So I have been creating this series since May, four whole months, and that is crazy to me. It feels like it was only yesterday when I thought of the idea and created all the little segments for it etc. It's so strange because as I type this post this whole series, idea, concept, visual image of it all is my baby as only myself and a handful of people actually know about it. But when this post is officially up which you guys are reading now it's out in the world and I can't take that back. God this is getting too emosh.
Right anyway, so I originally wanted to have this series up at the start of August and have it run as a series with different chapters/ segments each week throughout the summer and be done in time for September as obviously I've told you guys Blogtember is happening. So that was my original plan and it's pretty evident that this didn't happen hence no posts through August. I think I put too much pressure on myself to have it up in the summer months and I think you guys will see why when I explain it in a moment. But also because the subject area and the topic is so big on social media right now that it is extremely relevant and so many close blogging friends and bigger influencers have had their say on it as well. I know my series will still be relevant now because there's so much more to learn and grow from for each individual that is taking the journey or will take the journey at some point in their life. I hope it isn't just a summer "trend" because this topic is so important to every single human on this planet and I feel it's something we all need to work towards.
Okay, I think I've kept you guys in the dark long enough. So after much deliberation in my head, my new series is called,
'BORN TO BE'
So before I get into what BORN TO BE is and what it stands for etc, let's back track a little bit.
So the whole concept for this series came from the whole vibe of this summer. This summer more than ever I have noticed in real life and on social media that people of all shapes and sizes are embracing the fashion industry and breaking the invisible boundaries of what people are "supposed" to wear depending on their size. Everyone is wearing whatever the hell they want which is how it should be!
I'm not skinny or slim in any way, I'm a size 20, so as a bigger girl I know how shitty the industry can be for a body shape like mine because some fashion items aren't made for bigger people. E.g. bralettes, crop tops, body-con dresses etc.
My aim is to create a series on this blog, my platform, to inspire people to feel good in their own skin as I'm still learning to feel good in mine. Also to let people know, whatever your size, as long as you feel good you should wear whatever the hell you like.
So to take this idea one step further I decided I wanted to do something physical instead of just researching. I decided to set myself a task to go into different high street fashion retailers and try on a range of different outfits, which I will then be sharing my honest opinions on. Not just the outfit and how it looks, but if it's true to size, if I feel good in the outfit, the quality, how I'd style it etc.
Now at this stage in the planning process I was really happy and I thought this could be an awesome idea but something just felt like it was missing. So I carried on researching and looking into body positivity, mental health, social media, fashion and style, fashion and bodies, body positive movements, self-esteem and confidence etc. The whole premise of body positivity is so big and it feeds into so many other things and I began to realise I cannot only share my opinion and the information discovered from all my research because it wouldn't be a well rounded project. There are a bunch of people in the world who are probably the same clothing size as me but they are not the same body shape or type as me because were all uniquely made. But I decided I wanted to include the opinions of my closest friends and my closest blogging friends and get the opinions and outlook about all this from real people. I'm not saying that models and the body type that is idolised in society aren't real, they do exist and their body type is still important and valued because people are important and valued. But for most people if you're not the idolised body type in our society it seems you're not worthy or valued, especially when it comes to the fashion industry. Which is something I'm really trying to challenge through this series. From the research I conducted I created ten questions to ask friends and bloggers which I'm so excited to share with you guys as everyone who I've asked to be involved and had discussions with about it has been really on board and open and honest with how they feel which is so important for a series like this.
And that in a nutshell is my new series. You might be wondering why did I call it BORN TO BE. The naming of this series was actually one of the hardest decisions for me because this is something I'm so passionate about and I want it to be the best it can be not only for you guys but for me. I'm on this journey of body positivity and self love too and so this series is also a way for me to grow and learn and love and change and view things differently just like how I get you guys to view things from different perspectives as well. I needed a name that related to the premise of the series but something that wasn't just specific to the fashion industry. The fashion industry is the driver of the series but it is not the subject area that defines the whole perspective of the series. So I brain stormed a whole load of name ideas and none of them were really sticking out to me as a series title. Some of them I'm going to use for chapter/ segment titles. Then I was beginning to play around with the idea of were all born to do something, were all here for some reason or purpose whether we know what that is or not. So I started playing around with the idea of born. So firstly we started with 'born to be different' but I wasn't really feeling that one. Then I thought 'born to be you' and even though this isn't used in a negative way but when I really thought about it there is this stigma around the word "you" as when you think of yourself you already have this perception of yourself which actually puts yourself into a box or a category which is something I really didn't want to make a connection with in this series.
In the end I decided on 'born to be' because it is open ended. It gets the reader to really think of what they are born to be. And in my opinion you're born to be whatever you want to be or whatever you want to do etc. And all through your life this will change and develop and transform and grow etc. Which is something I hope you guys will do through this series by reading it and really thinking about the concepts brought up. And I hope I do from researching and also thinking about the concepts and presenting ideas we both might not have taken into consideration or really delved into before etc. So that is the story behind the naming of this series.
I'm so excited to properly start this and share everything I've found out with you guys. I have created so many edited photos and quotes for this that I'm really proud of and can't wait to put together and just visually see how all of this is going to work and become a thing. I haven't decided on a day this series will be uploaded every week in Blogtember. Potentially Thursdays or Saturdays I am debating between at the moment.
I hope you're all as pumped as I am and I really hope this inspires you guys to be open and think about concepts differently and our attitudes towards others differently. But mostly our attitudes towards ourselves differently. I'm not going to go into anymore detail otherwise there will be nothing left for all of the other segments to this series. But, I'm really excited. Let me know if you're excited in the comments.
Follow me on all of my social media so you can keep up to date with everything I am doing! You can follow me on Twitter @katielouj0hnson, Instagram @katiej0hnson, Pinterest @katielouj0hnson, and Bloglovin' @ Katie Johnson.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you tomorrow.
Love,
Katie
