed blogging and having a fashion instagram page.

Time went on and I had Mr Micah 11 months and 1 week after I had Darcey so there our wee Irish twins 🙂 two dotes and they are so close. I then went back to work and for any of you who are teachers will know that it is a very busy profession and the blogging was out to the back of my mind. I fell pregnant again in November of last year with our wee Cian, a dote, the happiest wee man, he literally smiles all the time, he arrived in August 15th. That is our wee family 🙂

Fashion, of course has always been there and I followed all the bloggers I loved and always thought I should have kept it going at the time but thats just the way it was. As my maternity leave progressed and I had the best baby ever (I really mean that, he is so good) I had been thinking about starting a blog again but finally decided to go for it when I read a quote one night about having no regrets and just going for it and at least you have tried. That was it, I said to myself, I am going to go for it and see what happens. I hadn’t thought of a name or anything and very quickly ‘fashion_mummy_dmc’ was born. Obviously the initials of my children.

To date I have been loving it. I would say though that instagram and the blogging scene on it have changed so much in those five years. Genuinely I have met some of the nicest people that I know I would never of had the pleasure of meeting. I also have messaged some of the big time bloggers and actually received replies which is always nice and I know without my blog I would never of had the courage to do so.

I want to ensure that I have meaningful blog posts with good content and that I write about things that I am passionate about. There will of course be fashion posts but I intend to write about family and lifestyle too. My instagram posts are generally fashion related but I feel that having an actual blog will give me the platform to discuss other things too.

I hope that you enjoy my blog and of course my instagram page and I will post as regularly as I can.

Thank you for reading,

K xx