Welcome to the Diva Diaries...

By Sarah Morris on Oct 24, 08 11:14 AM in Fashion

Hi. Welcome to my diary. My Diva Diary... apparently. Why am I a Diva?

According to www.dictionary.com "Diva" translates mainly as one of two things:

A distinguished female singer

A prima donna

Well, as much as I would like to think so, the first one isn't technically true, although I do a mean karaoke and have been a vocalist for a band or two...

So that leaves "prima donna".

Definition: a temperamental person; a person who takes adulation and privileged treatment as a right and reacts with petulance to criticism or inconvenience...

Aside from feelings of sheer annoyance when I don't get my own way, I'm not temperamental. Though I do like to think of myself of a bit of an arty farty fashionista type, and that and a temperamental nature do stereotypically go hand in hand. Please note I said stereotypically. I am not a stereotype.

As for the rest... OK so that's true. But with good reason. Here's my case:
I work hard

I work out hard - I ran 11.25 miles in 1hr 40mins on Saturday! (I now ache all over)

I watch what I eat (apart from the wine and chocolate thing... bit of an over-indulger in those departments)

I take pride in my appearance - Image IS everything; people form an opinion of you within the first 4 minutes of meeting you. Fact. Don't like it? Dress better, do your hair, apply your make-up immaculately and don't forget to smile.

Fail to do this yet want to make a good impression? You're screwed. You may come across as a nice person... but you'll still come second to the girl with perfectly coiffed hair, pointy heels and pencil skirt, and you'll never win any awards for style. Did I mention I was spotted for Style Birmingham's 'Style Search'?

Which brings me back to my point - I work hard to make every area of my life as good as possible, or at least appear good, and that counts for work so why the hell shouldn't I receive a bit of adulation and priviliged treatment?

Finally, petulant reactions to criticism or inconvenience? Criticism for a start is an inconvenience, however a bit of constructive criticism should be a good thing.

But then being a perfectionist I criticise myself first, so any finished product should be perfect where further criticism is both unnecessary and unwelcome.

Right. now we've clarified that I am in fact a "Diva", let's get on with why I'm actually here.
Being a self confessed arty farty fashionista type who loves nothing better than dressing up and more importantly dressing other people up (I have a fashion degree, did a 5 week placement in the fashion department of New Woman magazine, used to be a personal shopper for Oasis in Birmingham's Bullring, and am a dab hand with a pair of fabric scissors, sewing machine and a few old clothes in need of restoration and rejuvenation), I like to think of myself as a younger version of Trinny and Susannah, but with style and without the embarrassing prodding!

So I am going to bring you my weekly round up of what to wear, how to wear it, how NOT to wear it, what you really look like in the latest crazy fashion fads you think are cool just because the catwalks said so (remember - a lot of these clothes are often made for 'show', to stand out, by an over dramatic little camp guy wanting to create a wonderful bit of theatre to showcase his talents, and are totally unsuitable for wearing to your local night spot never mind just down the high street.

Not that I like to stereotype in any way, shape or form; there are, of course plenty of male and female designers who do produce completely wearable creations) I will also share with you all sorts of tips, tricks, stories and random little bits and pieces I pick up along the way.

Starting next time with:

Lesson 1: How to walk in high heels