The crazy buzz of New York Fashion Week seem so far away. Geographically, of course. But I meant mentally really…

It’s so easy to get caught up in it all thanks to the internet, and no doubt I will after I dip my toes into it come London’s turn. Nonetheless, it was quite sobering to read this piece by Guardian fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley who paints a slightly unsavoury picture of NYFW this autumn. That all aside, call me crazy, and maybe this outs me as not a true fashion blogger through and through, but I’m not a dedicated fan of fashion week. Ultimately I just love seeing the high fashion trickle through to the high street and street style. Of course, I do like go and get a feel for it (and I will be at LFW shooting street style and attending a couple of shows) but it just seems like a party that everyone’s clamouring to get into and once you’re there it feels a bit full on, like you’ve got to have as much fun as possible, even if it’s all feeling a bit stressful.

While some bloggers have got themselves a bit of a bad name at fashion week – allegedly blagging tickets or just plain showboating – I do understand the potential for antagonism from established fashion press for bloggers in general who they might view as amateurs. The power of blogs has elevated the inexperienced to heights never thought achievable, ie. the front row. As a journalist who attended the occasional show, I never felt that in awe or that desperate to be part of it. I started a fashion blog because I love clothes, styling outfits and photography, not because I wanted to gain more access to fashion week. And yet, you can’t help but get sucked in to all the hype once fashion week comes around. So, yes, I have a few fashion week things to do which I’ll be blogging, but not comprehensively. And that ties into what I really wanted to talk about in this post, which is slowing down and taking some time out.

The first year of motherhood is intense and you function on a never-fully-relaxed level. As a result I do feel a bit more wound up than I used to. So I’ve been taking positive steps to slow down these last few days of summer out here in Portugal. Luckily the Algarvian pace is a lot more easy-going, and I’ve set myself no major goals or deadlines. I’m also spending a lot less time on my laptop and on the web. So in that vein, I leave you with this outfit, made up of old and new pinks. Old top and skirt, new shoes rediscovered out here.

Wearing Relax Garden skirt (was a dress), Something Else top and Zara heels.

ps. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway – a LFW Beauty Survival Kit of lots of natural & organic beauty goodies from A Beautiful World.