Building More Partnerships With Ethical Brands And Female Entrepreneurs

Hi ladies, if you are discovering my blog for the first time you may not know that I am  passionate about giving back, staying true to my ethical values, being as sustainable as possible and supporting women in business. This past year has been a great journey, I have turned my attention towards consumer behaviour and it's been a huge eye opener. It's called conscious consumerism or as ethical brands call it: ethical consumerism. Once you start the on this path of knowledge and discovery - it's hard to turn back. 

Let me introduce you to an the brands I have discovered....

The Latest Ethical Brand 

Very recently I discovered another new ethical brand that ticks all the Roberta Style Lee boxes - Sapellé. They are an ethical online fashion and lifestyle brand that brings together the best of African inspired design - they loved my website and what I do, and I loved their website and what they do. The perfect starting point for a partnership. 
Upon further investigation into one another's business we realised our target audience is quite similar too and by partnering up we felt could offer extra value to our existing customers. 

We are also both keen on the 541 philosophy of sustainable styling - we should always be trying to stretch each investment so we can create up to 5 new looks. Check out this Sapellé blog - 1 dress 5 looks. 

We decided to kick things off in December with a last minute Black Friday promo offering FREE PERSONAL STYLING at their Sapellé showrooms (London) for a Christmas shopping event on the 3rd December 2016. 

I was on hand to offer some personal styling tips and one-to-one styling sessions and help Sapellé customers make the most of their purchases. The event went well and we have decided to do another one in early 2017. 

Interested In Style Tips?

If you are interested in coming along to the next event make sure you are subscribed to the mailing list by adding your details here - you'll also get a copy of my Top 10 Personal Styling Tips, Designed For Busy Women

My Ethical Brand Recommendations 

I'm slowly building up an impressive list of amazing brands that I can personally vouch for, I have some reviews of products pending - these are marked *

So far I have had the pleasure of getting to know the founders of these amazing ethical brands:

• Sapellé Gifts & Clothing 
• Dfynorm Women's Clothing 
• Bella Kinesis Fitness Clothing  
• AmaElla Ethical Organic Lingerie *
• Elkie & Ark Luxury Organic, Ethical, Sustainable Bed Linen *
• Jakes Boost - 100% Natural Nut Butters 
• The Little Soap Company - 100% natural soaps *

What do you think? Would you like to discover more amazing brands and maybe even get some discount codes? That's the goal. I aim to test, review and recommend products and services I think you'll love and make becoming an ethical consumer a bit easier for you. Sign up to Roberta Style Lee Updates and you'll be notified when discount codes become available!

More Brands? 

Do you know of any great little brands that could do with some support and a boost? If you do let me know and I can make contact with them and arrange a review and try to negotiate a discount code for you.  

I hope this was a useful blog post and if you find the time to please do check out these brands and my LOVED BY RSL page on the Roberta Style Lee website. 

Roberta x 

You can find out more about Roberta Style Lee over on the website at www.robertastylelee.co.uk 

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3 Things To Ask Yourself When Considering Sustainable Styling

Featured brand: DFYnorm 

What do I mean when I talk about sustainable fashion? 

I'm talking about wearing what you've got, being creative, maximising your clothes so you get as much as you can from one item. Then when you do buy a new piece - make it a piece that will last. Try to get up to 5 different outfits out of your item - make it a wardrobe staple. Take a look at my style challenge with just 3 key items from the DFYnorm collection. 

Make it a conscious purchase - rather than impulsive | 3 Things To Ask Yourself  

1. Before you rush to buy something stop and consider if you need it. 
2. Then stop to check it's been well made, it should be so well made you can wash it a 100 times and it will survive.
3. Look at the structure - would a tailor be able to open the seems and make it fit you like a glove?

The brand whose pockets you are lining don't deserve to be paid the high ticket price unless they are putting the work in behind the scenes. I don't know about you but I want to know who made my clothes. 

Ethical and sustainable fashion questions | 3 Things To Ask Yourself 

1. Do they source their materials ethically? 
2. Do they run their business in a way that is sustainable? 
3. Do they care? 

These are the questions that the new conscious fashionistas are asking. I've joined them. I care. Here at Roberta Style Lee we care - about people, the planet, ourselves, so it seems like a pretty good fit (excuse the pun) to align the RSL brand with other brands that give a damn. 

A sustainable shopping and styling approach 

I am having a severe reaction to mass produced fast fashion. I see all these 'new' clothes that get produced and I know many of these items will never make it off the hanger, they are clothes that live a lifetime at the back of the wardrobe with the tags on... and there seems to be no real signs of this consumer mass purchasing behaviour slowing down. But we can make a difference - one by one - if we dare to defy the fashion trends and stop buying stuff we don't need, in our own little way we can contribute. 

Guilty 

I have the guilt. I was one of those shoppers. A person who in my twenties shopped for a new outfit for every new night out - I had so many items of everything I couldn't count how many I had of any one thing. 

Making amends 

I used to really enjoy that feeling of buying something new. I had this positive association and a little buzz from the purchase - but I noticed that would soon fade once I got home. Then I'd be keen for my next hit... 

It's not about chucking out stuff you own that isn't produced by an ethical or sustainable brand - it's about using what you already have. You cannot undo what has already been done. But you can make damn sure that you make the most out of it.  Last year I put myself on a strict ban. I was not allowed to buy anything new unless I really needed it. 

I started to become more aware of throw away fashion when pop-up pre-loved designer sales started happening up and down the country. I got involved with a friend who set up her own business a few years back and helped her launch her first event. I worked as a stylist for the day and saw how easy it was to fall for someone else's ex. 


Withdrawal symptoms 

When I decided to change - it was tough. The first 6 months not buying things was really difficult. It was like an addiction. I did however manage to curb my shopaholic ways and started to just buy what I needed.

In 2015 year I became an brand ambassador for Bella Kinesis, an ethical sports brand that produces beautiful fitness clothing for women. This was my first conscious step into ethical fashion. 

I then decided to look at how I could be more sustainable with my fashion and I volunteered at one the Save the Children Boutiques.  I started to use my creativity again and when I got into the swing of it I was dressing the window display, re-working the outfits on the mannequins - showing shoppers how to turn an evening dress into a daytime dress etc. I realised I had had the ability to remain stylish without buying new clothes all the time. 

And so sustainable styling became a thing for me! 


Getting to know ethical brands 

In the main image above, I am wearing DFYnorm items from the transeasonal range - all crafted to a high standard. The company is new, but has big ideas about where it is heading. You can see my review of the range here. I like this brand a lot. I love what they represent.

I will be publishing a list of my favourite ethical brands soon in a new RSL directory (watch this space)  if you have any suggestions for ethical/sustainable brands that you would like me to review and include in the directory please leave me a comment. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog!

Stay fabulous (in a sustainable way of course!)

Roberta x 

You can see more over on the website at www.robertastylelee.co.uk 

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Sustainable Style Challenge - How To Style 3 Items into Multiple Outfits

What is sustainable styling? It's about buying less, buying better quality longer lasting investment pieces and being more creative with what you've already got. When you buy something new challenge yourself to see how many different ways you can style it. If you can create 3-5 solid looks - then it's a no brainer. I was given three different items by DFYNorm ethical fashion brand to review and apply my personal style. My challenge as always was to get 5 looks out of each item without buying anything new. 

So how did I do? 

Well bearing in mind I did not buy anything extra to complete these looks, I only used items I had from the back of the wardrobe. I really challenged myself to utilise what I already had and to be as creative as possible. It was not as easy as I hoped. But I was able to get a good few solid outfits created. The 'old' me would have easily been able to create more looks by simply going out and shopping for new items. But I wanted to avoid going back to those unsustainable shopping behaviours... so this is what I came up with:

You can see that I was able to create multiple looks and my favourites are shown below. 

The IKAT Shorts

The JULIE JUMPSUIT

The WAISTCOAT DRESS

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the styles I was able to create.  Some of the key pieces I used from my own wardrobe were:

• Suede ankle boots 
• Over the knee suede boots 
• Suede pumps 
• Red leather pumps
• Flat pointed leather shoes 
• Sparkly evening shoes 
• Leather Jacket 
• Black blazer 
• Accessories: burgundy wool hat, cotton scarf, flower garland headpiece, 3 different necklaces, and a costume jewellery ring
• 2 different black leather bags - a multi-use clutch/over body bag, 1 tote. 

The shorts and the jumpsuit were the most versatile pieces - and I just showed a few outfits, but many more options were possible. For example, the shorts could be teamed with tights and a jumper to see you through the winter. The jumpsuit is linen so this is best suited for just the spring and summer months - and the black waistcoat dress would look great with some bright coloured pumps a bright lip, a quiff and some pinup curls. 

If you have any comments or questions on how I styled these items - please just leave me a comment below. 

For a limited time only readers of my blog can get 20% the DFYnorm range by heading over to the website and using the code: RStyleLee at the checkout - this is available until the 30th September 2016. 

If you are interested in the full video DFYnorm review you can check that out over on YouTube.

Stay fabulous ladies!

Roberta 

(Confidence Coach & Stylist)

PS. If you are interested in testing out a FREE confidence coaching and personal styling session just let me know! Visit www.robertastylelee.co.uk 

A Review of DFYnorm Ethical Fashion Range

It's official I have stepped into the world of Youtube... my video review can be viewed below. The sound quality of the video isn't the best, so I apologise for that (the next one will be better I promise) but if you can stick with it you'll hear my thoughts and opinions on the 3 key pieces that I was given to style and review:  

The IKAT Shorts

The JULIE JUMPSUIT

The WAISTCOAT DRESS

For a limited time only readers of my blog can get 20% the DFYnorm range by heading over to the website and using the code: RStyleLee at the checkout - this is available until the 30th September 2016. 

I hope you enjoyed my fashion review of DFYnorm - and you liked all the different looks I was able to create using my 'sustainable styling' method! You can take a closer look at my outfits over my blog post Sustainable Style Challenge - How to Style 3 Key Items into Multiple Outfits

Until next time... 

Stay fabulous ladies!

Roberta 

The Confidence Coach & Stylist

PS. If you are interested in any confidence coaching and personal styling just let me know! Visit www.robertastylelee.co.uk 

You can see more over on the website at www.robertastylelee.co.uk and other #RSLRecommended products and services all reviewed and tested by moi.

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Why conscious fashion and confidence go hand in hand

What does an industry fashion exhibition at the Kensington Olympia and Roberta Style Lee have in common? Keep reading and you'll find out. 

I attended the Pure London show on Sunday the 24th and Monday 25th of July 2016 in support of the co-founder Haseena Latheef on the ethical clothing brand, DFYnorm stand. 

You may now be wondering what the heck Lifestyle Coaching and a fashion event has in common, well if I didn't have personal styling as an additional confidence boosting add-on service to my coaching, it may seem a bit unusual. But I do offer that as a service. Looking good on the outside in addition to feeling good about yourself on the inside is just as important - I am an advocate of taking care of yourself from the inside-out. This event was also about supporting the new partnership I have formed with DFYnorm. 

What's so great about DFYnorm? 

The brand itself is headed up by the co-founder Haseena Latheef who is a passionate speaker and advocate for the powerful women. My brand is about empowering women and so is hers. 

DFYnorm is more than just clothes - yes the collection has certain pieces which I loooove, but it's not just about the aesthetics. It's deeper. Haseena truly cares. DFYnorm as a brand truly cares. The collection is about strength and identity - celebrating the women who make smart choices and care about what they wear - these women are empowered and confident. 

You can read more about the brand in my interview (part of the #InspirationalWomen series) with the co-founder of the ethical fashion brand DFYnorm Haseena Latheef here. 

She hopes her brand will inspire women to be their true selves, to love themselves, to love others and in turn love the planet. 

Scratching beneath the surface of fashion 

That's the interesting thing - fashion can be just be very surface level for some, or it can be explored much deeper. Fashion can mean more, fashion can do more. Those in the industry (designers, suppliers, owners, buyers, consumers etc.) have a massive responsibility on their shoulders to behave responsibly, sustainably and ethically.  More and more consumers are aware (and care) about what they wear. And I care about what my clients wear too  clothing is more than just material, it has the ability to change lives - not just for the wearer, but all those involved in the process. Consumer consciousness can influence the industry and together we can all make a difference. 

Haseena Latheef chaired a panel talk about leading positive fashion trends.  She had her own story to tell post event - you can read her blog: My Pure London Saga, Panel on Positive Fashion and Winners Announced!

The panel talk was interesting and one thing that really sparked my interest was about the myths surrounding ethical fashion brands - that ethical fashion is ugly. The idea that we can now look good, feel good and do good is something that resonated with me. You'll see me using #LookGoodFeelGoodDoGood and #LookGoodFeelGoodLiveGreat a lot more across my social media posts from now on. 

I decided to find out more about ethical fashion and sustainable fashion and what that means for the consumer. I spent a lot of time looking at other brands and asking about their sourcing processes. I found a few new brands that peaked my interest. 

Coming up in my next few blogs:

• I will be publishing a list of the ethical brands that I discovered at the Pure London show.
• A review of the DFYnorm clothes I received will be going live.
• I will also be introducing you to some of the inspiring women working in fashion that I have lined up for my #InspirationalWomen series. 

In the meantime don't forget to take advantage of the special DFYnorm discount code: 

Until the next time...

Stay fabulous.

Roberta x 

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You can see more over on the website at www.robertastylelee.co.uk and other #RSLRecommended products and 

services all reviewed and tested by moi.

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