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SIMPLY the best!
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I'm currently grappling with the idea of collecting ‘stuff’ to build a life. Right now while a lot of people my age are working on building their lives up with respectable careers, romantic relationships, cars, money and a solid social group… I’m in the process of reducing my life down into a backpack.
I'm selling my car. I've booked a one way ticket. I don't see myself settling any time soon to re-start my accumulation of stuff (and other complexities). Maybe there's something wrong with me? The world puts such a high premium on 'stuff' and I feel that constantly!
I am choosing instead, to live more simply! To have more fun, spend more time with my family. To be more me. Often I think the stuff I have accumulated is limiting me. It threatens to arrest my progression, mentally and physically. The clutter of life really is doing my head in!
I do know homemaking and nesting can be greatly satisfying, but can I have this same satisfaction while keeping the fluidity of life that leads to great and varied adventures? Can I experience life in its satisfying fullness without the constant conveyer belt of stuff weighing me down?
Possessing stuff doesn't feel like a successful life to me. I wish to measure my success in volumes of happiness! I could be delusional, but we'll see! :D
So now that I have shed my stuff to experience the world, I expect that the best is yet to come....!
(Sarah - KOBOMO blogger at large!)
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Traveller 'must-haves' (Pt. 1 The Tropics)
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Whether you're a hard-core hiker-chick traveller, a luxurious cruise junky or just a bit of the wild-hearted wanderer, we've got all your potential packing dilemmas covered!
Here are my top three picks for the suitcase for travel around the tropics!
Oversize pintuck blouse, $39.70 // Leaf green, rust orange, charcoal, navy blue, sand beige, mustard yellow, white, black, ocean green, purple.
This one is fantastically cool and offers plenty of room to move and breath, all cotton with wrinkle affect, easy to shove in the suitcase and no ironing needed! An easy numer to throw on and comfy enough for walking about town in all day // nicely jazzed up with some jewellery for evenings.
Capri pants, $27.50 // Black, melon, aqua, hot pink, white, teal, navy, beige, cobalt blue
So casual, so comfortable, elastic waist, double stretch capri pants! Awesomely comfy & durable and again, require no ironing! Suitable for lazy days on the ship or hard-out hiking. These pants will do you well in humid conditions and look fantastic under tunics or short dresses, coverage all the way to the knees! Another KOBOMO classic you'll never get out of.
Draping jersey kaftan dress, $59.70 // Black
This is a favourite for me! Suave & stylish. This dress is perfect for smart casual nights out on the town with a little jewellery or even a chain belt. Great jersey number for on the plane as well if you want to be comfortably classy and get off in wrinkle-free!
Colour MATTERS!
"Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions." - Pablo Picasso
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We're all aware that certain colours can have dramatic affects on our mood, feelings and even actions. Colour is very much a communication tool we often utilize when we are feeling strong emotions. The colours we wear can trigger sentiments not only for ourselves but for others too. Naturally most of our feelings towards colours are fairly personal and relative to your own experiences and culture.
Colour experts say that warm colours, namely, red, orange and yellow stir up feelings ranging from comfort to anger and hostility.
On the flip side, cool colours (blue, purple and green) tend to be described as giving a sense of calm to people but are also linked to feelings of sadness and indifference.
Ultimately, while experts have found that colour can have an influence on how we feel and function, these effects are subject to personal, cultural, and situational factors.
So, what are you wearing?
If you took a quick sticky in your wardrobe there would undoubtedly be a couple of staple colours in there, the colours that you feel good in, you find easy to wear. You may also find another abstract colour that doesn't quite blend in, this is likely the item you purchased, took home, but never wore because of its colour. You put it on, and take it right back off because something about it makes you feel uneasy and certainly not confident. This conundrum occurs when our mood influences our colour choice at the time of purchase, and then that mood leaves (thank god for return policies!). When we are wearing the right colours for us, the overall outcome is a sense of harmony between skin-tone and colour and colour and mood. Colourists say that if you wear colours of your season, you will feel more comfortable and confident wearing them!
There are some general mood and behavioural concepts behind colours, here's a couple of brief but interesting colour breakdowns worth thinking about, because we can actually tweak our mood by the colours we wear!
Red is a bold and confident colour, however can also indicate other fiery elements like aggression, stress or even anger. If you notice that you're exhibiting these attributes try to reduce the amount of red you wear even by way of breaking it up with a jacket of a calmer colour. It's best to avoid red clothes if you are already overactive, as the brain is highly stimulated by red, more so than other colours. Instead try a complimentary colour! :)
Yellow often the times we feel like wearing yellow, it's because it's because we need colourful pick-me-up. However, wearing too much yellow is said to intensify feelings of insecurity or fear. By balancing colours with their complementariness, one can counteract the affects of the other.
Green there are various tones of green, and each may make you feel different, negatively or positively. Ultimately though, it is supposed that green gives a great sense of balance, for the days when everything feels entirely too frantic. And as a cooler colour does, generates a sense of calm (unless of course it's fluro!)
Blue be it bright, pale or royal is a colour most frequently seen in clothes. Although light blue and navy blue have very different feelings behind them. Deeper tones of blue are often considered power colours for people. Whereas light blue is more associated with fun. All blues however are cool, calm and it has been said that wearing blue pyjamas can help you sleep! (oh if only it were that simple!)
Why we do fashion!
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Fashion is not just an everyday thing… Yes it’s worn every day and we see it every day but I do not believe it lives in the realm of mediocrity as every other ‘everyday thing’ does. A uniform is an everyday thing, practical footwear is an everyday thing, but in our time off, away from work, away from various domestic duties and in the moments we live for… what are we wearing?
Personally, I have bland days, days where taking off my bed socks is a very real struggle, and walking to the wardrobe and picking an outfit is an entirely different challenge all together. I’m okay with that – as long as I know feeling vibrant is just around the corner! This is where FASHION Vs. CLOTHING plays a fundamental role in our lives. We’re not all fashionistas, but we all know the difference between wearing something you feel comfortable and vibrant in versus something that’ll ‘just have to do.’
Here’s what I think – Fashion is not superficial… why? Because our feelings are not superficial. Not only that but I believe that the way we feel when we walk out the door is going to impact not only our day but the people around us’ day. We’re not all the same, and nor should we like all the same things; hence why people say that fashion can be an expression of self. If it is then what we’re really doing here is of brilliant importance! When you are yourself, you free others to be themselves… that is a sentiment worth living by!
So when it comes to fashion, it's really a liberation of self! freedom to dress how we feel or want to feel and in a way that compliments who we are! The right piece of clothing can give you the confidence to take on the world or a subtle sparkle to help BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY :)