Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for a lost voice.

Oh, here's me thinking that a good night of sleep would mean I'd wake up this morning and feel refreshed. I was most certainly wrong! I woke up late this morning with a killing headache, puffy eyes and a sore throat. When I wanted to feel refreshed with a steaming hot bath, I was told a water pipe had burst up the road which left out entire house smelling of eggs and made the water brown. Lovely!

My sore throat turned worse and I ended up losing my voice for several hours which certainly wasn't fun. I did manage to enjoy the sun a little, though, if only from my garden. I've spent my day writing, reading magazines and newspapers and the normal things which come along with a lazy Saturday. I'm now sat in bed listening to The Smiths- bliss!

Outfit time! Whenever I feel low- whether due to psychical illness or just being a little depressed- I really feel a great colourful outfit just adds that something to make you smile and feel a little better. I've become a bit of a fan of Dorothy Perkins fan tonight with this magenta cardigan, emerald tulip skirt and grey bag all coming from the High Street store. I've added grey Falke tights, grey pumps with chain detail from Primark and a gorgeous necklace available from ASOS. I hope you're having a great weekend, everyone!



I lost my voice. by hollieanne featuring Dorothy Perkins bags

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for skipping her lecture.

Oops-a-daisy, didn't make it into my lecture this evening. I've got to say that I am feeling rather guilty and bad but I think I needed a bit of a calm day today. My mind feels a bit misty and I think I'm overwhelmed by last week, by the events of this week and by my future. I've given myself a bit of a guilty trip over missing a 2.5 hour lecture but I need to remember that, despite the wonderful load of total calm and well being over the past several months, I do indeed suffer from BPD and my mental health is very important.

After a period of around two months of feeling like the BPD has totally gone, it's easy to forget that I ever had it. I've been getting drastically better since October and it may well be safe to say that my BPD is a distant memory after five years of emotional disasters. But I'm careful to look after myself. MYB annoyed me for something? I tell him and we talk it through. Feeling exhausted? I take an early night. Stress with work? I moan to MYB about it and he makes me feel fabulous. With me, it's the small things that make the biggest difference to my mental health and talking things through and putting a rational spin on things is they key to my well being.

Come 3pm, once I made my mind up that I wasn't going to make it tonight, I set myself a mental list of things that would keep me sane and soothe my mind tonight. First off, I sat in the garden in the afternoon sun with a huge mug of herbal tea and my favourite book. Then I worked on an article I started typing up on Thursday evening. I spent the rest of tonight chatting with my mother, thinking about some work plans I have and reading some basic Italian. Mind sorted and it's ready to work come my lecture on Wednesday!

I've dressed for Monday afternoon sun today. I'm a typical Brit and as soon as a tiny bit of sun comes out, I'm in skirts, flats and sunglasses. The tee and heart shaped sunnies seen here are from Topshop, you'll find the skirt is available from A.P.C and the sandals are Giuseppe Zanotti. These pretty boho style earrings are from ASOS and the large cream bag is from the one and only Primark.



Monday sun. - by hollieanne on Polyvore.com

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for wishing it was sunny.

Spring is my favourite time of year for all things fashion. Not only do we get the A/W fashion weeks (Erdem and Preen have proved to be my favourites so far) but we get that slight bit of sun which is enough to whip out those Escada/Primark sunnies even for the slightest few minutes.

I love dressing in spring because I'm such a girly girl and nothing is better than the feel of a slight breeze against my bare legs or walking around Hyde Park with no shoes on. I love the excitement that summer is round the corner and that I have no plans but to spend several hours a day in an office somewhere in London being paid to write features. Spring, for me, means jeans and flat sandals, cardigans wore unbuttoned with dresses and bare legs, homemade cotton tote bags with painted slogans and more corsages than ever.

But I'm feeling a bit sluggish of late and a bit ill so I've had a need for sun and spring more than ever. This afternoon, in the cold of the late February sky, I wore flat gold sandals with my jeans and silk top and it felt wonderful to feel the cold on my toes. I was rather freezing but there's something about the air on your toes that just feels summery and fresh and clean. I'm craving just a little more sunshine so that I can get away with plain tops, statement necklaces, jeans, flip-flops and huge sunnies more than I can currently.

So I've dressed for spring today! That mix-match feeling of open toe shoes and comfortable winter friendly trousers. This chain detail top by Balmain would be such a staple in my wardrobe and mainly worn dressed down with dark denim jeans for Sunday coffee and newspaper mornings with MYB. I've used some biker style Chloé pants but added some brown Steve Madden platforms to give less of a heavy feel and more light and summery. This incredible bag is the new love of my life and is designed by the ever wonderful Miu Miu who have also designed this super pretty pink hairband. To soften the look and make it really girly, I've used a necklace from Betsey Johnson and a ring available from Evans. Finally, to tie in with the animal print of the bag, I've selected a ring by Just Cavalli. Hope the sun turns up soon...



Wishing for sun. - by hollieanne on Polyvore.com

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for dressing in black!

I have become obsessed with the Fashion Darling that is a deep shade of black. This may not appear like anything major but I'm a girl who has never worn black apart from the odd cardigan, vest top or pair of tights.

My mother has already encouraged me to wear black but her lovely comments about how it looked so great on me just passed over my head as black looks great on everyone, right? Perhaps this is true and I've seen many a friend or family member wearing the shade a lot to make them look slimmer but I've never quite got it. Where's all the colour that makes you stand out?

As a bird with decent size hips (that, I can reveal, are 5lb lighter this week!) I've always stayed away from black for thinking people only thought I was wearing it to make myself look slimmer and I've always had confidence is my "hour glass with a bit of a tummy" shape. But the past few days have seen me purchasing a perfect black dress and the love of my life- a black leather jacket. Seeing myself in such a colour and adoring the way I look comes as a shock- much like that of a black-only woman loving the way she looked in bright orange.

Is my style growing up from splashes of purple, pink and yellows to a more serious look of sophisticated black shades or am I just embracing something long overdue? I think it's a mix of both things. In these credit crunch times, it's more about investment pieces and sensible tan boots, black leather jackets, patent black clutches and calf skimming black dresses all come into the equation of being long lasting and sensible. I'm wearing chic flats, dying my hair grown up shades of ginger and making use of sensible peach nail shades. Grow up style here I come! Although I do think the odd pink satin Primark hair bow might be creeping in.

The outfit styled for today is grown up but also fun too. The tee was my starting point for the outfit and it's by one of my all time favourite labels- Sonia by Sonia Rykiel. The skirt is tucked into a Topshop skirt and I've thrown a Miu Miu biker jacket over the top which has amazing pleating detail- well worth the £1,000+ price tag! I've added some black tights, Jil Sander biker boots, a gorgeous Chanel necklace and a Betsey Johnson lace detailed bag. Finally, pin hair back into a chic loose ponytail and tie in a red corsage for ultimate glam but gorgeousness!


Wearing black. by hollieanne

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for seeing the crisis team.

This entry is a little different tonight. I've never kept quiet about suffering Borderline Personality Disorder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder) as I believe it's an illness long overlooked and defiantly misunderstood. Currently there are changes being made as to gain a name alteration for the disorder as it currently suggests something along the lines of schizophrenia when in fact it's more of an emotional condition similar to that of bi-polar disorder.

I've been struggling for about a week after not seeing my doctor for around four weeks due to holidays and the like. Late last night I ended up finding myself well and truly embraced in an "episode" which threatened to harm, not only my precious relationship with MYB but indeed my entire self.

I'm therefore taking positive steps this evening and have contacted my local NHS authority. I've been up to a local hospital for a quick assessment and am currently waiting for a hospital car to pick me up and take me to a mental health ward in the North East. It's not as bad as it sounds, my episode is well and truly over, but I do need checking out and just a little chat to help me understand my current feelings.

I'm doing it because I want to make positive steps to guarantee a secure future for MYB and I. I'd like to state that if MYB, and especially any of the participating people within his life, is/are reading this then I'd like to point out my severe apologies for any degree of disruption, upset or confusion. I'd like to personally and publicly thank MYB for his support with the past 24 hours and indeed that for the past two and a quarter year. I am deeply lucky to have people around me willing to understand and willing to learn. I hope one day that BPD won't be seen as such a thing as to fear as "emotional instability" doesn't mean lives are constantly disrupted. I live a perfectly normal and blissfully happy life which, like depression and many other illnesses, needs a little chat with a doctor every now and again.

Therefore, rather than leaving you with an outfit today I'm leaving you with a photograph of me: I'm a successful, happy and intelligent girl who you'd see every day walking down the street. But I have a condition. The latter does not define me.

PS/ It's the lighting that is odd and not my eyebrows- they are perfectly neat.
PPS/ The scarf, vest and cardigan are all Primark, the headphones are HMV (avec Jessica Simpson blasting from them) and the soft Russian doll was a gift from MYB for Christmas.

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for the Primark menswear section.

I was dragged out Christmas shopping today and with my sore throat still roaring and bags under my eyes after chatting with MYB into the small hours, it was pretty much the last thing I wanted.

After a wake-up call in the form of soft cheese and bread sticks for breakfast, I blow dried my ginger mop and added a pop of red lipstick on and was finally ready to face the havoc inducing high streets. My mother and I stepped out together for a men-free shopping day (although several yummy creatures caught my eye so it wasn't totally men-free) and indulged in every make-up counter that Boots has to offer. My selections? A wonderful orange lipstick, Marc Jacobs 'Daisy' fragrance and a smokey eye collection for the festive season.

We had fun selecting gifts for my brothers and I managed to pick up a few things for MYB (not from the Primark menswear section if you're reading this MYB, you don't have to worry!). My pleasure came in the surprisingly cool Primark menswear section. My mother was picking out a few bits for her tracksuit bottoms and trainers excuse for a partner and a cardigan caught my eye. I'm a major fan of the boyfriend cardigan and wore one recently when out for dinner with MYB over a smart purple dress, stockings and heels. The latest addition to my expanding cardigan wardrobe is a grey with "neon" pink stripe cardigan from Primark menswear. I opted for the XL size for a baggy and comfortable feel and I'm currently wrapped in it over the top of some pretty pink pajamas. I also came across a rather large tartan scarf that will go fab on jeans and Topshop basic vest days. Who would have guessed, eh?

I'd wear this outfit out for dinner with MYB or perhaps just to the cinema and for a cocktail. I'm a little bit in love with Primark today so both the peep toes and the gorgeous orange dress are from the flea market on the High Street that is Primarni. And we love it! I've used jewellery from Betsey Johnson and an established "it" bag in the form of this Balenciaga teal number. Finally, as I am championing men's clothing, add a Topman teal cardigan and wear with the buttons left open.



Menswear. by hollieanne

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for reading fashion marketing books in Starbucks.

Considering I didn't go to bed until 2:30am and woke 3 hours later, the day flew by with not a yawn in sight (well, maybe one whilst in the library). A quick lecture with my philosophy teacher, a tutorial class which was spent talking fashion with the lovely Samuel and then a five minute meeting to discuss my media essay (I'm onto a good one!).

I indulged in a Starbucks white mocha and caramelised onion and cheese bread. If you could not tell me the calorie intake, I'd be chuffed, thaaaaaaaaaaanks! Whilst I sat sipping on coffee and with a whipped cream moustache, I opened up my current favourite fashion marketing book and fell in love like I've never known. Ahh, reading about Coco Chanel's insults to Poiret made me geekily giggle and proud to be a feisty woman.

There are very few things that I enjoy more than learning about marketing and promotion within fashion. See, I knew I'd find my place in the fashion world and the numbers world (sort of).

When you brothers are annoying you/your appointments keep getting cancelled/your bloke finds you just a wee bit too much/Hollyoaks is reducing you to tears every night this week, try and pick up something about fashion branding- trust me, it'll work!

Dressing For is geeking it up today! The fashion and book lover within you is released all in one. The Luella floral blouse is the key piece of the outfit- buy a few sizes up and wear it over sized and baggy. I've then used some fab skinny Topshop trousers and I worship the lucky ladies who own these Jonathan Kelsey for Luella shoe-boots. Throw on some typical geek glasses, a Forever21 bobble hat and some Primark accessories. Am I a geek? Yes, Sir!


Fashion marketing chic. by hollieanne