'You might be standing in the queue to pay at the supermarket when you suddenly notice that someone is staring intently at your child and nudging their companion. You might be walking down the street when someone just comes right up and asks about your child’s appearance. Young children are incredibly curious, they look intently at things and ask very straightforward questions. Some people are genuinely concerned. Others may be familiar with your child’s condition and may want to offer a friendly word.    This sort of casual encounter is often difficult for parents because it is unexpected and it can often feel very intrusive. Many parents we speak with tell us that they often feel completely unprepared to deal with this sort of curiosity and it can leave them feeling angry, upset and powerless'

These are the sad but true words from the Changing Faces website offered to the parents of children with facial disfigurments. Looking different from everyone else brings with it a body image battle. On the whole we all want to be different but ironically also wish to conform and be part of a group, and I can only guess at the struggle people with facial disfigurments have. Naive children are always prone to stating what they see and don't understand which must make the early life of these children difficult but what is terrible is when adults cause problems.

Changing Faces is a wonderul charity that challenges our attitudes and educate from an early age, their Face Equality campaign 'is about being treated fairly and equally irrespective of facial appearance. It is about creating a society in which everyone is valued for the unique contribution that they can make to society.

The campaign aims to:

• Raise awareness of our unconscious beliefs about disfigurement that can result in prejudice and discrimination
• Encourage people, organisations and the government to tackle such beliefs and attitudes and make a commitment to face equality
• Help everyone learn new ways of thinking and behaving towards people with disfigurements'

They have recently chosen four children to front their campaign in which they are presented as just normal people. For a wide variety of reasons people may look different from you or I but they did not ask for it and should not be made to feel ashamed.

This morning 'This Life', a programme on the BBC featured the inspirational children, Harry, Max, Lucas and Lauren, and the episode can be found on iplayer. I wish I could tell them 'Good for you.'

Links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rfmyc/My_Life_Billboard_Kids/

http://www.changingfaces.org.uk/

http://intrinsicallyflorrie.blogspot.com/

 I was in my last year of primary school when I was told I needed glasses, except they were for reading and I have now gone from being long sighted to short sighted! At the time of choosing the frame I don't think I minded them too much but when it came to wearing them in class I absolutely loathed them. The frame was a thin metal one, which wanted to say 'don't notice me' but ironically did the opposite because I was so uncomfortable with them.

There's often a negative association with glasses, escpecially with young school children and it's really sad. Or else there is a 'geek/clever person' assocation which doesn't do all that much for social status at that age either. My mum hated her glasses when she was young so much (and this is completely out of character as she was by no means a rebel) she buried them in the dirt on the way home from school, to her annoyance though someone found them and returned them. She isn't a ready complainer so something must have really been wrong, and this needs to change. Glasses don't affect your personality, it's just a simple fact that my eyes aren't perfect and it's not my fault.

I only needed the original reading glasses for a couple of years as my eyes went into 'neutral', and fortunately by the time I needed full time glasses I'd found two wonderful role models. 1) The singing teacher at my performing arts school when I was a pupil. She was such an amazing lady with a kind and bubbly personality that just radiated loveliness with one amazing voice and piano skills (coincidental I also wish I was so good on the instrument as her). 2) Another lovely girl at the school I joined at the very end of year 9 who had managed the tricky act of being popular (though not in the 'Mean Girls' kind of way!), clever, a choir member and was just such a nice, welcoming person. Both of them had glasses that were part of their outfits, despite the glasses being the same everyday. They worked for their face shapes, wardrobes and just their whole 'look', neither screaming 'please, please don't notice I'm wearing glasses' or 'look at me'.

I'm currently looking for my 4th pair of dailywear glasses, so I've worked on some tips to find a pair that one can actually enjoy wearing:

1) Just because it looks nice on the rack doesn't mean it'll look good on you! Sad but true. At the moment the trend seems to be for slightly angular frames and they just don't suit me at all. Ones without much height don't seem to work on my either, yet they might be fabulous on someone else. Yet I'm only just 18 and must be aware that though my first frames (top picture) looked wonderful at the time they now don't suit me nearly so well; I was 15 and my face shape has changed.

2) Learn what colours suit you.I just know that dark frames just don't suit my complexion so blacks and browns are just complete nos, but I also don't suit exceptionally pale/transparent ones. However I've noticed that 'berry' colours- pinks, purples and subtle reds- in general suit me very well. If you've never bought glasses before try on lots, but you can quickly learn your ideal colour palette.

3) Don't judge the stand it's on. OK I have to admit I head straight for the one with the Gucci etc on, but however much you crave a label don't be blinded by this. Have a look round everywhere.

4) Geek chic?At the moment there's a trend for over-sized, usually lenseless, frames going round the street style websites but this look can be a bit much day after day, then again if you can pull it off and will be happy, go for it! I once saw the most gorgeous pair of bold, and I mean bold, red Chanel frames with diamante on the side and maybe I'd have loved them for special occasions but to wear them daily would have been a bit much.

5) Assistants aren't always right. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don't. Be polite when you don't like something but, and I find this hard myself, don't let them choose for you when you're not sure yourself- you're the one who's got to wear them!

6) Think about it. Don't feel you have to choose imediately after your eye examination if you're not ready to and make sure you try on plenty of pairs. Why not take some photos then you can go home and ponder, or even ask some friends for their honest opinions.

7) Be happy with your choice! We've all had the dress that is kind of uncomfortable in the dressing room, or the shoes that pinch your toes a little in the shop but bought them thinking they'll be OK. Yet out in the world where they are worn for hours on end you have serious regrets. Unless you are so lucky to be able to have several pairs to swap round you'll be wearing these everyday for a long time so you need to love your frames!

http://intrinsicallyflorrie.blogspot.com/

Working on the Save Luella camaign I came across this wonderful image (below) and discovered the fashion illustrator Derek Cardigan, who has a blog here: http://derekcardigan.blogspot.com/ He's obviously very talented, creating his images with hand drawing and then colouring them on Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Flash- ahh I wish I was spiffy with these computer programs! The man himself is very friendly and kindly let me ask him some questions.

As someone who naturally reaches for a jumper rather than turning the heating up I was very interested to read IllusClaire's post asking us to do just that this coming weekend (starting on 11th).

And though this is deffinitely a chance to invest in some of winter's key pieces such as a  Snuggly Snood, you can also have fun layering up those clothes you already have in your wardrobe.

You can try experimenting with different tops, filling in a low neckline with a high one underneath or putting a sleeveless vest top over a full length sleeved one.

I particularly like layering tops under dresses for going out. I'm not willing to give up my lighter floral ones just yet so putting a warm top on underneath seems a good way to go. You can colour block or mix prints, just don't forget some thick tights!

Socks are also fun to experiment with and are a cheap way to add to your winter wardrobe, and looking at the ss10 Burberry catwalk they're a trend that's around to stay too.

My favourite fashion trend of this autumn winter is the snood! This knitwear piece was seen on several catwalks including at Burberry and Missoni.

To me there's just something so appealing about them- the snuggly, cosiness. And also practicality, I like a warm neck, but not a scarf that flaps around on a windy day.

And there are snoods for all budgets, from the high street to high end.

Snood love. by intrinsicallyflorrie featuring Missoni accessories

There's a surprising variety in styles too- all kinds of textures and weaves, long snoods, short snoods, thin or chunky.. I've bought three lovely ones so for, and they're all so very different.