What are your new years resolutions for 2017?

First of all, i would like to say - Happy New Year.

As the New Year approaches, we all know that it is very common for everyone to start thinking about idea's for their new year resolutions. It is a tradition, let's face it. And it is the first month of the year, It is the perfect opportunity for you to improve something about yourself or to break a bad, unpleasant, distressing  habit. It is a time for you to wipe the slate clean and start again. 

'New year, new you' as they say!

Although new year resolutions are not for everyone. It is an opportunity for you to do something to make you feel better about yourself, almost like a goal, but it is important that you feel determined. Surround yourself with people who inspire you and who can encourage you. Make sure you write your goals down, people with written goals are 50% more likely  to achieve than people without goals. It is very important to have hope in your life, and personally, i could not think of a better opportunity to begin by setting yourself new year resolutions, big or small, it is a start to becoming a better you. 

Katia Beauchamp, cofounder and CEO of Birchbox, would like to focus on growing her confidence. "The year ahead is all about elevating my confidence and celebrating the incredible accomplishments of life."

Many people search for ideas on how to be healthier, exercise  more, to stop smoking, how to be more organised, getting a new job, to be a better cook, to spend more time with others, to learn something new, etc. What is your new year resolution going to be? 

Good Luck and all the best for 2017.  

Finally, that confidence boost

I cannot believe that it has almost been a year since i wrote my last blog post. A lot has happened during this time, it has been quite eventful indeed...

Yesterday, i attended a family wedding, surrounded by loving family and friends, in which i had some interesting discussions with some very interesting people (along with lots of drinking, dancing and very bad singing), which led me to feeling extremely inspired again. I have also received multiple comments about how i should start blog writing again, and here i am.

So, let me fill you in about what has been happening...

First of all, i do not want to bore you, so i'll not go into every little detail. Here we go... I feel like i am at that age (24) where you learn some of the most important lessons in your life. This last year has been somewhat of a roller coaster. I have learnt a lot about myself and others. I have come to discover how much of a sensitive person i am, and although i don't like to admit it, i have sadly allowed people to criticise, degrade and intimidate me (not cool). I have also learnt that i do not take things with a pinch of salt, i take everything to heart and this has recently led me to lose a lot of self confidence.

However, only i can change this. So far, i have learnt to walk away from all the negativity and learnt to do what's best for me and actually do what makes me happy, and not others. I noticed i was feeling very uncomfortable around a lot of people because i was trying to be someone i wasn't... i constantly worry about what people think... This has to stop, it's exhausting.

I'm sharing this with you because i know i am not alone and i just want you to know that it's so important to be yourself, people should want to accept you for who you are. One of the worst feelings is feeling like you're misunderstood. You have to remember, people lead very different life's, we've all walked in different shoes. To try and understand what someone else is or going through, isn't easy and some people are not willing to to even try or  they think they know, but they just don't. But, nobody is perfect. Everyone has their weaknesses and everyone has their strengths. At the end of the day, we are all human but constantly trying to please everyone else is so unhealthy for you. Since i realised all of this and actually started doing something about it, like putting myself first for once, worrying less and just going with the flow, i literally feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

It is also important to know who to confide in, which is those who believe in you, who push you to do well (as daunting as that is sometimes). Like i said, it has been a roller coaster, the only thing that has kept me strong throughout my recent struggle, has been surrounding myself with amazing friends and family. I have been to three amazing weddings, three of the most fun hen party's, birthdays, festivals, etc, etc.... it has been a fantastic summer.

I have now got myself a new lovely job and i have also took it upon myself to go back to college to study GCSE English again. English has been one of my weak points,  however, im determined to do what i need to do in order to help myself with my future and my self confidence. So far it's going great and i am really enjoying it. There is still a long way to go, but i feel like i have come a long way and i know there are a lot of people out there who care and want to help me, which makes me very happy.

I might have taken a step back, but sometimes you have to take a step back to take 10 steps forward.

Onwards and Upwards!

Let me introduce you to my new collection, Bouquet

Hello everyone, I hope we are happy and well?

As some of you may know, i'm in my third year at University at the moment studying fashion and design, with two weeks left to go! Scary. I mean, all i've ever known is being in education and now i'm about to go out into the big wide world! It's really exciting but so daunting at the same time. I have set myself big goals though, i don't want to be one of those to leave university and not do anything with their degree,  it's taken me 4-5 years to finish this degree as i had to take a year out and re-sit a year due to family circumstances, so i'm going to try my very best to get a job in the fashion industry, possibly an internship! Fingers crossed.

I'm here today to write a blog post for my business studies! And as i already have a blog, i thought i would write an updated post about my collection. Which finally has a name by the way... 'Bouquet' What do you think? It took me ages to come up with it as i wanted something that really connected with my collection. I sat here wondering if i could adapt it. For example, i was going to call it 'Day-Glo Bouquet' but i thought that was too much. In the end i thought i would just keep it nice and simple!

I've made a lot of progress this last week or two!  I've almost finished sewing my collection together and i'm hoping to have it finished by this coming week. (I'll be sure to post finished pictures!) Today, i've sat here and done all my design boards, i've constantly gone back and forth making improvements and although my illustration skills are not the best, i'm really pleased with how my boards are looking.

Mood Board

Final Line-Up Board

For my collection, i first began by looking into the 1960's! It's an area i've always been interested in. Straight away i knew i wanted to do shift dresses, further research took me into playsuits! So i decided i would do two of each. However, i wanted to put a twist on my designs. Doing my trend research i came across a trend forecast called 'Soft Pop' which was really colourful and bright and it really had caught my attention, at this piont i had a lot of idea's flowing through my head but i still wasn't 100% sure. Until i came across a designer called 'Kate Spade' who was a really big inspiration. One of her collections involved block colours with floral prints and florescent colours and i decided i wanted to do something a long those lines. Taking into consideration the rest of my inspiration, i decided i would try and create floral panels onto these simple silhouettes. As you can see from my designs above, i thought i'd go that step further and add in some bright colours.

These are pictures of my collection in progress, none of them are completely finished in any of these pictures, but definitely are not far off. Hopefully when i write my next post, i'll be able to show you pictures of the finished product!

Until then.

Take care Readers!

Daryl Ivyana Richardson x

Too much excitement!

Hey folks! I must apologise as it's been a while, but as you know i'm in my third year at University and there's a lot to handle! On this note, i've recently handed my notice in at work so i can concentrate more on my studies. Hashtag GEEK. ;-)

A little of what i've been up to? My brother previously got married and i have the best sister-in-law i can ask for. No really, she's ace! We all had a lovely day, surrounded by family and friends. It was really nice and i cried a lot... my sister-in-law looked absolutely stunning, especially when she walked in wearing the most beautiful dress. Her and my brother are just adorable, he twirled her around as they did a little dance down the isle! I cried throughout the whole thing... I'd like to think i'll get married one day and be that cute with someone. My brother reckons it'll be to someone Irish... (Some of my close friends here at Uni are Irish) while i just think i'll turn out to be some sort of crazy cat lady! Hm...

Anyway, It's coming to the end of the academic year (way too fast for my liking) and there's a lot to be cracking on with and this is where i start to panic... pretty sure it isn't just me!? right? There's quite a lot of exciting thing's going at the minute. As some of you know, i've been working on my 'Final Major Project' designing and making a collection and it's going very well.

Last night, i threw some quick drawings together of my Collection, these are not the final drawings... i was just curious to what they would look like together.

I've always had a big interest in the 1960's and the Shift dress, so i can used that shape in two of my collections, then inspired by designer Kate Spade with the colours and patterns. Followed by two playsuits. 

Here are three of them, almost finished. I just have to put the zips in and sew hemlines with one more design in progress, starting off with a toile of course.

And the last one in working progress...

It's such a good feeling to know that i'm nearly finished. Not only that, one of my best friends is currently working on a new look for my brand and logo 'Ivyana' 

EXCITING!!!!!

Follow me on Instagram for more work and designs.

                                                    #Ivyanafashion #Ivyana

https://instagram.com/missdarylivyana/

You only live once

Lately, i'm trying to face the truth instead of lying to myself, whats the point in lying? It's doesn't make you  happy, even if  you do wish there was a side of you that felt differently but unfortunately, things change.

Anyway... Hello! It has been a while. This isn't one of my usual fashion - hair  inspiring blogs but it is about one of those moments when you  just stop and take a step back, and everything hits you. I love that feeling, it makes me feel alive, like i know what i want and i know what i need to do. I know what i want in life, I graduate next year and i'm hoping to either land in a really good job within Fashion, or go abroad travelling, you only live once, i'm still young, and i have my whole life ahead of me, so why not? 

I tend to have these moments when I've had one of those fed-up sort of days, i always try and snap out of it by thinking about the positive things in life! I had one of these days today, in which i found myself craving chocolate and because i couldn't go buy any (as i'm saving my money because I'M GOING TO BARCELONA! More about that later) Luckily, i found brownie mix in my cupboard - Yay! Its safe to say my horrible day turned into  a lovely evening with two of my girls. We decided we would all spend the evening together, eating crap and watching films! As girls do! :-) We watched Sisterhood of the traveling pants 1 & 2! (How fit is Kostos!?) It's made me really want to go to abroad, which i will be soon because im going to Barcelona! Not quite the same as Greece i know, but it's still going to be a nice break away from everything going on here... Like, I always think to myself, how good would it be if i could just run away from all the problems? Well, we know that isn't the answer so i just tell myself to have a nap instead and get over it, this is why my friends probably find me asleep most of the time! :-P  Life's a bitch though right? we all have to deal with bad moments from time to time. 

So yeah, i'm going to Barcelona in 2 weeks and 3 days! I'm so stupidly excited. We're going to see a lot of Gaudi, his work is just amazing and so inspiring, along with Salvador Dali - Can't wait!!! 

Anyway, Tomorrow i'll be doing some more fashion inspiration's for you's! My sister's getting married next year, and i need to find a style for my dress! - Excited! 

Peace Out.

Dee.

xoxox

I'm on Top of the World

Happy New Year!  

It's been a very long time since i've wrote about anything! But i've been busy. Passed my driving test, i got back into University and i've been busy spending  lot's of time with family and friends! :) Of course, its a New Year!! I've suddenly found a lot of inspiration... So stay tuned!

I'm hoping this year is going to be just as good to me as what 2013 was, as i feel like i achieved so much!

Plus, this year,  i have a new baby Niece or Nephew on the way!!

Exciting! :D

I wish you all the best for the year ahead of you and i hope you've all had a blast over the festive period! :)

Loads of Love,

Dee

xox

:-)

Heads Scalfs

Lately, I've seen a lot of girls walking around with head scarfs on... some are different to others but im loving it! Here are a few examples...

Feeling 'Hippy' Inspired

Some of my favourite shorts!

Some more summer styles that Inspire me! Different shorts and different prints, etc!

Ripped / Jaggered Shorts!

blue floral jeans £14.99 new look

Floral Prints and Materials!

Moto pink crochet hotpants -  £35.00 - Topshop

vintage high waisted hotpants - £28 -Topshop

Moto high waisted denim shorts - £28.00 - Topshop

I like the rough cut look where you can see the pockets!

Parisian light blue faded Aztec print shorts £11.00!! New look

Moto daisy ripped Hotpants - £13.99 -  Topshop

Moto high Waisted spot Hotpants - £30.00 - Topshop