#saltspin

The beautiful Anna R Vitiello wearing the Platinum Black Cropped Flare Jeans

Rosie Fortescue loving her new Quartz Black Ankle Cropped Skinny

Anna R Vittiello wearing the Radium High Waisted Dark Indigo Mom Jean

shein.com/Roll-Neck-Mixed-Knit-Chunky-Jumper by lorrainekeenan featuring red jeans

shein.com/Roll-Neck-Mixed-Knit-Chunky-Jumper by lorrainekeenan featuring over sized sweaters ❤ liked on Polyvore

Yep, I’ve had a little makeover, the blog, not me, I wish!!! I decide to celebrate my eighth year in blogging that I would step up my game, redesign my blog, and even right a business plan, yep, you heard it a business plan. I know crazy right. As you know, I’m not so great at the business/PR side that you need for making it in this blogging world, I tend to get caught up in the words and images, well this year, I’m trying to be positive and push myself.

So, what’s inside my plan for the next year you might be asking yourself, well, more content, not just in fashion, but lifestyle, beauty, and interiors, which is one of my key targets for the year ahead. I love fashion, always will, and I won’t stop bringing you my looks, I know you guys like to see what I’ve been wearing and buying, but I’m trying to make my little space on the internet a fashion and lifestyle portal for women looking to find inspiration, whether that’s on what trends to buy into this season, cute pieces to update your bedroom, or even beauty tips on how to maintain perfect hair in this cold weather. There will still be a personal slant, it’s a personal blog after all, but I want it to offer you more that just what I wore today. 

There’s a debate going round ‘long blog reads’ versus ‘long Instagram captions’ and whether people are turning away from blogs because they don’t want to read as much, and maybe short, snappy posts are just what people are after. I’m in two minds and I think it has to be a balancing act. I actually like to read and see both. Would love to know what you guys think, you know you can always leave me a comment or tweet me @FashionNBarbie, without you guys reading there wouldn’t be much point, so I want to make sure going forward I deliver what you guys enjoy, analytics can only tell you so much. 

The Fashionista Barbie makeover

This approach to push forward in 2017 is why the makeover. I wanted to create a site that was more me, more what I see Fashionista Barbie to be, which I hope comes across. First off, new logo, branding and colours, I love the combination of the blue with the pink against the white and grey hues throughout, as well as the new fonts. I love script fonts and I found this beauty online and I love it as it makes me believe that it is actually my handwriting, oh how I wish, and it works really well with the bold, rounded body and header fonts that I chose. I wanted it easy to read, yet still modern and fresh. I’m a little of a typo geek so I hope you like it. 

The site is also fresher, easier to navigate around, there’s a homepage with all the latest happenings, you can see the last nine blog posts, as well as special features and you can even shop my latest looks that I post on Instagram. One of things you guys asked for was a easy place to find the pieces I wear, so I’ve created a little shop tab. It will have all my recent buys on, as well as covet items that I want to add to my wardrobe, basically, it will be my personal shopping list that will be updated regularly. If you still love a more traditional blog look, and I know some of you do, don’t worry I haven’t changed it all, you can just head over to the dedicated blog page, where you will notice a few updates as well, including a ‘Shop the Post’ widget visible under the blog posts for quick and easy buying. 

I’ve created some cool archive pages to view my content better, for instance, my key categories, fashion, beauty, lifestyle and my style posts appear like an Instagram grid/lookbook, so you can see the last nine posts for quick reference to catch up. Sometimes you don’t want to scroll through 15 pages to see the post you missed, here you can see it quickly and easily. 

Last thing on the design, you’ll also notice that the images are a little bigger, it’s one of the areas I want to grow in, and making then bigger pushes me to create better content. I’ll also be experimenting with a few different blog post layouts over the next few weeks, I’m trying to bridge that gap between blog and magazine, while still keeping the content readable and enjoyable. 

Sign Up To the Fashionista Barbie Newsletter!

You will also notice that I’m setting up a newsletter, I’m not sure yet how frequent it will be, eventual I’m hoping weekly, but I’m thinking monthly to start. I want it to be a combination of a round-up of Fashionista Barbie, so key blog posts from the month that you might have missed, as well as an opportunity to share the love with content from some of my favourite blog posts. One thing I love about blogging is the community and I want to do more to spread positivity and showcase how many incredibly talented people are bloggers, there are so many that inspire me, and push me to want to do better, that I feel like it would be great to show them off, you might even discover a blog or two not on your radar. It is easy to sign up, just enter your email address in the field below the blog post. 

Well, that’s the vision, and I’m so excited to finally get started on the year. Launching a refreshed blog, while setting up a new website, Travelista Barbie will be coming you way shortly was a bit of an ask, especially when this blog has 4,000 posts which all need their images resized. But, I think I’m finally getting on the other side where I can do what I love writing, I have so many cool features in the works and ideas that I’m trying to figure how to make them work, I’m definitely going to be busy this year, and for once I’m so ready. 

What do you think of the new look Fashionista Barbie? Would love to know if there’s anything you would like to see more of. 

My Style: Asos – Oversized Scarf // Ego Shoes – Naturi Black Long Boot (c/o) – also come in grey and brown //

You know I’m kind of obsessed with comfort, I do love jeans and a jumper, well, this here is my go-to look for autumn and winter – skinny jeans, an oversized jumper, a little leopard print, and the most comfortable Emu Australia ‘Shoreline’ boots. These boots aren’t just any old boot, nope they are sheepskin lined, which translates as super cosy, they are also waterproof tanned leather, which means you won’t have to worry about them getting ruined in that freak rain shower. Also, I just adore the foldover sheepskin cuff, makes them a little more fun than normal waterproof outdoor boots, oh and did I mention that they leave your feet toasty warm? 

They come in this oak colour, which I adore, as well as a classic black, and I’m not going to lie I kind of want them both. But there is something about this earthy colour that makes them extra perfect for autumn, plus I love this hue paired with a soft pink like this bargain Primark jumper, and a touch of leopard print. 

Stepping away from my look, can we all please just discuss how ridiculously cute Ruby-Bleu is? Isn’t she so fabulous. I think I need to put together some kidswear shoots so we can play dress up!!!

Do you have a cosy pair of boots that make up your go-to autumnal look?

  My Style: Emu Australia ‘Shoreline’ Leather Waterproof Boots (c/o) // Next Leopard Print Crossbody Bag (c/o) // Saltspin Skinny Blue Jeans (c/o) // Primark Pink Jumper // 

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So, these aren’t everyday sunglasses, they are a little bright, but that’s what I like about them. I have sunglasses that work for in the car, for heading out into the countryside with the puppy, that are smarter for a wedding, those sunnies that are so expensive that you have the fear taking them out of the case, and then I had lots of fun styles that are perfect for doing my very best fashion blogger pose, which is easier to do on the corner of Manchester Square, which has fast become one of my favourite places to shoot.

It was my first visit to The Wallace Collection, it’s an incredible art gallery close to Selfridges, that not only has it got a great collection of art and a stunning staircase, but the cutest restaurant, where it would have just been rude not to have the afternoon tea – so delicious. It was so nice to find someone close to Oxford Street but with a calm and tranquility about it, I’m kind of obsessed with the pink walls inside and the lust-worthy white townhouses with gorgeous black detailing.

Manchester Square has a whole lot of house goals happening and don’t you think that the monochrome backdrop really worked well with this uber-bright orange boho top, an oldie from last season but still a gorgeous top. You could pair back your outfit wearing these Swatch Sunglasses or you could you add to the colour pop and I think it totally worked – I love how summery this look is.

Have you discovered Swatch Sunglasses?

My Style: Swatch Sunglasses – The Eyes of Gina (c/o) // Asos – Orange Boho Top // Saltspin – Skinny Jeans (c/o) // Keds – Triumph in Navy (c/o) // Lulu Guinness – Bag (c/o) //