Yep that's right, today is the 10th birthday of my blog! My first ever blog post was written on the 1st of September 2006, a pretty cringe worthy post as for some inexplicable reason I decided to use a red font, however it is a pretty cute post full of excitement about moving to Tokyo in 18 days and how I planned to document my year living there on my new blog. Little did I know that I would go on to document the next 10 years of my life here at Fashion Hayley (my blog was originally called Fashion Hayley Hits Japan - does anyone remember that?) You can see my blogging style has changed a lot over the years as originally my blog was just about my day to day life living in Tokyo and not really about fashion at all, at least not how fashion blogs are today with epic photoshoots and very little personal information. I do miss the old way of blogging sometimes, I definitely miss reading blogs and feeling like I knew the person, these days there is very little to read on fashion blogs including on mine, but the social media landscape has completely changed how we connect, now I have snapchat and instagram for the more everyday stuff (@fashionhayley on both) and I use my blog to express myself creatively in what I wear and the locations I shoot in rather than to document my life as such.
I can not believe that this little blog that I started in my bedroom in Fitzroy to document my move to Tokyo and the year I spent there would take over my life, becoming my job and taking my around the world and across Australia with it. I am so amazed that it has been 10 years, it feels like only yesterday. My blog has seen me move to Sydney and back to Melbourne, get flown to New York, go to Tokyo countless times and attend lots of fashion shows and openings over the years. I've been asked to write a column in a top fashion magazine, featured in three books and lots of magazines and worked with some very amazing people and brands too! The best part however has always been connecting with my readers, getting lovely emails and messages from you guys or getting stopped in the street which always blows my mind and makes my day. I wouldn't be where I am today without you so I thank you all for following me on this journey for the last 10 years.
I bought these amazing fake eyelashes whilst in Sydney at my favourite little Asian beauty shop in Chinatown, they have a pink stripe on them. Yes one is coming off my eye in this photo, you can thank the epic wind and getting bashed in the face with helium balloons all afternoon for that haha. I will never work with helium balloons again!
I wore these two pins to represent both my Tokyo life and my Aussie one and you can't get more Aussie than an iced vovo bickie! I fell in love with Tokyo's swan boats on my first ever trip to Tokyo in 2004 so as soon as McKean Studio released this pin I knew I had to have it.
My cute little ♡ tattoo by Tessa Claire has faded a little but I still adore it. Finger tatts fade faster than any other place so I knew it was a possibility when I got it.
GIVEAWAY TIME ✿♥‿♥✿ The prize To celebrate Fashion Hayley's 10th birthday I'm giving away a collection of my all time favourite things from some of my favourite local designers and brands. To enter Simply comment on this post with your favourite birthday memory. Mine is having my birthday at Luna Park when I turned 15. Don't forget to leave your email, twitter or blog address so I can get in touch with you if you win. The winner will be chosen at random using random.org. Competition is open Internationally. Competition closes Thursday 8th September 2016 at 5pm AEST. Winner will be announced that evening via twitter and contacted via email.
Good luck xoxo
Prize pack includes: Daiso BB face mask, Lovemore nail mask, emoji makeup bag from Sportsgirl, Katy Perry fake eyelashes, House of Holland burger fake nails. Dolly Wink black liquid eyeliner (my fave!), Skinnydip Girl Gang iron on patch, Lime Crime pink velvet, McKean Studio strawberry pin, Gorman cactus keyring, Harajuku Lovers LOVE perfume, Julie White Pavlova socks, 2 pairs of Obus socks and some Daiso costume eyelashes!
Competition now closed! Thank you to everyone who entered and congratulations to thestreetsofadelaide who won xoxo
This year is my 10th year of blogging, which is actually crazy to me. I can't believe that it was 10 years ago, on September 1 2006 that I began this blog. As the anniversary draws ever closer I feel myself reflecting on what an incredible 10 years it has been, although it really doesn't feel like it's been 10 years since I moved to Tokyo and had the best year of my life. The years following saw my blog grow in ways I never expected nor could have imagined when I first began, and my life change in so many ways over the years, which is especially true of the past year. There's been so much change recently that I have been neglecting my blog, but I'm hoping to change that now and post more frequently. These photos were actually taken over a month ago but the outfit is still a firm favourite. I love all the purple hues that bring the look together.
I actually wanted this dress for ages, as I actually saw it in one of House of Holland's Tokyo stockists late last year but they only had size 8 in store. I finally took the plunge and bought it when ASOS had a sale around Easter. So yeah I've had it a little while now but only just getting around to blogging it.
I'm slowly adding patches to my vintage denim jacket I bought in Tokyo. Can't wait until it's fully covered. Denim jacketVintage from W♡C Harajuku Patches Vintage from Tokyo, Skinnydip via ASOS, Ohh Deer via ASOS, Save Yourself Shop
I got my first ever tattoo recently by my friend Tessa, an apprentice tattooist doing amazing work. I feel bad that all I wanted was a small love heart on my index finger when her beautiful botanical flowers are where it's at, but who knows I may still decide to get one of those, but for now I am content with my cute little love heart, a nice reminder to love myself after the tough couple of months I've had. Btw how awesome are my pom pom eyelashes by Shu Umera I picked up in Tokyo?
I adore this Tokyo bangle by Sydney design dyo McKean Studio. It features all my favourite elements of Tokyo, from swan boats to Tokyo Tower and Mt Fuji. Wearing it brings back so many fond memories of my favourite city in the world.
These Elke Kramer x Gorman collaboration flatforms are just so freaking incredible. Purchasing them was a no brainer. It started to rain at this point in the mini #ootd photo shoot so please excuse the droplets of water - not ideal or professional blogger looking at all.
