BAD ASS GIRLS CLUB

Feeling like a fully fledged member of the Bad Ass Girls Club today, who else is with me!?
I've had such a great productive start to the week and I'm SO excited for everything else that this week is bringing with it. I'm heading back to see my dermatologist tomorrow (today when you're reading this) for my second facial and chemical peel and I am SO excited to get rid of this god awful spotty skin. If you've not been following along with my vlogs over on YouTube then you're probs thinking what the hell is this girl talking about!? BUT alas, I've been having some skin issues for the past year and I finally did something about it a few weeks back and went for my first appointment with a dermatologist. I met the lovely Khatra from KP Aesthetics in fancy shmancy Hale in South Manchester and she's sent me off on my road to skin recovery with a whole new skincare routine and a little more clarity on what the heck is up with my skin. 
I'm SO excited to hopefully get back to good skin health and I'll of course be sharing my journey over in my vlogs but also with a sort of skin diary here on the blog too once the 6-12 week course is up. 

Following my skin session I'm heading to London for a couple of days for an exciting event I'm hosting with Ted Baker Colour By Numbers and whilst I'm down there I'll be hanging out with the lovely Gleam babes and doing a few brand meetings... Exciting times ahead! 

Hows your week shaping up? Anything fun on the horizon? I'm feeling really great at the moment and like a bad boss bish which is something I've not felt in oh so long. Once I have my gym-going-mojo back and my skin sorted they'll be no stopping me, I'm telling you aha! I'm really enjoying writing these chattier blogposts lately, not having much agenda and just treating my blog as a little diary for both my mind and soul and of course my outfits too. How are you finding these more relaxed style posts? I'd love to hear whether you're digging or whether you're wishing for more thought provoking content in the mix, do let me know.

The basis of today's blogpost was of course, inspired by my outfit, a look I threw together in a hurry last week but a look I think is rather fabulous indeed, not to mention perfect for this transitional weather we're having to deal with right now. 
The sweatshirt dress is by OwnTheLook a website that has some of the most AWESOME pieces by some lesser known brands, for me at least. It's a site I find really inspiring as it champions all things colours and trends and I always leave having purchased something which is both good (for my wardrobe) and bad (for my bank balance...)
The sweatshirt dress with it's peplum skirt REALLY reminds me of a dress I had a few years ago from Zara which you might remember in this post here if you're an OG reader; however, this time around with a rather fabulous slogan to it! A slogan that has inspired today's post where I'll be sharing some BAD ASS BABES who inspire me on a daily basis. There will always be women such as my mum and sister, my closest friends, my work wife Amy and other blogging babes such as Victoria, Helen, Lydia, Chloe and Hayley who inspire me all the freaking time, but I wanted to shout out some others to you today, in case you're in need of some bad ass babe-spiration! 

But first lets finish off dissecting the outfit shall we!? I layered up the dress with my failsafe pink Topshop high neck top to tie in the whole pink theme coming from the slogan of the dress, adding in my most barbie-esque sunglasses from ASOS, the latest black ankle boot addition once again from Topshop and the most gorgeous backpack on the planet by Paul Smith that I was kindly sent from the babes over at Mybag.com 
I've lusted after a Paul Smith stripe bag for as long as I can remember and it is SO flipping exciting to finally have one in my collection! The rainbow stripes have been something that I've found SO inspiring for many years and it's working seamlessly with my rainbow wardrobe I must admit. That, and the fact it's the perfect size for all the travelling I plan to do this summer, I think I'm on to an absolute winner with it!

Anyhoo, now for the bad ass babes! 

So the first bad ass babe I simply HAD to mention is my gorgeous Nanna Doris.
We celebrated her 81st birthday last week and spending such quality time with her got me thinking just how incredible she really is! She's my inspiration behind SO many things including my love of fashion and style as even at 81 years of age she is SO proud of her appearance, styling herself to sheer perfection even when she's just pottering at home, that woman is never without her layers of gold jewellery and pearl accessories. 
She swears like the best of em, has the dirtiest sense of humour of anyone I know (aside from my sister, but we all know where she got that from...) and she's utterly hilarious in every way, not to mention she makes the BEST CHIPS EVER!
I have SO much to thank my little Nanna Dot for, the memories I have with her throughout my childhood are some of my most cherished memories, even more so the ones we have together now I'm older and we can have a Gin & Tonic (or three) together. I wouldn't be the woman I am today without you Dotty, you're a legend!

Next up on my ever growing and extensive fave babes list is Erica Davies, this woman inspires me on the REG! Not only is her style colourful, individual and just HERS her home is my absolute DREAM home! Her love of colour is shown throughout her beautiful house which is filled with the most incredible and unique pieces, I'm particularly fond of her love of house plants and typography with such interesting signage scattered throughout. She's my latest Insta crush and I genuinely do a little squeal whenever she comments on my home snaps, thats how I know I'm doing a good job decorating haha!

Now for Carly Rowena, someone I'm sure you're ALL following but my goodness does this girl brighten my day every single day. She's honestly the most positive person on the internet not to mention in real life with THAT smile and that energy of hers. She's insanely inspiring when it comes to all things fitness however, I am LOVING her cheeky YouTube videos, putting herself out there and talking all things sex and relationships in a non-scary, non-judgemental and downright HILARIOUS fashion. She is deffo one to follow across ALL platforms for a daily dose of positivity.

Now I couldn't do a post about bad ass babes, without mentioning my dear managers and good friends Alex and Zara at Gleam. I've been working closely with them for a year and a half and I honestly cannot imagine being without them. They inspire me every single day, push me out of my comfort zone, pick me up when I'm down and celebrate my successes with me, they're my absolute dream team and I am grateful for them and to them every single day. I love you girlies, thank you for EVERYTHING!

Another double act of bad ass babes that I cannot get enough of right now are Sophie Milner and Millie Cotton the babes behind the INCREDIBLE podcast Keeping It Candid. I'm honestly obsessed with the KIC podcast right now and find myself eagerly awaiting their weekly uploads where they talk all things pop culture, blogging, Instagram and the general musings of a twenty-something girl that we can ALL relate to, not to mention Millie has the sexiest voice EVER haha. 
It's like sitting with your gal pals over a cup of tea and putting the world to rights and I honestly ADORE it so much. Both Sophie and Millie are truly inspiring creators too and I would URGE you all to go and check them out over on Instagram right not!

Someone I have always admired is Jo Elvin, the ex editor of Glamour magazine and the newly appointed editor of YOU magazine, Jo is an incredibly inspiring fashionista indeed. First up, she has utterly incredible style that I swoon over on the regular, particularly those pieces that fall under the #ClothesMyHusbandHates category! A hilarious hashtag that Jo started to document the clothes her husband does not and can not understand... Hilarious. Naturally I always LOVE the items he hates but I truly admire people who can take the mic out of themselves and Jo does this oh so well indeed. 
I'm also suitably hooked with her Podcast Is It Just Me...? that she co-hosts with James Williams a truly gorgeous and hilarious listen with the most fabulous of guests and I find myself falling deeper into my Jo Elvin girl crush with every listen.

And finally someone who is truly incredible, Gina Martin. 
Gina is campaigning to make "upskirting" a specific crime (under the Sexual Offences Act 2003) in England and Wales. I'll leave it to Gina to explain a little more about what this is;

"This all started when two men took photos up my skirt (and sent them to people around me to humiliate me) at a festival last summer. After handing the phone, photo and one of the perpetrators over to the police, I was told that there was nothing that could be done... The current law is inadequate as it fails to categorise the offence as sexual, rather than a public order offence. We want the Government to change the law so that upskirters can be properly dealt with in all circumstances."

Can you believe that "there is nothing that can be done" with this kind of invasion. I can't begin to imagine how something like this can make you feel and I hope I never and we never have to find out. But this SHOULD be a sexual crime, this isn't okay and Gina is petitioning to make this a sexual offence once and for all. Gina has started a petition and a bill will be debated in Parliament on 11 May 2018 which aims to make upskirting a sexual offence in England and Wales. You can sign the petition here and it will email your local MP urging them to back the bill. If we all get together and sign this with Gina we can change the law together.

Gina, you're incredible girl!

Plus, on a HUGE side note, her Instagram is gorgeous, follow her here.

And there we have some mega babes to swoon over and be inspired by, I hope you enjoyed this post and it has spurred you on to spread some girl love today! Go tell someone how fabulous they are right now, I dare ya! 

Lotsa love.

x M

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSIE BUTCHER