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Girlfriends Issue

Imagine, a world without girls, Exactly. You can’t. Probably because there wouldn’t be one. So I suggest right around now, you lock yourself away from Kim Kardashian’s snapchat story that you’re about to watch, and instead, celebrate and enjoy this innovative work of art about people just like you.

It’s exhilarating to see how powerful women have become over the years and I think it is fair to say that fashion has been the backbone to this revolution. Fashion has given women the freedom they need. It has allowed women to be experimental, to be daring, to be different, but most important of all – to be confident.

A shout out to my fellow sisters, from yours truly |

This issue celebrates all the girls out there that are doing their thing. This is for those girls who were once afraid of something that they are now embracing, and this is for the girls who are conquering their wildest dreams.

This isn’t another average issue about what lipstick Kylie Jenner wore to dinner last night or a debate about who wore the dress better. This is for all of us so called ‘under-dogs’ who are out here doing our thing for ourselves and nobody else.

Who cares how many likes your selfie got on Instagram, compared to the girl who received a thousand likes for a picture of a coffee. What is a like worth anyway?

Life is about making every day a new adventure. It is your body, your mind, do whatever the hell you want. Fashion is all about having fun and experimenting, so if that’s not what you’re doing, then you’re doing it wrong!

Elsewhere in this issue, we explore the notion of pushing boundaries, expectations and adventuring, brought to you through the inspiring smiles of other girls just like yourselves. This read is for the bold, spirited and open minded.

Enjoy Girlfriends..

Words: Beth Nevis Pictures: Beth Nevis / Michael Olatunji

you need to fight the only obstacle in your way, and we all know what that is.

Bagging that dream job in the fashion industry is hard and can almost seem impossible. There are a small minority who are just probably born lucky, but besides that, the rest of us it can be pretty challenging (although there really is nothing pretty about it). Any girl trying to worm their way into a job in the industry is going to go through those embarrassing, cringeworthy moments, the sort you wish you could just bury and never speak about again. But if that was the case you wouldn’t be in the right industry would you? Nothing gets forgotten about and every contribution is worth something.

As harsh as it may sound, the truth is ugly but so is bullshit. This industry is very much ‘Devil Wears Prada’. You will spend days, months, maybe even years making coffee and piecing work together for other people’s success but this stage in your career is one of the most important, this is the stage to stock up on fuel before you begin to drive your own goals. This is your opportunity as an underdog to create contacts with everyone in sight (and yes that includes the cleaner, the caretaker and the security guard that you pass by every morning) you never know when they will come in handy!

But the one thing you girls are failing to understand is that you are going to get absolutely nowhere in life if you don’t ditch the surrounding fear which is orbited your minds daily. Fear is not physical, so don’t let it have physical impacts. Fear is an emotion, a psychological effect that you can control if you really want to. A coffee girl is something you have never just been, and something you will never just be, and whoever makes you feel like that needs an extra sugar, or two!

We are all not going to have elaborate vocabulary’s, well-spoken accents and a Chanel handbag to match.

Half of us struggle to buy the £50 bag we’ve been eyeing up in Topshop for the last month, but who cares? The beauty of fashion is diversity. Everyone is different, but everyone is just as important as the next person. Fashion is all about change, and without a variety of people, change would never occur.

You girls need to drop the fear of losing and exchange it for the desire to win. Stand your ground and leave people following in your footsteps. Unless you want to be sat at a desk overlooking your boss’s Prada courts every day, you need to fight the only obstacle in your way, and we all know what that is. FEAR.

The truth is ugly, but so is bullshit I guess.

I AM I AM I AM I AM

I am that that small, tight knot hidden within your stomach. You know, the one that you can often feel drop inside you and ripple through your entire body. That one that can change your mood almost instantly and the one that makes you question every action you are about to take.

Some days I may be alive, I may be bursting with excitement, colour and freedom. And other days, I may seem dead, resting calmly besides the pit of your guilty self-pity.

But I do not belong there. I should be rapidly gushing through your veins, filling your body with empowerment. I am a ticking time bomb waiting for you to immerse and see the dreams that lie ahead of you, the dreams you are yet to follow. I am the catalyst for this drive, I can give you passion, commitment and most importantly, happiness.

I am waiting for you to marvel, to reach out and be that person you truly are. Stop comparing yourself to others, it is not about popularity, it is not about self-evaluation, it is not about the past. This is your future and I am here to guide you every step of the way, but only if you will let me.

Together, let’s conquer the world.

Let’s allow those who put you down to traipse behind your new track of adventure. I am not trying to make you better than anyone else, but I am here to make you feel as good as.

Use me to go out and get that job you’ve always dreamed for, ditch the appointment book on that reception you’ve worked on for five years and break out into the real world of creation.

Embrace me, do not hide me.

I will not scream, I will not shout, but I am still loudest of all.

I am bravery.

Yotti Wilkinson

Let’s allow those who put you down to traipse behind your new track of adventure. I am not trying to make you better than anyone else, but I am here to make you feel as good as.

# 1 ) A girl with good trainers is never ugly

Sisters B4 Misters |

A single life is a happy life. Despite what others may a slap in the face, you tell yourself it’s good riddance. say women no longer need men (that’s not to say they Because listen to me girlfriends, you are better off ever have). without. A routine filled with pathetic patronization and selfish ways are not something to be missed.

Imagine, you are sat on a rooftop terrace, gazing at Truth is, your man has probably either booked a trip the stars with the love of your life interlocked into the to Vegas behind your back and the time has come for spaces between your fingers perfectly. You look at one him to jet off or he has fallen for the next passerby and other like it’s the last time you will ever meet. The in his trashy office. Either way, you don’t need it. passion is running through your veins and you think Life is about much more than finding ‘the one’, we to yourself, you could never be without that person. no longer live in a patriarchal society. The single life is What possibly could ever go wrong? the new way forward for women, it allows us to have freedom, to dream big and to reach those goals that Well, let me tell you sister. have remained on that bucket list for five years. Live for those late nights that turn into early mornings, When you’re least expecting it, it will all come crashing and live for those outrageous moments where you down on you like a ton of bricks, leaving your little find yourself caught in unpredictable situations that naive heart to pick up the pieces of the last six months. It you could never even make up if you tried.What you is pretty much a waiting game with most men, a game really need is a trip to Marbella, perhaps a new car which leaves the opponent wondering when her time eer and a motivational kick up the arse. Come on girls will be up. Wondering when she’ll receive the text of the world, you can have romantic flicks without the message containing a mess of absurd lies about how hurt and pain that dwindles behind. You have your his feelings have changed and how he needs space. girlfriends beside you and that’s all you need.

Although it may come as a surprise, or maybe a bit of Because as the cliché saying goes, ‘chicks before dicks’.

Whenever I am feeling down I just remember the badass babe that I am, throw a bit of glitter on my eyes and grab the day by its balls. It’s all about embracing that sparkle.

Victoria Reid

‘Live for those late nights that turn into early mornings, and live for those outrageous moments where you find yourself caught in unpredictable situations that you could never even make up if you tried.’

Sassy Sassy Sassy Sassy Sassy

Sassy…What does that even mean nowadays? Sexy? Flirty? Fun? Or perhaps the supposedly not so glorified, Successful? Empowered? Educated? Now, you are probably rolling your eyes right around now at the thought of Sassy meaning a determined business woman, but let me stop you right there. Together, let’s uncover all of this sugar coated nonsense surrounding Sassy, as over the years this phrase has been used way too often, leading to lack of meaning, besides maybe being an adjective for Kim Kardashians latest butt snapshot.

So, how exactly did ‘sassy’ become to mean something acquiring both sweet and sour qualities? According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word originated from the term ‘Saucy’, which is another word that has being highly sexualized, when really, it should be used to describe an individual with provocative, outspoken, chic and stylish attributes. These words have taken a serious semantic shift, which has change the views and attitudes of us girls.

Despite the word’s original positive origins, this has dramatically developed, and has been over used through crazes and trends leading to it being incorrectly spoken about. Sassy has found itself through a ‘black sassy mamma’ stage, which was a stage that described all loud, slightly crazy African Caribbean women as being ‘Sassy’, which in some cases was not always a good thing, as rudeness and belittling is not always something to be fond of.

It then weaved its way into the whole cliché sexuality scene, which meant a lot of gay men was being called sassy, assuming it is quite a feminine, bitchy word, but is that really the case? I’d beg to question. Every gay man isn’t sassy, so why are we so familiar with the combination of ‘sassy gay best friend?’ It goes without saying that the phrase has only being used in caricature and gay stereotypes. Why is this? Why can’t a married masculine man, or a gay woman be called sassy?

Besides the word containing slightly bias definitions at different stages in past eras, it has continuously had a positive outlook in some form or another, although not necessarily for the right reasons. Girls of this era need to understand that sassy is not the word to describe a lady wearing skin tight leather pants, drinking prosecco from a flute glass, or it isn’t about someone outrageously trying to give puny responses to belittle others. Sassy is about being brave, being confident and being empowered. It is about being a leader, being successful and shining a light for others to follow.

We don’t want our sisters, friends, cousins and future daughters to become tangled within these misinterpretations, we want them to be called sassy and to act sassy for all of the right reasons.

I want to see armies of spirited, bold and self-assured females charging at their goals with inspirational minds, because that is the real vision of Sassy, my fellow sisters.

Louise Weiss , London, UK.

Babygirl |

Farewell, Sisters. |