Me and my bro @Itsjakejunior I love fashion, always have! I have so many fun memories from being a little girl, on what we call mufti day (non uniform day) where my mum would get me all excited and put an outfit together (on a budget) that I would LOVE. My first ever mufti outfit was a pair of faux lever pants with a slight flare, a turquoise top that had sparkly stars on with frilly sleeves and I’m pretty sure I had sparkly sandals and it was the first time mummy Jen curled my hair, using little bendy rollers. Safe to say I felt amazing!
One thing my mum encouraged was for me to “stand out, don’t be a sheep, wear what you like not what everyone else likes.” Which really did encourage me to have my own style and not worry about if people liked me or not because I was happy in me. To be totally honest sometimes I loved the attention when people didn’t like what I was wearing LOL.
So fast forward a few years 27 now, i still love fashion. I love creating a look and what ever style I’m in the mood to do. But now I’m an adult, and a mother… I do worry what people think. Things that go through my head before a night out - Is my style over the top? Am I over dressed? Should I tone it down? Should I op’ for the basic t shirt and shorts? Shall I not wear the tight outfit because I’m a size 6 and I have a baby and everyone is going to think “wow she’s so skinny does she even eat?” WT actual F!? Why do we do this to ourselves???
So of course most of you know I’m married to my husband Joe, we have a little girl. Spending most of our time in Saudi Arabia. However I most definitely consider myself as an ally to the queer community. And I’m lucky that my brother (who is my best friend) is gay and we have a lot of queer friends. So luckily I’ve had lots of nights outs with the queer community mainly the village in Manchester with the gorgeous gorgeous girlies... and let me tell you, when NEVER have I once asked myself all those self attacking questions before a night out with the queer community.
I get to not stress, not worry, and just fully put my look together without concerning myself of other peoples opinions. My “extra” looks aren’t so extra in the community and honestly everyone is so complementary! Being out in the queer community is my comfort zone, I can feel completely myself without men thinking i’m wearing a certain outfit for their attention and meet so many interesting beautiful people and have the absolute fucking best conversions. If you’ve been stuck in the smoking area at G-A-Y for an hour, you’ll know! Btw I don’t even smoke.I love all the fashion, all the outrageousness, the topics, everything about it feels so good to be in and around.
The love I have for the queer community especially the UK, makes me grateful for how far the UK have come and tones of gratitude for those that came before us. That ultimately had the audacity to be themselves. The ones it wasn’t so easy for which overall in my personal opinion have made the UK a better place for everyone because essentially fighting for rights, is fighting for everyone’s rights and I do think they’ve helped women and women’s rights so much. So the flip side of this, being in Saudi makes me sad for the missing community. I genuinely worry about anyone who is living in an environment where they’re not able to feel comfortable living their truth and conditioned to think who they are is wrong. We should live in a world where everyone gets to be themselves and love themselves no matter what!
So for the UK queer community I love and miss so much right now, thank you so much and never stop being proud! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ Written 16th Aug 2022
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