Women’s Writes Column Update

Hello again lovelies!

Just wanted to say a big thank you to all the lovely comments and emails you have sent recently in regards particularly to today’s post on perfectionism! I didn’t expect this much positive feedback and am truly excited every time my email pings with a new comment or like for each of my articles. You are the best Fashion Hungry fans!

Also just wanted to say a big thank you to Justin of MomentMatters.wordpress.com who is actually re-blogging my article on perfectionism which was featured in the Clydebank Post a few weeks ago. I love having a sneak peak at all the new wordpress blogs too and it keeps me sane reading them in the wee hours of the night – insomnia sucks.

Also wanted to keep local Clydebank Post readers updated at the good news that my weekly fashion and lifestyle column will now be featured in newspaper The Dumbarton Reporter and Helensburgh Advertiser each week too! If you live near any of these please be sure to check it out (p22 in this week’s Clydebank Post).

Styletto magazine is also coming on swimmingly and our designer is working on the very first draft edition of Issue 1 as we speak! Thanks to our amazing photographer Sefa Ucbas and stunning model Natalie Soutar also for the shoot for our ‘Happiness’ feature last week. It looks amazing!

Anyway stay tuned guys and keep liking and commenting, check out my column if you can and Styletto online – I have uploaded a few reviews on some amazing beauty products for summer as well as some fabulous fashion picks!

Follow me on Twitter @fashionhungry10, @lisaboyle2009 or @stylettomag

Should you let a friend borrow your clothes?

Beg, borrow or steal…

It was one of those moments when time stood still. I watched, open mouthed and disbelieving as my best friend – busy laughing and joking – haphazardly spilled an entire glass of red wine down my favourite yellow dress.

She had begged me to wear it out that night, promising to hand it back in perfect condition. But in the space of three seconds, it was gone. Speechless and fuming inside, I attempted to pretend everything was fine, that I would (gulp) surely find another dress just like it.

The guilty look on my friends face prevented me from having a major hissy fit, but the look on mine was visibly sombre. We made bleak attempts to clean up the stain with every trick in the book – vinegar, Vanish, you name it – before eventually admitting defeat. It was ruined.

So in that moment, it was the straw that broke the camel’s Topshop-clad back – the moment I finally decided lending clothes to friends was infinitely, a no go. After many years of hunting down “borrowed” items from friends and trying to shift food or tan stains from clothes, there comes a time when you must be selfish.

The traditional idea of sharing and swapping just no longer works. From Wotsits when we were 12 to party dresses at 21, my best friend and I have swapped clothes more times than Katie Price and Peter Andre have swapped public jibes. I don’t have any sisters, so luckily have never had to worry about one swiping my favourite Zara jacket, so before the horrendous wine episode, I had always been quite flattered when a friend asked to borrow an outfit.

One of the key benefits of course was being able to borrow her stuff too – yet even when done so, it somehow never feels right. You can’t help but feel like an imposter in her outfit – as though people can sense what you’re wearing is not officially yours.

Lending out clothes is often a disaster waiting to happen. Unless it’s a Primark tee or dress that no longer cuts the chase, there are some things (like favourite dresses) that you should keep greedily to yourself.

There is always a slight panic that comes with ‘loaning’ out your favourite items, and the uncertainty that you will ever get them back. I have lost count of the myriad jumpers, dresses and pairs of shoes that I am still waiting to be returned. It’s pretty doubtful that I’ll ever see them again, so I guess I’ll just have to mourn them along with the others.

Do I think anyone should lend out their clothes? No, not unless your friend exhibits the reliability of a saint. It’s just not worth it if it could potentially ruin a friendship, and believe me, it could. So the next time a friend asks to borrow your favourite dress? I say run. Run for the hills.

Either that or you could just clumsily sway a glass of potent red wine near her, smile sweetly and offer it in exchange of her favourite (and only) pair of Jimmy Choos. I guarantee she’ll never ask to borrow again.