Yesterday, British Style Bloggers celebrated our first birthday by basically becoming small children again. We had a lovely meet up, with party bags and Twister and cake and SQUIRRELS and fairy wands and wings and psychotic juice... and we really wish that you could have been there to share it with us!

Anyway, to celebrate our birthday, we're having a make-over, and a new logo, so over the next few days please bear with us - the site might look a little bit sparse and things might stop working, but everything will work out prettier than before, which makes it all worth it!

So, big love to the wonderful girls who were with us yesterday - Florrie and Rachel from the staff, and Carla, Becky and Sarah who came, too. There are no pictures of all of us, but here's one Carla took of the other five of us:

The park where we had the meet up was beautiful; the sun shone - which is never guaranteed in York! - and we blew bubbles and balloons everywhere... and gave a lot of Japanese tourists a very strange impression of life in small English cities!

We also made a video - big love to Carla and Sarah for helping me film! - which is below! Have a look and have a giggle... we certainly did!

On which note, all that remains to be said is THANK YOU for sticking by us through the ups and downs and round and rounds of our exciting first year, and we look forward to making the next few even bigger and better!

We're also looking for suggestions for themes for the up-coming months - if you have any ideas, please drop us a comment, or email me at amy@britishstylebloggers.org.uk!

Thanks again, and happy birthday, BSB!

LoveLoveLove

- Amy -

I have to admit that when Rachel and I came up with the theme of "Festival Style" for this month, I hardly gave any thought to my own lack of festival experience, or to how hard it might be to come up with a trillion different posts on the theme - so I think that, thus far, we've done pretty well!

But, I thought that there might still be a few bases out there left to cover - for example, what about those people who don't have the money to spare for a ticket? Or who can't be bothered to travel? Or who don't want to get muddy? Or who love their new festival-style dress so much that they want to wear it, even if they don't have an occasion to wear it for?

What about them?

And then I remembered THIS ARTICLE that I read in passing last summer - and thought now there's an idea! Because, all you really need to have a fantastic "festival experience" on the cheap this summer is an iPod, a playlist, a bunch of friends, a garden, and some good food!

Or, if you're feeling adventurous, a wifi connection and a laptop, to stream some other festivals live to your garden!

NB: if you plan on playing music loud and for extended periods, warn the neighbours... :)

So, instead of posting anything stylish today, I decided to ask BSB staff and readers what their favourite summer songs are - and together we came up with the playlist RIGHT HERE :)

Enjoy - and please, don't forget to suggest your own tracks!

LoveLoveLove

- A -

I've often wondered what the point of Style Icons is. I've never really been the kind to look at someone famous and suddenly decide that they're the one person I'd like to dress like, but there have been instances when I've come across someone who I think is so impeccably dressed, or so incredibly cool, or just so plain awesome that I'd like to dress like them every once in a while.

I think that one reason we look to others to help us create our style is that we're looking to take a little of them and make them us: we pick remarkable people whom we admire for a number of reasons, and we try to emulate their style, hoping it'll make us more like them.

One person whose style I admire more than most is Emilia Fox - either as herself, or in character as Nikki in Silent Witness (my not-so-secret-OCD). She's intelligent, she's living her dream, and she manages to make any outfit look remarkable.

Images: HERE

I think that one of the reasons I admire her style (which is really poorly illustrated in these photos!) so much is that she tends to wear timeless classic pieces such as gold jewelry, jeans, heels and delicate, feminine blouses, but she somehow manages to make them look remarkable - like they're more than just the normal kinds of things you could buy on the highstreet.

Images: HERE and HERE

Another person whose style I admire is Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter. She's an amazing person - having been a life-long fan, and then having been cast in her dream role in the films - and I also admire the fact that, despite her fame, she's never compromised her style. She's always been truly individualistic, and she's never been afraid to be herself. In an industry as brutal as acting, she's remarkable in my book!

Image: HERE

Fashion and style can also be used to make a statement, and I think that, when the statement is right, it should be. The woman on the left is Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks. She's someone I admire generally, but not for her style - she made a stand against the war in Iraq, and it cost her her career, and almost cost her her life.

What's remarkable in this photo is the top she's wearing: a redneck country singer called Toby Kieth wrote a song, after she made her stand, calling on people to hate her for her views, and so, as a way of getting back at him, she went on stage wearing a top with the initials F.U.T.K. written on it.

The thing I admire most in that, though, is that she didn't say what the words stood for: she said it meant whatever you wanted it to mean, and scores of fans began making their own tops, and saying that they meant things like "Friendship, unity, truth, kindness".

They were used to make a political point, and they were used to bring people together. They were remarkable in that they didn't care, and in that they were brave, and I think, over all, that that's so much more important than style.

So, whe you're picking someone whose style to emulate, pick them because they have remarkable style, but also because they're a remarkable person. Choose wisely.

LoveLoveLove

- A -

A sneak preview of what's happening for the end of Body Image Season...

And... the press release mentioned in the video...

Can't wait for you all to see the ebook! It'll be the next thing we post, and it'll be in just a few days time! :)

LoveLoveLove

- Amy -

Country music has taught me many things so far in life; strawberry wine is apparently a metaphor for passion, and stetsons should only ever be worn by those who can pull of a Carolinas accent, for example. Oh, and standing up to the Republicans, publically, can get you some serious death threats, and cause you to write a Grammy winning song.

The most important thing it's taught me, though, is to be myself. This, coming from a Welsh lass of Cockney and Middlesbrough descent. It's unnatural for me to listen to country, but I do - because, bizzarrely, I like it. I like how it tells stories, and I like the accents. There's a lot I don't like about it - some of the morals, for example.

But there's one song I think the message is perfect in, and there's one song I think is just right for this project - for Body Image Season. That song is Don't You Know You're Beautiful? by Kellie Pickler.

It's a bit rich coming from a style blogging site, but the line which rings true the most, for me, is "You're wishing that you had designer jeans, like the ones you see in magazines, but your worth ain't on a pricetag, it comes from within".

Whilst Body Image Season hasn't really touched on that aspect at all, I think it's important, and I'd like you all to leave your computers today singing Kellie, please. You know you want to.

"Let 'em go
Let 'em fly
Keep your head up
Get on with your life

Don't you know you're beautiful just the way you are?"

LoveLoveLove

- A -