It's been exactly ten years since I started World of Joy, so I thought it would be fun to look back at my first post, where I introduce myself, to dissect it a little and add a few photos.

-----

Hello, I'm Hazel (Still true). Also known as Very_Hazel (No longer true). I have been blogging for the Very.co.uk VBlog for the past six months and have enjoyed it so much I have decided to branch out a little (I really enjoyed blogging for Very but it turned a little sour towards the end, they employed a new member of staff to oversee the blog and she made it very clear that they only wanted 'celebrity' bloggers, so I decided to call it a day. I had my own blog by this point and I enjoyed writing for myself much more).

Whilst the VBlog lets me indulge my love of fashion (I did love fashion back then, not that I considered myself to be trendy but I did like to keep up-to-date with what was current and tried to incorporate fashionable elements into my wardrobe) there is more I would like to talk about, discover and share (I wanted to talk about things not connected to Very, to do style experiments of my own and have full control of what I said and published).

I enjoy blogs that post pictures of real people's style (still true). What Katie Wore - one girl's challenge to wear a different outfit everyday - is fabulous, I'm hooked.

The Uniform Project is a splendid idea that takes one LBD and tests the role of accessories to the limit but more importantly raises money at the same time (I can still spend hours looking through all of these outfits). Bright Young Things (no longer live) created the LBD for The Uniform Project and encourages 30 Day Wear-a-thons which I find seriously tempting. One day I will do it... (something I still ponder).

I love style experiments (still true). Recently Grazia magazine challenged writer Francesca Hornak to survive for a month wearing only six pieces of clothing. HOW is that possible?! (Having dabbled with capsule wardrobes I can now see that in the summer, with the right pieces, that it would be entirely possible).

Another interesting experiment, was another monthly challenge, to try something every day that you wouldn't normally consider ie crimped hair, harem pants or glittery mascara. I wondered what would be the things that I would try? (perhaps I should try all the things that I've declared I can't wear?)

But the best one, and maybe the one that launched them all, was Alex Martin's Little Brown Dress, much like the Bright Young Things Wear-a-thons only on a larger scale, she wore one dress for 365 days. Alex finished the Little Brown Dress project some time ago and has gone on to do more which you can also read about on her site (this site isn't live anymore, which I wrote about in back in 2016, it's such a shame that the record of her experiment no longer exists, above are a few photos I managed to find online. I still remember reading about this for the first time, it was an article on the back page of a magazine and I spent ages looking at the small selection of images they'd featured. I tore out the page and kept it for years. I wish I still had it).

I am an advertisers dream, if I'm promised that a product will give longer lashes (they usually don't), shiner hair (debatable), smoother skin I will try it. I promise to share my trials with you and let you know what works and what doesn't. First up will be the new Lash Accelerator from Rimmel. Product tests found 95% of users noticed a lengthening effect on bare lashes in two weeks. Watch this space... (I did write that product review, and many more followed, but it's not something I've done for a while. I'm no longer trying lots of new products. I've found what I like, what works for me and I stick with it.)

My jewellery collection gets ever larger. Unlike my clothes that tend to have a classic, simple style I like my jewellery to be a little out of the ordinary. Chunky rings and bracelets being my preferred pieces at the moment. (I still like jewellery but my taste now runs more to simpler pieces. I love bracelets and have developed a liking for delicate beads, and I'm rarely seen without a Fossil watch - there is something about the styling of these that really appeals to me. I went through a phase of wearing statement necklaces but that waned, I'm now on the verge of exploring earrings a little more, not huge Pat Butcher type things, but something a little more than the studs or small hoops I usually go for.)

Read my VBlog posts to date. (These can no longer be found. Back in 2016 I discovered that all of the posts I'd ever written for the Very blog had been attributed to someone else - a staff member. When I got in touch and questioned this they said that they'd been clearing out the back end of the website, and to create space all of the old bloggers, and their profiles, had been deleted. They offered to delete any posts that I'd written if I could prove that I'd written them. I had all the proof I needed but I let it go, it seemed like a waste of my time for posts that were probably rarely read anymore. You've got to pick your battles, right? Since then the VBlog has been deleted altogether, so I was right not to spend anymore time on it.)

You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook. (I rarely use either of these nowadays, the Facebook page is still there but hidden from public view, the Twitter page just languishes, I visit and post something random once in a while. I've moved over to Instagram instead, it's much prettier and less shouty.)

-----

So, that's me then, and me now.

Some things are very different from when I wrote this first post and the posts that closely followed. My interest in what's fashionable has waned along with my passion for chunky jewellery and finding the latest wonder product.

My fascination with style experiments stays the same, but my consumption of fast fashion has drastically changed - something I attribute to the blogs that I follow, the best ones showed me the treasures that could be found in charity shops, the worst highlighted the needless and constant stream of disposable fast fashion, that endorsed the idea that you shouldn't be seen in the same outfit twice. These are the blogs I stopped following years ago, but I have to admit that they served a purpose, although, for me, it was the opposite of what they were trying to achieve.

Writing this blog and following blogs, both good and bad, shaped my outlook. When I started I didn't think about what it would turn into, or how long I'd do it for, but I don't think I ever believed that I'd still be blogging a decade on. Thanks for being part of the journey.

I sat down one Saturday and spent the afternoon making a dent in my mend pile. It's a very satisfying use of time. 

With every mend I feel pleased that it's an item saved from landfill. Even if I were to put it into cloth recycling I have little faith that it would actually end up being recycled. If I can mend it and wear it a little longer, then I will. 

When it comes to Andy's old work clothes - they all eventually end up threadbare, ripped beyond repair, and stained - I tend to pop them on the bonfire. After reading some stats on how little of our clothing is actually recycled I felt that burning them was a way I would know they wouldn't end up in landfill.

Anything of good quality will always go to a charity shop, or is listed on ebay, but Andy's old work clothes are good for nothing, and if I can't be certain that they can or will be recycled, on the bonfire they go. I often wonder if this is the right approach, but it feels like the lesser of two evils.

I still have a pile of mending to do, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never get to the bottom of it, but as long as I can do a little mend here and there, I'm happy.

I finished my Wearing It All Summer 2020 challenge yesterday. I've shared weeks 1, and 2 and 3, and weeks 4 - 6, so here are weeks 7 - 9.

These are the final few weeks of August, turning into September. Week 7 was a week of dresses. The final three were ones I had in the pile of stuff waiting to be listed on ebay, but I tried them all on first before doing so. I'm keeping the white one, it's about 5 years old and this is only the second time I've worn it! But I love it so it's staying (this could be my favourite outfit of the summer). The navy dress with what looks like a dolka dot pattern (it's actually raindrops) has a peter pan collar and a narrow band of pin tucks up the front, it's lovely. I picked it up at a clothes swap years ago but this is it's first wear. I think it's a little too short though so I won't be keeping it.

The burgundy polka dot dress hasn't been worn before either, I purchased it in 2016 and have no excuse for not wearing it, it's been saved from ebay... for now...

The only dress I'm not keen on out of these is the floral midi dress, which is a shame as I purchased this online at the beginning of lockdown, and I loved it when it arrived. I'm going to try it with different shoes, possibly add some accessories but if that doesn't work it'll go on ebay.

During Week 8 I actually went out! (you can tell by the wearing of a face mask). The first instance was just to the supermarket to pick up a few provisions. Day 5 was a photo an hour and a trip to the seaside for art galleries, and tea and cake.

Many tops worn over this week are rarely worn, the pink v neck top and black dress are items usually worn at Latitude (easy to wear and do not crease), but the blue dress is a new-to-me purchase, picked up from a charity shop on my way home from Aldeburgh the day before.

At this point I was starting to run low on clothes that hadn't been worn for the challenge that I could wear, I needed more sunny days so I could finish wearing all my summer tops and shorts but that wasn't to be...

Week 9, the weather was less than ideal and definitely not shorts weather. I took the opportunity to wear my recently purchased preloved stripe midi skirt again, which has knocked my green skirt off it's top spot, and it was lovely to wear my navy jumpsuit again.

I'm thinking the green dress is destined for ebay, it's pretty but rarely gets picked over my other dresses and I don't have the room to keep them all. The point of this challenge was to purge my wardrobe and it's worked to a certain extent, but I still have items I'm dithering about. Even though I want to wear all my clothing items as much as possible (ideally 30 times or more), if  something doesn't work I'm not going to wear it, so there is no point in keeping it.

I'll post the final update in a few days. In the meantime I've turned my attention to what to do next...

catch up on reading all my favourite blogs

make a significant dent in my mend pile

peel off all the sticky tape from the paper used to wrap my birthday presents for recycling

finally get loads of items listed on ebay

enjoy a little more sunshine before autumn takes over

make a new art purchase

discover that sunflowers come in other colours besides yellow

eat breakfast with my husband

eat supper with my husband

remember put the bin out the evening before collection

get really good feedback on a piece of work I was worrying about

drop off donations at my local charity shop

paint our front door 

What would be on your feel good list lately?