A Princess's Guide to Autumn: Ep.2. Fashion

There was a time in my life where I would look at my wardrobe sadly as soon as autumn rolled around. Going into the colder months made me feel like there was no place for my favourite pieces, pastel colours, fun patterns etc. To me, these are the things that make me feel like I'm dressed like a Princess and though this is just my personal taste, considering the general aesthetics found under #Princesscore would suggest that there are many Princesses who feel the same way. I've been seeing a lot of really cute videos on tiktok doing the trend of styling the 4 seasons, and one thing I've noticed is that autumn often receives a completely different style to every other season, mostly if not totally breaking from the aesthetic that the poster has gone for in their other outfits. I assume that a lot of these people just enjoy the opportunity to shake things up around autumn, but what if there's some that simply are unsure of how to style the cute and (usually) pink fashions they love the rest of the year, just like I had once upon a time? 

In my opinion, it doesn't make sense to have a totally different wardrobe for just one month of the year. There should be significant crossover between your: summer/spring wardrobe, your autumn/winter wardrobe, and your spring/autumn wardrobe (though this might not be totally true depending on what kind of climate you live in). I'm hoping this guide can give you some ideas for how to bring some pieces you might otherwise associate with winter and spring into autumn. I'm also going to recommend some pieces that I think are totally darling that would work to help tie your outfits to that autumnal vibe.

Colour Schemes

 

Pink is an all year colour. Pink is forever. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, put your pink wardrobe away for autumn (unless you want to but I cannot fathom why that would be). Pink also goes with just about every other colour! It is so so versatile. My main suggestion for a pink autumnal outfit is to pair pink with brown and cream, lean into the neopolitian ice cream vibe, it's so cute! This picture from the shop 'Cherie Lou' serves as totally adorable colour inspiration for this vibe. These kind of clothes totally give 'princess', but can be harder to come by and more expensive, so if this is your vibe you could try some fun DIY's to add this fun vibe to you wardrobe. Nicole Leilani on youtube has the cutest videos about her upcycling secondhand clothes, and she has one specifically for the neopolitian ice cream vibe too, which I've linked just below!

I've also put together a few outfit ideas of my own with some simpler pieces that might fit your vibe better, and would be easier to come across second hand or in shops where you won't have to worry about international shipping fees (which is often a concern for me).  

princess books from my childhood

 Hi Princess!

Today I'm bringing you a different type of post about books. Instead of a review of a book I'm reading now I wanted to do a post about some of the books from my childhood that I feel really shaped the Princess I am today. Most of them, I've thrown away over the years, but some I've kept because they were so specifically beloved by me. I'm staying at my parents for the weekend, so have access to them again. These are the books I'll be focusing on today!

I think that the interests we held as a child often make their way back to us or never really leave us. I've thought a lot about how deeply these books impacted me as a child. In many ways, they influenced my taste in aesthetics and probably even some of the books I'm drawn to today. To be honest, I'd absolutely love to find a book that makes me feel the same way that the Tiara Club made me feel as a child. That series was probably my favourite.

Without further ado, lets look at some stars of tiny Princess Cloudy's bookshelf (which had heart shaped cutouts and the books were accompanied by several my little pony dolls) 

as a note, some of the images are really compressed, annoyingly, but will look better if you click on them!  

Princess Poppy - Janey Louise Jones

 

Princess Poppy was a series about a girl living with her family in the most idyllic fictional English countryside village, 'Honeysuckle Hill'. Each book opened with a beautifully illustrated map that I used to absolutely adore looking over, totally jealous that I didn't live in such a quaint little village.

A Princess's Guide to Autumn: Ep. 1. Activities

the Princess Guide's official autumn moodboard*

Hi Princess!

I'm not sure about you, but the weather where I live has been beginning to look increasingly autumnal as of late. In a way I'm kind of sad, I wanted to have the most mermaid princess summer possible, but that was probably unrealistic given I live in a colder climate. I really should be grateful too, I know that for most this hasn't been the case and that things have been getting uncomfortably if not worryingly hot in some areas. Whether or not the weather is starting to turn to autumn, I definitely noticed that many people seem to be really excited for autumn/fall, so much so that they're getting into the spirit of it already! I'm definitely there with them, especially with all the rain my corner of the world has seen recently. 

In the past I've struggled a bit more with autumn, it felt like it just didn't fit my vibe as easily as the other seasons. Sometimes it seems like autumn is the only season where pink disappears from the mood boards of many, and who can blame them? It can be much harder to fit it in. I love the tuscan aesthetic that has become popular recently, but it doesn't speak to me or my wardrobe. Also, with the weather getting worse, the nights getting longer and all the pretty flowers and trees dying away, it can feel kind of sad. In the past I've really struggled to know what to do with myself. I feel like most princess movies and books are set in the spring, so it can be hard to envision how to bring Princess vibes with you into the colder months.

You shouldn't have to totally change your vibes for every season, you should always be true to you! That's why I've come up with this guide to having the most girly, princessy autumn, no matter what!

 

For this first instalment, we'll be talking about autumnal activities that are perfect for princesses! The plan was to put all parts into 1 post but... it got a little lengthy, so it's a series now! Whoops!

Princess Mini: Reading Update!⋆.𐙚 ̊

 ♔Hi Princess!♔

 Just a quick little post to let you know my next read should be a super princessy one! It's Barbie Dreamscape by Alex Aster and it just released. It's meant to have total OG Barbie movie vibes andi literally took a peak at the first page and i can tell that's absolutely true! Literally on the first page there's helpful bird friends, a bed made of clouds and an enchanted wardrobe. I think this could be a perfect princess read. 

 

I'll post a review of the book once I'm done with it, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let me know if you're going to give it a go and by the time the review rolls around in Princess Book Club you can share your thoughts along with me! 

 

Until next time, live happily ever after!

xoxo 

 

Princess Book Club ep.1: Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood

listen, there are lots of aspects of my life that i like to broadly keep soft and gentle - most of them even! When it comes to most forms of media, whilst i enjoy branching out, I'm perhaps more likely to pick up a cosy game than anything else (though my definition is broad, Crusader Kings 3 is cosy in my book) and if I'm watching a film by myself it can probably be described as a 'chick flick' (though i do love a wide range of genres). I definitely cannot contain my tastes into an easy box, but if I'm looking to relax, I prefer gentler media. When it comes to books this generally cannot be said. My taste in books has been aptly described as being about "women who are losing it". Usually they are darker and unusual in tone. Gothic literature is my favourite genre, i tend to like something you can really sink your teeth into. However, my life hit a slightly more high stress period recently and I was reading one of these books, usually my favourite, and I simply had to put it down and admit to myself that it wasn't making me feel any better. If I need to use my downtime to de-stress, why on earth was I escaping into a dark and stressful plot. Sometimes that has genuinely been helpful to me at times but it clearly wasn't working. I needed a new book. A nice one.

I went to an independent bookshop with a friend with a great selection and decided to do the exact thing we're advised never to do: judge a book by its cover. I'm a pink girlie (in case it wasn't obvious) so one particular cover jumped out at me:

a rose covered cottage window, with a woman clad in all pink, magically floating a strawberry cake with a fluffy white cat by her side. It was a very me cover. Perhaps the most me cover i've seen. my partner later commented that she even looked a lot like me. Immediately I knew it wasn't my usual read. I read the premise. A romance; not usually my thing in books. Still, the main character was a witch who uses her magic to run her own bakery? That sounded like my dream life honestly, so i took it to the till, paid up, popped it in my tote bag and took it home. Admittedly, I was apprehensive that i might've just wasted my money. 

It didn't take me long to realise, Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood is an utter delight.

 So here is my:

Spoiler Free Review

A Princess's Guide to Movie Night ep.1

Hey Princess! For my first proper Princess Guide post I wanted to write about a self care activity that is hopefully super accessible to everyone. I love films so much and whilst my choices aren't always super princess-like (I love a vampire film!) they very often are. I have so many recommendations so this is just episode 1. I'll give recommendations based on the vibe you'd like for your movie night.

 

Princess Self-Care: Why a Movie Night

Movie nights are an easy thing to implement into your self care routine and they're obviously super visual and immersive, so if you want to escape into a pretty picture and a good story for a couple of hours, they're the perfect choice. They can also be great inspiration! Maybe you pick up wardrobe tips from your favourite character, or maybe the hero(ine) of the story inspires you to be kinder, braver, more spontaneous (etc. etc.). If you have a couple of subscription services on the go it can also be a cheaper hobby. Emphasis on can be. We'll get onto that next...

I suggest pairing your movie night with a bit of pampering or mindfulness! Maybe put on a face mask or paint your nails while you watch. Sometimes I bring out my fairytale themed colouring book and my pastel colouring pencils and do a bit of colouring while the movie plays (this is best for rewatches or if you habitually scroll through movies). 

Something that will make you feel princessy is brewing a tasty cup of tea in your cutest mug! My drink of choice at the moment is Bird and Blend's Gingerbread Chai in my fave pink mug (usually a My Melody mug). A little treat platter is ideal too, I'll suggest some movie snacks as we go.

 

How/Where to Watch 

A distinctly un-princessy feeling is the discovery that the film you wanted to watch so badly has moved from a streaming subscription that you have, to one you don't, or is now only available to rent. Renting on Youtube or Prime isn't too expensive but it can add up, and what if you want to watch your fave film again! This had really started to get on my nerves at one point, and I knew I needed another solution. I wanted to own my favourite media forever! So, I turned to DVDs.

One of my biggest wishes as a child was to own one of these: 

a disney princess tv!!!

  

Living in the Dream - and in Reality

 My personal desire to live my life as close to the life of a Princess's has existed for a very long time. A post I would eventually like to make is about the books I read as a small child that I think shaped my love of all things princess, but one I will mention now is a series of books called the Tiara Club. I think I picked my first set of them out at a book fair that came to my school when I was probably 6 years old. Inside the set contained magical stories about a group of friends attending a magical princess school. There was a magical fairy godmother matron, wishing classes, dressmaking, ice skating, carriage riding, dragon befriending - everything tiny Princess Cloudy was obsessed over. 

 

this was my favourite one!

 

I loved escaping to this wonderful world where it seemed like everyone could be a princess (though I was sometimes confused about the overall political situation of the world) but I was also intensely upset that I couldn't literally live the life of one of the princess characters in the book. I had to go to an awful school with an awful uniform, and no requirement for ballgowns, tiaras and dancing slippers. This love of princesses followed me into teenage-hood and eventually adulthood. Through this time I have learned the hard lesson that often times life has to be distinctly un-princessy. As a regular girl who doesn't come from heaps of money I have to worry about things like car insurance, apartment hunting, meal planning and making a living (like most of us do/will). This realisation came quite early for me. I tried to think of careers that might feel princess-y but honestly? I'm not sure any exist in the way little Princess Cloudy hoped for. I don't think I'd even like to be a real world Princess! I had a brief stint as a party princess but I quickly realised that wasn't all I'd hoped either; the parents were often difficult, the kids mostly lovely but often a bit gross (I once watched a girl of 4 dump an entire bag of sherbet on a carpet and eat it with her hands), and the lead up to a party would make me so anxious in a way that would leave me feeling distinctly un-princessy. The plan had been to audition as a princess performer in a Disney park when I turned 18, but I realised that they had just as difficult a time, if not more! Eventually I decided to try the university thing - I love history! That is going well for me and I know what my career goals are now, but I'm probably never going to get to wear a ballgown for work, or be driven in a glittering carriage, or stay at a beautiful castle as part of my job (though I refuse to entirely write off that possibility).