The Importance of Being Ridiculous

In a society where we feel constantly judged for the way we dress; the way we look; the way we behave; our views and opinions; the things we say; our life choices; the music, films, books we like; the friends we keep etc. how can we possibly ever let our hair down and go crazy?! 

That was quite a list, wasn't it? And it's only a few of the many things that we judge and criticise each other for. It's sad that I know how horrible it feels to be judged in this way and yet I do it to other people all the time! As long as we aren't doing ourselves or anyone else any harm, why can't we just let each other do our thing?

Yesterday evening was my wonderful friend Meg's 18th birthday party! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGGLINGTON. It was a Great Gatsby themed party; so there were feathers, sparkles, and pearls galore! I loved getting all dressed up and releasing my inner Daisy Buchanan. I bought my dress from eBay, my gloves from a small antiques shop called The Old Pill Factory, and I made my headpiece (details below). It was a wonderful evening of cocktails, great music, and wonderful chums. 

I felt wonderful and confident in my outfit: I knew it suited me and that it fitted with the party dress code - so that was all fine, but what I didn't feel so confident about was my dancing! I definitely cannot claim to be an attractive dancer by any means. Usually when at parties or on nights out, I will try and join everyone else and 'dance' in a vaguely okay way, but certainly not in a manner that would attract attention. I feel self-conscious about the way I'm moving. I feel exposed. I feel awkward - not knowing quite what to do with my limbs; suddenly it feels like I have a lot more than four ahaha! 

But there was something different about last night... I just stopped caring. I let go and danced like there was no tomorrow. I know I looked ridiculous: flailing my arms about, jumping around, even utilising classic moves such as the air guitar (yes, I really took it there). At one point I decided that a particular song was so good that I had to kick my shoes off in order to be able to dance sufficiently madly, only I kicked them off so hard that one of them flew the length of the room and smashed into the wall (sorry, Meg). 

So what was different about last night? What allowed me to stop caring about what other people would think and simply be absorbed by the music, lost in my own fun? Perhaps it was the fact that I had my gal Livi dancing by my side most of the night (although she definitely did it with much more elegance than I did, being an actual trained dancer herself!), Perhaps it was because that I didn't know many of the guests very well and so didn't feel their opinions would affect my life. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they day before, I had had a new treatment which had worked wonders (I shall write a full blog post about it soon) and so for once I wasn't in pain and felt full of beans. But then again, perhaps it was just the vodka.

Whatever it was that made me feel I could be ridiculous, I am very grateful to. Although there were a couple of times where people seemed to be looking at me in a 'wtf is this chick on' kinda way, no one laughed at me or anything like at, and anyway, when I thought someone was judging me they may have not been thinking anything bad at all! In fact, for all I know, they could have been thinking 'I wish I was as confident as her!'. 

Because of last night, I have been inspired to be brave and dance ridiculously more often! I feel that the fun I had was worth any judgement I may have received! And after all, every party needs someone to be the first to get up on the dance floor before anyone else will follow.

So whatever it is that makes you feel self-conscious or that you worry people judge you for, just let it go. I know it's a hell of a lot easier said than done, but life is just TOO DAMN SHORT! Wear those neon pink tights, sing out-of-tune (and do it loudly and proudly), obsess over Taylor Swift, dye your hair green, and love every part of your body. It may take time, but it will be worth the effort to feel the sense of joy you get from truly being and accepting yourself.

I think I'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

Love,

Katie xxx

How I made my 1920s headpiece:

You will need a length of lace and a length of ribbon (measured to the size of your head and in the colours you want)

You will also need a needle and thread

Select any feathers that you want. I went for two white ostrich feathers and a pink set of smaller, gathered feathers

Group together a load of sparkles and extras that you may want to add for decoration

Cut your piece of ribbon in half

Fold over the end of your lace and sew down. This will strengthen it and allow you to adjust the size neatly

Sew the two pieces of ribbon on to the lace - one at each end

So that it looks like this. This will then be how you do the headband up when you wear it

The next steps with require a glue gun or other really strong glue

Glue the feathers to the back of the band (so the stalks don't show when you're wearing it)

I then added some embellishment to the front to cover up the messy glue and also because I thought it looked pretty!

Using a glue gun, add any other sparkles or decoration to your headpiece. I used small pearl beads and rhinestones

This was the finished effect!