#FAMYWAY with Footasylum Womens

do you ever just receive those emails sometimes, where you're reading in bewilderment and are just a bit like "but why me ??" this was one of those moments. 

it was all well and good them first inviting us up to leeds for the exclusive opening of the brand new footasylum womens store (if you saw my stories a few weeks ago you'll know how bloody lovely ~ especially getting to be roomies with my best gals) but then, they only went and asked lil' moi to be one of their first, female blogger gals to celebrate its launching and style up some pretty rad pieces from the site. see their full article about it here.

something a little new for me but i was over the moon with the overall outfit outcome (man, that's a lot of o's) and the 'sorry, toilet for customer only' sign one hundred percent completed the shoot ...

i am wearing

footasylum

jacket

trousers

vans

(bralet is sold out AM SORRY but have a look at the rest of theirs on site if you're seeking !!)

so, what are the learnings i've got to share with you from this trip ? let's begin ...

one ~ it unearthed a love for leeds i never even knew i had. living in london, we kinda think we have it all, but the excitement of being in a new city, around new people who, whilst they may not be as 'f*ck, you're too cool it's painful' as they are around shoreditch, will never fail to flash you a smile and GUESS WHAT. they even talk to you. i'm saying legit conversations and acknowledging your existence as a person, who bloody knew ??

two ~  shooting with 'stranger' photographers (ie. not boyfriends, mums, sisters, dogs, bffs etc) is something i can actually do. and enjoy. no pangs of anxiety (alright a few but panic attacks were out the picture) and a really jammy outcome with angles i've never even thought of before. what do you think ?

three ~  as this is sort of a female empowerment theme, following on from the footasylum womens store opening, it felt right to give a shout out to gal pals. they really are the shit. whilst i may have had a meltdown about walking around with my stomach on show and also strategically picked shots where i didn't have a full on fit about how it looked, beth and layla never failed to patiently encourage me, tell me i looked great and instil some much needed confidence. appreciate your gal pals and tell them you appreciate them folks. after all, who else is gunna bring gyoza to your bed when you had one-too-many cocktails the night before ??

four ~ i'm really frickin' lucky. this whole experience put things into perspective and i realise, in this industry, how easy it is to take things for granted. i wrote a post about that here. and whilst, yes, i may be that time-of-the-month overemotional whilst writing this, my brain is still ten percent working correctly and i've done some things and worked with brands i'd have never even dreamed of. it makes all those efforts entirely worth it. soppy time done.

* want to win £250 + a new pair of sneaks ?? as well as being babes, footasylum womens are giving back. all you need to do is follow @footasylumwomens on insta, upload an outfit pic featuring #FAMYWAY in the caption and then wait until the 24th july to find out if the prize is yours! (giveaway closes on the 23rd) *

so you've read a whole load probably too many of my rambles, i guess it only fair to hear me speak (my weaker of the two skills, oops!)

stay tuned 'til the end for a sneak peek of the new store ...

♡

~ this post was sponsored by footasylum, however all opinions, styling and rambles belong to yours truly