Baby Bumps In The Road

Hayden Panettiere

So as I find myself fully immersed in the throws of my third trimester of pregnancy, all the classic middle-of-the-night fears have joined in the fun too. I also couldn't help but notice Hayden Panettiere's recent admission of dealing with Postpartum depression. Thankfully this is a subject getting a lot more press these days and showing people just how real it is.

Back to Beyond - Organic Baby Clothes

With such an overwhelming amount of information out there on what to expect when you're expecting your head does start to feel VERY overloaded. The hormones and general awareness that nothing will ever be the same again have kept me up on many nights. While I am beyond excited by the little one's arrival I am also finding myself becoming a cliche of thoughts. Thoughts I honestly hadn't realised would cause me such anxiety. Questions such as "How will I really cope?, How do you get those miniature shoes on without them screaming at you?, Will I ever wash my hair again?, Will my nipples fall off?, (No I'm seriously worried that they might - apparently I'll need cabbage leaves, yes really).

Back to Beyond - Organic Baby Clothes

A few days ago I had a nasty fall, where I tackled the concrete floor like a pro Rugby player, dislocating my finger in the process. I was so high on adrenaline and mama instincts that I avoided the concrete to tummy contact with some otherworldly magic and while lying there looking at my finger at a right angle to my hand, knew I had to get the bump checked as fast as possible and my finger was just going to have to play along. I popped it out and re-set it while still lying on my back in the road... I'm not sure I would have done that a few months ago. After a trip to the maternity ward all was fine, but I was in shock at how I had responded to it all.

My bump with temporary Conscious Ink tattoo.

There has been a realisation that not only does my body no longer really belong to me, but neither it seems, does my mind. I have finally fallen in love with my body - something I NEVER thought I'd say, because here it is, despite all the crap I've fed it over the years, and verbal abuse it's had to withstand, building a human, one cell at a time, and I had nothing whatsoever to do with it... well you know what I mean. Despite all my worries and tears and angst, one bone after another has been built and now little hands and feet are currently using my internal organs as a punching bag.

So as I witness this changing vessel of a body do things I never thought I could I am also so aware of how the mind too is thinking things I never thought I would. Really strange, often totally irrelevant things. I am so aware of the potential and reality of Postpartum depression and have taken some rather drastic steps recently to get myself into a physical place where I am as supported and as safe as I can be. Because it's all very very real. And while I never thought I'd be popping back dislocated digits like it was a loose strand of hair - I also have no idea what's around this very large corner. All I can say is that with the support I have now surrounded myself with in the last few weeks, and making sure that I keep that communication open I hope that this next chapter will be the joy it's meant to be.

Back to Beyond - Organic Baby Clothes

But as my final note, you don't need a bump and hormones to relate to this. Because all of us are struggling with something. By bringing an awareness to it, whether it be financial concerns, or a difficult working environment, and trying to be as open as we can be with those we trust and love can and does ease so much of the crazy. And we all need a lot less of the crazy in our lives, and so much more of the ahhhh.

So next time someone asks how you are, you don't have to use them as a therapist, but get a little more real. Be a little more honest.

And ask for help if you need it. (And yes, I'm still learning that new lesson)

x Jo

Some Images provided by Back To Beyond - original, made to order, beautiful, Organic baby clothes.

www.backtobeyond.com

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

Morning all!

So I'm back to a favourite subject of mine, which never gets old - but what I'm so excited to see however, is that we are getting braver. Much braver. The video at the end of the post may well have found it's way to your computer by now. I've actually seen this whole standing in the middle of the road with a blindfold on asking for kindness by strangers before. But what shouldn't be astounding is how when faced, one on one with another human opening up, is that we do the same. Whether it's facing the face of a refugee, the face of a person crying, or the face of a brave woman blindfolded in the street, individually we are truly incredible.

Despite what the news would like us to believe, we are not our governments statistics, we DO NOT represent graphs and charts showing how much aid we have or haven't given. We cannot be held accountable for the choices our councils and governments make, because we know that none of us were ever asked. No one ever came to our door and said, can you help? What do you think we should do? We never voted for any of their complex and nonsensical policies and we never endorsed the mass neon advertising for diet pills. We never asked for any of it.

And the lie is so beautifully exposed when we see videos like this. We see what the news and advertising industry don't want us to see. The bold truth, that when you strip it all away we WANT to support each other, we want to reach out and help. We are still capable of creating goose bumps without Hollywood intervening. We are still capable of opening up our homes and hearts and minds to anyone.

It really is a wonderful world. 

x Jo

She stripped down to nothing but her underwear in the middle of a busy marketplace & you'll never believe the response she got: http://on.hln.tv/8KxVpS The Daily Share

Posted by HLN on Wednesday, 9 September 2015

and here are a few more human gems to light up your day.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/pictures-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity#.vk7YLpLm5

Now this, is a gift.

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

If you've heard of this man, then he needs no introduction and if you haven't then, just wait. I was fortunate enough to attend a talk by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer many years ago and that profound experience has never left me. I still recall being a young teen at the time but knowing that I was in the presence of something very rare. This remarkable soul died this week, and my heart actually aches for all the thoughts left still unshared - altough this was one man who left us with a mountain of words. He is the man responsible for so many of those great quotes we see time and again on Instagram and Pinterest and for many years still to come we will know that it was this man who truly changed the world around him.

While he leaves behind a veritable library of books, videos and interviews there was one recent creation that he wanted to share with us. It's a 2 hour film called 'Shift'. His dream was to get 3 million people to watch it although I'm sure that by the end of the week we will have easily surpassed that.

This is not film that makes you take a thousand notes and requires that you set a hundred goals, give up something or start. This film simply changes something in you. It's that moment in life when everything stops - for just a moment, and you remember something.

I don't think I will say much more, because, as you will see after watching the film, you're left in this space where you simply don't need to say anything. If you have already taken the time to read this far, then please, don't leave it till after the weekend, or once you've watched C.S.I - again, or scrolled through your timeline. Just click play, it's currently free to watch and I promise you it will be the best 2 hours you've had in a long time.

Get comfortable, and just watch what happens to you. 

What a gift you left us with.

Thank you Dr. Dyer, again and again.

Embrace the feeling.

I'll start off by saying that I know I seem to harp on about body image A LOT but that's because I think about it A LOT. I also know that I'm not alone in this. This video however seems to buck the trend nicely in what has become a steady stream of 'before and after' stories. Taryn Brumfitt was so unhappy with her body that she decided to get the perfect one - I have no idea how she got the determination to do it - but she did - and how! Now this is usually the point where we congratulate her achievement and then instantly berate ourselves for not having the 'discipline' to do the same. But the twist comes when she actually reverses the before and after. She is now, shall we say 'softer', more 'real', whatever word works quite frankly and she calls this her after shot. Her journey from hating her body, to having the 'perfect body' and now to the body she now accepts is being made into a documentary called Embrace. 

It's startling to me to see this well trodden path diverted in such a spectacular way. Faced with my own every changing body there was something in this video that gave me an insight as to what goal I really should be chasing. Because if I, like her, did ever sculpt the 'perfect' body would I in fact be any happier? If the answer is yes then I've been miserable since I was 14 just because my hips weren't 2 inches smaller, and I don't think that's strictly true. Yes I have always had a love of a sarong and board shorts over a teeny bikini - but I wouldn't say I've been miserable for all of those years. Sure there are times when I am miserable about my body but those times are becoming less frequent and less intense it has to be said.

I can't suck in my stomach anymore, which is irritating and low rise jeans screwed my tall frame into a constant battle with the 'muffin top' which I swear did not exist when we wore mom jeans in the 90's. Oh bring back the belted high waisted jeans with a Top Shop crop top. Oh hang on they ARE back but if I wore them now then at 37 they are actually 'mom jeans' and I'd look like a strange version of my 16 year old self. Oh how cruel fashion can be.

I'm getting off topic I know. BUT what I loved most about this video is Taryn Brumfitt herself. She just seemed so warm and I wanted to give her a hug and go have a glass of wine with her. She looks like you'd have one hell of a laugh with her, and you know she wouldn't allow me to do my sarong shuffle round the pool. She'd make me jiggle and jump onto a lilo with a huge grin on my face. I like that image. Wouldn't you want to do that? We can all side shift, arm out, chin down, foot tiptoe our way through Instagram for the day but the lilo jumping sounds SO much better.

And suddenly it occurs to me how attractive confidence really is and not only that, but how much more important it FEELS to jump onto a lilo - forget how attractive it is! isn't our life about how we feel not how our Instagram account is perceived? When did we all become so narcissistic? I don't think any of us would care about our backsides or our upper arms if we were alone in the jungle for a few weeks.

So that being said, as I try to avoid eye contact with my 40's I know that I just gotta get this stuff sorted. Even if over the years I have come a long way in terms of how I see my own body my friends and I still talk about this topic - a lot, which really seems like such a waste of two relatively well formed brains. 

So as I try to conclude my rather convoluted point - I think in the end what the signs are pointing at is how things feel.

If it feels good to cover up, cover up, if it feels good to eat a cheese burger eat one, or go for a swim or a run, whatever feels good - today. Not what looks fabulous for a month on Facebook.

http://leonardoviotti.deviantart.com/art/In-the-Rain-200790116

I'd start or end your day with this video (at the end of this post) because it feels good to watch it and today I wish you and your imperfect tummy or your less than pert boobs or somewhat unsculpted thighs a fantastic day. Because there is too much talent and kindness and love out there to spend any more time talking about how our bingo wings look - just don't move your arm quite so rapidly perhaps. Wear a looser top, dye your hair that colour you always wanted (I just emptied a bottle of bleach over my head - twice - oh the joy!) Go for a long walk, eat a huge salad and a ton of cheese and make sure that ice cream you have is the best you can buy. 

Whatever feels good.

xxx Jo

Living like Jessica

My inspiration this week comes in the form of one particular ray of sunshine called Jessica Holt, who sent me the link to her new song Finding My Forever. I gave it a listen, then promptly downloaded it and I'm still humming it a couple of weeks later. Then she released the video - and that was me sold.

The song (and video) is easy, uplifting and quite frankly it all just makes me want to go throw some flowers in my hair, and run up and down a beach smiling a lot.

This 23 year old Melbourne local has already seen more of the world than most. She started singing and playing the guitar at age 11 and continues to write her own material. She currently performs all over Melbourne.

I caught up with Jessica to find out more about this beautiful, bohemian flower child of happiness.

MA: Firstly congratulations on your debut single Finding My Forever. It’s such an uplifting and positive song, what inspired you to write this? 

JH: Thanks so much! The response to the song has been really positive – I’m so glad it’s out there and people are enjoying it. I wrote Finding My Forever in the studio with Michael Paynter and Michael Delorenzis - MSquared Productions. It was on a day where I had a bit of a breakthrough in terms of where I needed to focus my energy, which was music, and relationships with loved ones. I guess you could say my ‘forever’ is my music and my family and close friends, as they’re a huge part of my life. This song wrote itself really, it was just something I had to get out of me!

MA: What motivates you in everyday life?

JH: I’m motivated by those around me who I see doing great things with their lives that make them happy. I’m learning that hard work and persistence is key, and I believe in fate but also think you can choose to create the path you desire for yourself. I get tunnel vision when I set a goal for myself. 

MA: I personally love the music scene in Australia, especially with stations like Triple J, how are you finding it being a recording artist there at the moment? 

JH: Australia really does have an incredible music scene. There are so many opportunities for up and coming artists and it’s a really supportive community. There’s a lot of local radio stations who are always willing to play songs from new artists and I’ve found this to be a huge help in launching my single. 

A lot of my musical inspirations are Australian artists – Megan Washington, Missy Higgins, Clare Bowditch etc. There’s always a live gig to go to here in Melbourne!

MA: We are all about being mindful with our words here at Mindful Apparel. Obviously your whole music career is about words, what are your thoughts on the idea that ‘words have power’ and to be ‘mindful with your choice’ and how do your choices affect your song writing? 

JH: I love this philosophy, I definitely live by this. I write a lot of songs which I would never release as they are purely just for me to get something off my chest, not necessarily for everyone to hear. However in saying that, I find my best songs are the ones where I have no filter – the words just come out like a stream of consciousness and they’re completely honest and raw. I write best when I’m really happy, or really sad. There’s not really an in between for me!

MA: We’ve just brought out our new “She who is brave is free” t-shirt, how did you personally get the courage to put yourself ‘out there’, especially in todays social media world of the un-edited ‘comments section’?

JH: Such a cool idea! When I put up my first YouTube video a few years ago I remember it was quite daunting, but it’s really good to get opinions of those who aren’t close family and friends to help you grow and perfect your craft. I’ve had a really positive response to the music I’ve chosen to put out there and it’s lead to heaps of amazing opportunities, so I’m glad I took the chance. 

MA: I really loved the music video. I also think it illustrates how the courage to just get out there and go for it, can ultimately be freeing. I particularly loved that it wasn’t over-produced - it just seemed very natural and easy. Who came up with the styling and look of the video and is this how you are in your own life? 

JH: Oh thanks very much! This song is quite poppy for me as my musical roots are a little more folky, so I wanted my video to be very organic and natural. The amazing team Visual Culture directed and produced the video, and I had a lot of my own ideas and certain things I wanted to include. I feel like I’ve had this planned for my whole life as it’s always been a dream to create a music video! I liked being quite hands on with the whole process. The whole video and in particular the beach scene at the end is very much who I am in my day to day life, just enjoying the company of family and friends. I almost forgot we were filming as I was having so much fun! I was so lucky to have my little sisters and best friends involved, the video is so special to me.

MA: What’s next for you and where would you like to be five years from now? 

JH: I’m hoping to go on tour really soon. I’d love to take my music overseas and play some festivals, so hopefully that is also on the cards! I’ll be releasing more music really soon and would love to make an album. 

Coming soon!

MA: Our next t-shirt that’s coming out in the next few weeks says;

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair”, (Kahlil Gibran) 

We think it’s absolutely perfect for you - so expect one in the mail soon! 

JH: Awww thank you so much, I’d absolutely love that! x

MA: Thank you so much for your time and for making my own time, digging the veggie patch with your song in my brain, happier. When the girls and I next get together with the Margaritas it’s going on! 

JH: Haha, that sounds lovely! You’re very welcome, thanks for the opportunity.

And here it is folks! Good luck trying not to hum this is a few hours - just saying...

x Jo

www.jessicaholt.com.au

Facebook.com/jessicaholtmusic

Twitter.com/jessholtmusic

Instagram: @jessicalouiseholt

Management: Joe Grimes soundofmelbourne@mail.com

Our Charlie Girl

Well it's official - our team at Mindful Apparel just got louder. Our new blonde, pixie cut arrival comes in the form of another Margarita/Green wine drinker and lover of all things fabulous. People, meet Charlene Yates Bishop also known as Charlie Girl and part of my adopted family. Things sure are cosy here at Mindful Apparel these days and there's a lot of love for our team. Our Skype meetings are full of giggles, naughty jokes and random cheering and would drive any man who hears them insane. It's perfect.

Charlie does bring some whopping brains and incredible marketing and sales experience to our team which we are beyond excited about but more than that she brings warmth and smiles and a touch of feist - thankfully. She can go swimming in the ocean at midnight, make fabulous Prickly Pear Margaritas and can sail like pirate. She travels too much for her own good and has a habit of documenting such travels with far too much frequency and depressing all her friends. But they continue to love her it seems.

She's at it again...

Charlie is our Goddess of Possibility, also known as our Sales and Marketing Account Manager and it's this beauty of a soul that you can chat to about all related matters or just anything really. She's good like that.

Our Goddess

Charlie is based in Vancouver with her husband Joe who is also a great cocktail maker, skier and has a somewhat delinquent side which makes them a perfect match.

See, fabulous even with grapes. Here she is keeping an eye out for the next batch of green wine.

Welcome to Mindful Apparel our Charlie Girl and cheers to you beautiful!

Jo, Carrie - and Charlie x

choose Beautiful

Every few weeks I wonder what my next post will be about and I often find I don't need to give it much thought as something inspiring usually shows up. And just when I started to think perhaps nothing was coming this week - this gem popped up and it's thanks once again to Dove who continue to just get it right. This time their campaign centres on our own perception of what we think we are. Beautiful or Average?

Eeesh. Now if that's not a loaded question then I don't know what is. In some cultures we are taught to 'act as if' and 'fake it till you make it' - look at the American Idol auditions for example, while in others you can take hours to get ready for a big event and when a group of women tell you how much they love your dress and how lovely you look, you get end up looking at them like they're insane and telling them how much you paid for it in the sale and showing them your Spanx in the bathroom. Yes. I've done this. More than once.

This ad leaves me with such a confused feeling, because while we are told to see our real, true beauty or success, we are also told not to shout about it, (another 'selfie' anyone?). We live in a world where we are getting some very mixed signals and it's not surprising that most women walked through the average door - even if they didn't actually believe it... because interestingly I think sometimes it's our fear of acknowledging the good things others tell you that has us all a little uncertain. Sometimes you want to run naked with flowers, (a not so toned butt) and stardust in your hair through the beautiful door, but you don't, because "what will they all think?"

What I did notice about this ad was that it seemed to take a mother or a friend to literally 'push' their friend through the beautiful door. And isn't this just the case in life? How we see such incredible beauty in the ones we love. We don't see the size of their jeans just the size of their heart.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/323555554453531525/

I think I know enough about the way this world works to know that even with the best intentions in our hearts, we may be a way off walking through the beautiful door everyday - BUT what we can do and must do as much as possible is push the people we love through that door. To applaud beauty or a skill, or creativity or parenting or study or kindness without feeling like it diminishes us by doing so is such a lesson. One I don't feel enough people learn. Too often someone else's wedding photos or baby or new job or hair brings out the ugly in others, and that's why people quietly shuffle through the average door. For fear of making other people uncomfortable.

I have a selection of incredible friends who constantly push me through the beautiful door, and on days when I feel stupid, useless, ugly, somewhat bloated and insane. They are the lights that twinkle through that fog and sometimes it doesn't matter if I believe in the door - they do. And that dear friends - that is one of the biggest gifts of love we can receive.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/301600506271730274/

So don't worry about what door YOU would choose, just go out there today, either at work, on a plane, in a restaurant or on Instagram and go give a compliment, applaud their success no matter how small or big and shove the people you love (or even a total stranger) through the beautiful door. And somehow in the end, we all get to walk through it.

x Jo

Now you see it - now you don't

3 MARCH 2015- UPDATE: Apparently the 'leaked' image of Cindy Crawford is in fact a fake and her husband posted an Instagram of her on holiday to prove it. I think my point still stands however - even if it illustrates just how easy it is to make us believe what we think we see. I wonder too if this was the point the person who 're-touched' this image was trying to make? I don't think it matters if it's been manipulated to show a good or bad side. It may be a fake but it's not far off the mark when it comes to other celebrity images we've been sold. Either way a little restraint and responsibility is needed I feel.

The idea of an un-edited image being used in todays advertising world seems so far fetched and risky that it's become clear just how much of a manipulated product we are being sold. Especially when seeing the un-retouched body of a fit and strong 49 year old woman makes the headlines. In this recent case it was not the paparazzi that captured one of the worlds most beautiful women in the 'real' flesh but a high flying perpetuater of beauty myths - the fashion magazine. Cindy Crawford featured in underwear for Marie Claire and the raw images left as nature intended them caused an enormous stir. 

You begin to sense the rumbling long before the war cry is heard and in this case it was the endless 'comments' section that caught my attention, (although in this case finally for all the right reasons). People were applauding this move and applauding loudly, almost a little too loudly, and you start to think perhaps the crowd benches might fall down with the deafening sounds of a lot of rather tired, mislead and angry public.

I loved the quote recently asking what would the advertising world do if women started loving their bodies... a lot of people would be out of a job that's for sure.

Let's be clear this is not a woman who has 'let herself go'. She is fitter than most even half her age. She has always been a role model of the healthy body type and she is clearly continuing to be just that.

My only real comment on this fabulous picture is that it shouldn't have come as the surprise that it did. It shouldn't have been such a revealing look at what has been arguably one of the most photographed women of this generation. This should have caused not even a ripple on the minds of an audience who should already know what a 40 something body looks like, or a 50 or a 30 or a 60 - or any woman besides the woman who only lives inside an editing program. There was even an article recently showing us what a 'real' Victoria Secret's model looked like - and they truly have some of the finest sculpted bodies around. Even Justin Biebers recent "leaked" Calvin Klein un-retouched images had a lot of us cringing at the awkwardness of a young male body which hadn't seen quite the gym hours (or had the genes ahhem..) Mr Klein would have liked us to believe.

I am all for making an image more 'clean', removing a crease or a fold from a garment or a stray piece of hair, or even lightening a shadow caused by bad lighting. I think these changes can make a photograph more appealing but I feel that we've come to rely too heavily on the editing programs that we use, and I myself have fallen into this trap time and again. I have retouched images to within an inch of their life so they looked more 'professional'. But when you take a beautiful, young, thin, fit woman like Jennifer Lawrence below and distort that into something it didn't need to be made into then there is something very wrong.

Jennifer Lawrence

It's not even a new problem. Painters used to retouch their work all time by omitting details that their clients clearly had in reality. They took off a few pounds here and there from the odd queen or king and their post make-up skills I'm sure made even the unhealthiest of monarchs look like she'd just got hold of some CoverGirl. 

But the pendulum - as it tends too do, has swung a little to far out and when our image of reality no longer resembles anything that we see 'out there' then somewhere in the deep subconscious depths of our brains insecurities and all the other nasties start to breed. I wonder when the soft focus, plastic image will begin to fade into something else. But I also don't want that something else to be the raw and sometimes disturbing images that began to appear in the late 90's. Heroin chic with the now healthy Jamie King at the forefront, took off and the results were like a disposable camera being found the morning after the night before. I still want to see beauty, I still love seeing healthy, shining images, but I don't want to see the dark aftermath of a drug binge or the bubblegum packaging of a Barbie Doll.

Jamie King

Again like so much, only time will tell. I am also now faced with a selection of images from our shoot in Mexico that I have to 'clean' while practicing what I preach and allow the image to be as un-varnished as I can. That really is the least I can do.

Here's us laying it out there for you, just a 'clean' as promised!

For the record, this is what a gorgeous, healthy, fit and very blessed 40 something body looks like - even though she'll wished I'd re-touched this more - but isn't it perfect as it is? 

X Jo

the Siren call

I've written about this particular topic before when Myla Dalbesio recently broke Calvin Klein's traditional advertising image with her gorgeously curvy frame and now Sports Illustrated has broken its own bonds by using Robyn Lawley - an Australian model who also blends the industry extremes in terms of body size. I do also wonder when the term 'plus size' is going to stop referring to models who are clearly anything but. I'd really like to see a more up to date marketing term that gives us more hooks to hang these clothing sizes on. But while we get all tongue tied over what to call these rising stars of 'normal' size if that term even exists anymore - what is very clear is that something is changing and it's changing fast.

Alongside the rise of older models that I also spoke about previously, this mainstream change in model size is truly massive in terms of it's potential. As I've said before this is not about vilifying any one body type, this is simply about representing a broader range of the population. Tiffany's just broke their own glass barrier by using two male models to sell engagement rings. A bold move that we would normally see in political based advertising rather than a conservative mainstream brand. 

What Robyn herself represents for me is beauty and strength but again without the use of an extreme example of a body type that can leave some of us who can't do headstand on a stand up paddle board a little out of breathe. She is curvy and strong and this is instantly inspiring for me, and isn't that the point we are trying to move towards?

When advertisers stop trying to make us feel bad enough to want their products and instead help us feel good enough to want their product I believe the results will be staggering.

This is Robyn's own swimwear line which as far as we're concerned is the way we'd like to see all brands going.

We have, as the years of history have shown, often found certain faces or body shapes to be 'in fashion' but what I have seen, really since the late 90's, is a move towards showcasing individuality. As the one end of the spectrum strives for perfection in the plastic surgeon's office to ever more extreme measures the other end of the see-saw it seems is seeing some action too.

For me seeing this girl's beauty being applauded for what it is, is far more of an incentive to hit the pool than any amount of body bashing that the tabloids come up with. I am so excited to see where this industry stands over the next decade and here at Mindful Apparel the changes we're bringing in will be right alongside this. 

x Jo

Running like a girl?

Once again the marketing teams with a thankfully different approach have been at it again, and once more they deliver. This time it comes in the form of the new commercial for 'Always' and has them asking the question "what does it mean to "run like a girl" and more notably asking this question to teens and then later to younger girls. The result is staggering and while the goosebumps certainly get their morning work out it also leaves us with that somewhat uncomfortable feeling that we haven't quite caught up yet. But if the younger generation are anything to go by then there is certainly hope.

I think we all have a responsibility to the children around us (and to the adult in us, that has been clearly tweaked in the brain by social parameters) to cast off the old ideas of what a person can or can't do. This is not even about girls and boys anymore, it's bigger than that and it's part of a growing trend, that despite some strong efforts out there is still gaining momentum.

While we live in a frustrating world it's also exciting to be living through such a time of growth. Ideas that twenty years ago were considered radical are being taught to pre-schoolers alongside their colour charts. 

Girls Are Strong, ERA march in Tacoma, WA, 1982.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/121808364897909601/

Here at Mindful Apparel we've certainly had this in mind when we created our new line and we can't wait to share it with you all.

Today please take a minute to watch this video and then just get out there and run - however you want to.

x Jo

Pause, breathe and then dive in.

So the holidays are almost over and 2015 is fast approaching - as if we needed reminding. It's a strange time when we all simultaneously get reminded of what we've just gone through in the past year and where we want to go next. Most of us are finding the jeans a bit too snug and the idea of hearing another cork pop just not so thrilling. It also, I think leaves many of us in a slightly deflated mood. And it's not the first time. 

Each year as December swings into gear I can hardly contain myself and want to swim in bubbles of glitter and Christmas baubles and then just before the clock strikes twelve on the 31st my mind and I start to have 'the chat'.

But this year I'm going easier on myself and I've seen a few things that are helping with that. If like me you are keeping it low key this New Year's eve then here are some lovely ideas to think about.

The first one is apt for us here at Mindful Apparel. We have always followed our guts when it comes to big changes and this year we chose to let Christmas and the 'Winter Season' pass us by and re-group. An odd thing to do with a clothing company that's still in its early days but we have some big changes coming in 2015 and we all felt we needed a breath - just to let things settle and be ready for what's coming up. Sometimes taking the break and letting things fall into place is the best way to go, perhaps not what most businesses do - but it fits with us. So we'd like to share this little gem we found.

http://notsalmon.com/blog/

And for those of you who are also tired of the ball busting Resolutions and may have already tried last year's lovely trend of 'Gratitude Jars', then I think you may like this too.

This is called a 'Rememberlutions Jar' and the idea is to choose a jar and decorate it to your hearts content - mine is already covered in glitter - as if I needed any more in my life... and then as the year goes by you write down any achievement, be it large or small and put in into your jar. Then at the end of the year when you start to berate yourself for all the things you never quite achieved you can be reminded of all the things you DID do. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alannaokun/im-so-im-so-proud-of-you#.jlprjWjdy

So as we do wave the last of 2014 goodbye, we would like to thank you all for the support and encouragement you have given us, and we look froward to exciting changes here at Mindful Apparel and a whole lot more love from the Little Love Letter Campaign.

Happy new year everyone and see you all is 2015!

Jo and Carrie xx

One size fit's all?

Model : Myla Dalbesio Photo: Calvin Klein

When I woke up this morning the Facebook newsfeed was on fire with this topic. 

This is Calvin Klein's latest campaign using Myla Dalbesio, a model that is a size 10. (Almost plus-sized apparently - yes really). Obviously she's not, but she's not a size zero either. The idea that they're going against the norm is one thing, but that this incredible looking girl is considered 'larger' is causing a fire storm and so it should.

When I was modelling this subject came up again and again, either I had to really gain weight in order to work or seriously shed the pounds in order to squeeze into those jeans that were just that few extra sandwiches too small. In the end being 'in the middle' made my job very difficult and it was an odd sensation to be declared too big in one casting only to then be too skinny in the next. 

And the people who were doing the casting or the stylists? They weren't ideal images of the human body themselves, they had just as many lumps and bumps and greasy hair as the rest of us, but their job wasn't to stand in front of the camera. And so there my argument ends.

Sort of.

Now that we have our own clothing company and essentially are the ones 'casting' it's amazing how the tables turned. Our  first instinct was to want our images to look the same as everyone else's. But neither Carrie nor I fit that target market anymore and we had to stop ourselves mid 'sell out' to question what we are perpetuating. We were going to use people in our own clothes who didn't even represent the people who would wear them.

We have always used NORMAL models (people) in our shoots. Please note, nothing plus sized or zero sized - just a person, whatever size they happen to be. But from now on we are making more changes. If they are wearing a size 'large' top then we will be saying so. That way when you look at the image you have a reference point. Isn't that the idea behind a 'model' anyway? I'm not sure when the job description changed to 'you will be expected to be perfect and then you will be photoshopped to resemble something that neither you nor anyone can live up to'.

This industry has got to take responsibility for itself.  I don't need to only see a size 22 or a size 2, because I am neither of those. It's not that those people should not be represented - they should, because they exist - but what about the middle? What about the ones who just can't wear crop tops anymore but can still run a few miles every week? How can they be ignored? And they have been. But not by the 'health industry' it seems. While we're feeling bad in changing rooms everywhere we are also the perfect target market for that multibillion dollar lie called Diets. Why make those people feel normal? God forbid they don't feel bad about themselves anymore and stop taking our pills.

There are a few brilliant changes going on in the fashion industry - one of which is the rise of the 'classic division' of the modelling world. Where models of all ages are being signed up and working at an increasing rate. Now 26 is no longer a cut off and 66 is looking incredible. A new modelling agency in London, Mrs Robinson Management is leading the way in that.

Sarah W at Mrs Robinson Management.

I'd like to see the same happen with body sizes, where size labels are reference points not appraisals. Having girls of all sizes and all ages represented without making it a huge issue will stop making it such a huge issue for the woman who they represent. It's not nice to feel like an outsider when you are just your age in your body. Perhaps this debate is a the turning point, we have certainly made that turn here at Mindful Apparel.

I think Myla herself should have the last word in this:

"I love that after working in the fashion industry for nine years, I have finally found my place, right in the middle. Neither plus, nor straight size, I love that I can be recognized for what I am, a healthy size 10.

I love that as the conversation on the internet explodes and brings greater awareness, I am receiving emails from 15 year-old girls, telling me that I have given them hope and that sharing my story has made them feel less freakish, less weird, and that they can accept their size 8 or 10 frame.

I love that I get to be a part of this conversation, about size and body image and that I get to represent a brand like Calvin Klein. They didn't introduce this campaign for shock value, they simply included what some would refer to as a "normal size" girl in their advertising, right next to other girls of varying sizes and shapes.

I love that by opening this discussion, I can also (hopefully) open some doors for other models, friends of mine, that have always straddled the line between straight size and plus. True body diversity doesn't mean only sizes 0's and 2's then jumping to size 16 and up. There is a middle ground."

x Jo

Follow your bliss

You may have already heard about Joseph Campbell and his notion of the 'Hero's Journey'. It's such an obvious idea once you see it, but when you begin to see the symmetry in it's theme, in every story and in every society it starts to give you the goose bumps that Carrie and I refer to as 'the bubbles'. That awesome feeling you get when hope, joy, excitement and a deep knowing all combine to inspire you somehow. It's what we wait for with every decision we make about Mindful Apparel, we'll discuss an idea for hours but it's not until we get 'the bubbles' that we really get inspired to go forward. The bubbles can also mean 'scared as hell' by the way - it's not always a calm feeling, it's not always 'safe'.

I watched 'Finding Joe' last year and it moved me enormously. There's just something about watching people you admire, connect with you visually rather than just reading what they have to say that for me anyway, makes the goose bump effect even more dramatic. Finding Joe is a goose bump film. It's one for adults and children alike and it's inspiring beyond words. 

'Follow your bliss' is one of Joseph Campbells best known quotes and it's what we decided to do with Mindful Apparel - and it's also the reason these words are on our clothes.

We're currently working on new designs centred around these three simple words and we can't wait to have them printed and ready for you. But in the meantime, discover this profound and life changing story behind 'Follow your bliss and the 'Hero's Journey' for yourself and enjoy the bubbles!

x Jo

Same song, but a different day.

If last week's post with Elizabeth Gilbert was a soothing balm applied to a confused mind, this week's instalment from Super Soul Sunday with Pema Chodron is the Advil after a migraine - it allows you to think clearly again, and breathe a sigh of relief. I had heard quotes from Pema before and seen numerous images but to be honest I never delved deeper than that and I have no idea why. I think perhaps to me it felt like in the past decade there has been such a wash of Western wanderers embracing everything Eastern and I think in a lot of cases applying ideals that sometimes lose the integrity that they once held at their core. Our world has gotten so much smaller since the arrival of the Internet, blending cultures and religious ideas into a melting pot of information. But sometimes you miss the gems in amongst it all.

This week I was happy for anything that was bigger than me, because my own head wasn't doing such a great job picking apart the knot I'd created. So late last night I watched Pema chat to Oprah and the smile hasn't left my face.

To see an ancient wisdom used, applied and understood and then explained and related to our lives now is such a joy. I think it's even more effective because Pema was like us once. She had failed marriages, a young family, work pressures, emotional and financial issues - all like us. And while her eyes now reflect a place I would like to go to one day, she is still so relatable and I think that sometimes that's what resonates with me the most. Sure we can lock ourselves away in the quiet - and then the world isn't so hard, but one ride on the subway at rush hour, or one family lunch can make you see how far you still have to go. Sometimes it's in this crazy life here, with all the plastic, anxiety, gloss and selfies that applying ancient wisdom is most needed.

Please take a minute, or 45 and just hear these kind, wise words that have gone unchanged through cultures and time and that still apply so perfectly to our lives today. What a wonderful and peaceful way to start the week.

Enjoy!

x Jo

http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/Full-Episode-Pema-Chodron-Video

I see the sea - and everything else.

It's a wet Fall day here, and my thoughts are turning to my studio that is waiting for some attention and creativity to make it feel wanted again. And as I began to think about new artistic inspiration and the summer that I've just said goodbye to I remembered this film from a few years ago.

It reminded me also of a walk I took along the beach a few weeks ago. As the last of the tourists began to leave the sand, I walked and swam in the changing tides. And I also filled an entire bag with plastic. Creatively I have for some time been inspired by turning the unwanted into something beautiful and this film shows just how beautiful that transformation can be.

By the time I had ended my walk, the bag was bulging and the idea that I could empty it all back onto the sand seemed insane, but only moments before I had walked past it watching it blend in with the seaweed and tried to ignore it. But I was aware too that all it takes to make (even a small) difference in this world is to take a bag, 'out there' and do our part. It's not someone else's job. It's ours.

Before we started Mindful Apparel I must admit I wasn't one for Organic soap, hemp oil or a wheatgrass shot. I got my t-shirts at the big, low cost, wear-em-till-they-drop shops. But now that most of my wardrobe consists of past samples, current samples and hopefully future ones from our line, my attitude has changed. I still use the other stores occasionally of course, but now my beloved bamboo scarf (as seen below) and my organic tee's are now so over loved and over used, that the difference is obvious. Not only do they really let my skin 'breathe', (something my mother used to say when I was younger and now I know what she's talking about), but there's a feeling that I get when I wear them, that I am somehow making a small difference.

View fullsize

Hypo-alregenic, Bamboo, scarf. "Thoughts are Things". $29.00

I think that the changes we make don't always have to be grand or extreme but sometimes just being mindful of our environment and what we surround ourselves is at least something.

This year not only do we still have our 100% organic cotton range but we are using more of the Eco-hybrid fabric, which feels incredible and and falls beautifully on the body. These new cutting edge fabrics are hypoallergenic and with our Eco-Heather range were produced from re-cycled materials. The rest of our new line will be out shortly and I am particularly excited about our new cardigan wrap ( and yes I've already got my eye on the sample).

Both Carrie and I find that the more we make an effort to mindfully source our products and introduce new items the more important it becomes to us to do so. They are not always easy to find and often hugely expensive, so we hope to solve both these issues for you!

We really hope you all like the upcoming products and as always we would love to hear feedback on what you like about them and what you would like to see us offer in the future. 

But for now, if your Saturday is looking a little wet, make yourself a coffee, wrap up and spend the next 24 minutes watching this truly beautiful film that might inspire you take a bag on your next walk in nature.

X Jo

"When are you finally going to be okay?"

I've been thinking about the contents of the video at the end of this post - even before I watched it. And what I'm slowly coming to realise is that so many of us - perhaps even ALL of us can relate to this. And all the years we've wasted.

Are we going to blame marketing? I'm not sure what else we can blame, because where else are we getting these ideas from? We are being sold an idea that's a lie and we are spending every dollar and every minute trying to make it a truth.

I read an article recently that asked the question, "What fact about you today would make your 8 year old self cry?" Instantly I knew. That I was STILL trying to make my body what I thought it was supposed to be. I went on my first diet at 9.

I recently found a card I had written at age 10 and having lost a little weight I had written about not having to feel ashamed about my face and body anymore. Age 10...

And today at 36?

I'm getting there, but only just. I see pictures of myself much smaller and younger and realise I felt overweight and ashamed even then. And looking at the pictures now I want to cry for that girl.

Carrie and I were photographing our new products recently and we had her 14 year old beauty of a daughter model them for us and then it suddenly struck me. Our demographic is women is their 30's and upwards, Carrie and I are both in our 30's and 40's, and neither of us play soccer 5 nights a week, nor do either of us have our fourteen year old bodies anymore. Then why on earth are we putting our clothes on someone who is at the other end of our spectrum? Why are we ignoring ourselves and the women who wear our clothes? Why are we perpetuating this lie?At first Carrie wasn't excited with the idea that from now on only we would model our own clothes, so that women our size and our age can see what they will actually look like, but we both know it's the only way forward. (And yes, we will be doing it without hitting the re-touch button!)

In our last campaign we used our beautiful friend Johnnette, herself in her mid-40's and I decided not to do any re-touching. I think they're some of my favourite pictures, because they show her beauty and they show the truth. The beautiful truth.

Our lovely Johnnette 

This video is real and funny and sad. And I envy that point in my life - my future me, who won't feel she has to have "age appropriate hair" or the need to reach for the dye every few weeks. The woman who sees beauty in her body because it works, because it's taken her all over the world and known so many adventures. Who doesn't look at the new freckle and frown about it, who doesn't cringe when her waist is hugged. I don't want to wait until I'm 70.

I made the choice a few months ago. I - like the woman in this video asked myself "When are you finally going to be okay?" And like her too, I decided, "Right now". But it's a journey and it's a choice - daily. It takes work, patience, humour and consistent (and at times enormous) effort.

I do know that so many of us have lost sight of something monumental and it's destroying the beautiful truth of who we are.

I hope this video has an affect on you this morning, as you hold your stomach in so a stranger won't judge you, as you cringe when the wind catches your shirt and your not-so-perfect stomach gets a rare outing. As you get more and more depressed walking around the clothing stores and try to avoid the hideous lighting in the changing rooms. As you pull your face trying to see what it would be like without the lines that show people where you've been how much you've laughed. As you envy that teenager in her skinny jeans in the line at the checkout and then skip lunch. As you try desperately to pass on thoughts of self love to the children around you and already know you're failing when they say "I'm fat". 

We do have a choice, it's simple but it's not easy. Ask yourself, right now as you read this, and watch this video of this Goddess of a woman who never knew it -

When are you finally going to be okay?

It's not up to them, it's up to you. You get to choose.

Right now.

xx Jo

For more these inspirational stories visit http://stylelikeu.com/the-whats-underneath-project-2/

Sorry?

I watched the now viral Pantene 'Not Sorry' advert the other day and was highly amused at what was (shamefully) a very accurate reflection of what I do all the time - as my friends will attest to.

"Sorry".

I'm not sure if it's the passive aggressive use of the word that non-English people often miss and mistake for real regret or if I really mean 'sorry'. My foundations are South African and I lived in the States for a few years and there the word sorry got me into a lot of trouble. I could see it drove everyone mad. "What are you apologising for?!"

I wasn't really sure.

When my UK friends come and stay with me now it's a house full of 'sorry's' and I don't think we even notice it. I don't think we walk around feeling 'less than', it's just the British thing we do. I have OFTEN used it in a passive aggressive "Please move, can't you see I'm late" way. I've always thought the Brits were amazing that when being rude the word 'sorry' nearly always makes an appearance. "Sorry but you're loud and incredibly annoying" or "Sorry but your child is a maniac". 

After reading the once again ridiculous 'troll' comments underneath this video not only was I staggered at the general rage out there and how forums like You Tube bring those blighters out like mosquitoes after the rain, but it did make me think about the content of that video and the point it was trying to make (and how angry it made everyone - don't bother to read them. it'll also just wind you up and make you want to drink). Was this a male/female thing, our generation's issues, conditioning based on our nationalities. I haven't got a clue.

There are times when we say sorry and clearly don't mean it, but there are times (as I'm sure with most of us) when I hear myself saying sorry for saying sorry, and then saying "Oh no! Sorry I just said it again!". I do wonder if there is some subconscious thought that if we say sorry we won't get knocked back so quickly, people may be easier on us, may like us more or we might be 'less offensive'. 

Who knows, I'll leave that up to a therapist to figure out, it's already getting too deep. But perhaps at least this has made me think just a little more about being mindful about what I apologise for.

For being in the room - it seems crazy, but I've done it.

For being late - that's appropriate.

In a Passive Aggressive "please move" way - then I could do better. 

I think it's become so unconscious I'm not sure how to pull it back. Funny how as children it's a word we are made to say again and again and now here I am having to unlearn it. But it's something to be mindful of at least.

x Jo

Eat real food

While trawling through our Facebook news feed today I came across yet another article on what food we should or rather shouldn't be eating. I would post the video but it had me rolling my eyes with fatigue after a while, so in this case I'll cut to the chase. 

One of the main points (I'm sure there were more, but I never made it to the end of the video) was that aside from the futile attempts at diets and calorie control, no carb, soy protein razamataz, we were all missing one big point, and that once it was highlighted, made perfect sense.

We don't eat food anymore. The things we eat are made up of complicated names that sound like shampoo ingredients (they may well be) and even with all the so called 'healthy' labels - our body doesn't know how to read. It only knows what we put in it. 

So this is my understanding of this whole issue:  

The body apparently sees food like this;

An apple = sugar, energy and vitamins, I can use this.

Monosodium glutamate = I'm not sure, it can't be used in this kitchen, so I'll store it here, in this butt cheek instead.

Our fat cells, apparently being something like a kitchen towel, hide and absorb all the chemical mess you don't want hanging around.

I have no idea what the trained professionals out there say, although I can take a good guess. It just struck me as so obvious but not something I had actually really thought of - maybe for general health yes, but not in terms of weight loss. After all a protein shake was, I thought, an awesome option. Apparently a banana and some nuts are better, regardless of calorie content.

So as I begin to think about packing the swimsuits away for the Fall, I'm taking stock of what this summer meant to me in terms of body image and health. I tried to be mindful each day of what I said to my not-so-slim self, not always getting it right, but I did not - (like past years) berate myself for not having got 'bikini ready'. So as the seasons change and I begin to slowly make some much needed changes after the eight weeks of wonderful European food and wine indulgence, I am not only being mindful in what I say to myself (as I watch the jeans not zip up), but I am being mindful about what I am putting into my body as well. 

It's sounds like such old news, even as I write this, but funny how an old light bulb can still make a room feel good again.

x Jo

Just found this article explaining 'fats' really well! Have a peek!

http://www.allthingshealing.com/readarticle.php?itemID=111&articleID=8176#.VCqPdUtk6zh