A year in the life

I know what I did on the 5th of March last year! Yes, today it's exactly one year ago that I took my first hesitant steps in the world of blogging!

It's not that I got up that morning and decided to give blogging a go. No, I had been playing with the idea for quite a while.

The final push was given to me by my friend Inez, whom I had been regularly sending "blog posts" in the form of emails, regaling her with what I'd been up to during the weekend and the treasures I'd found. Sounds familiar?

At one point, after we'd been talking about our ironing (or rather, non-ironing) habits, I sent her an email on that topic, in which the Polyester Princess name for my possible blog first cropped up. That was in August 2015, yet it still took me until March 2016 to finally take the plunge.

I began at the beginning, and my first post contained part of the text I'd originally sent to Inez.

I sat back and hoped against all hope that someone, apart from Inez and a couple of my other real life friends, would read what I'd written, so I was totally flabbergasted when I received comments from several of you whose blogs I'd been following behind the scenes for quite a while. In fact, my first comment from someone I didn't know personally, was from ... Vix, closely followed by Jessica, Mim and Curtise!

Needless to say, I was on cloud 9 for days!

At first, I mainly did outfit posts, telling a little bit about what I was wearing and where I'd bought it, as well as posts about my latest charity shop or flea market finds.

As we progressed into Spring, and then Summer, my posts progressed too and became more adventurous.

Posing for outfit photos didn't come naturally to me, either. Jos would often tell me my posture and facial expression were too artificial. Slowly but surely, I became more confident, and I started to look more at ease in photographs. Finding "the wall" as a backdrop so early on was a bonus as it was a great help in developing my own style. Having a husband who knows how to take a portrait is a great help too ... I couldn't have done it without him!

All in all, it has been quite a learning curve. I learned so many things, including things I didn't know about myself. For instance, I discovered how much I like the actual writing part of blogging ... I've always had a longing to write, but I didn't think I'd be any good, so never did anything about it.

As a school girl, I kept a diary for a couple of years, and I'm forever regretting that I didn't keep them. This blog has been my diary for the past year, giving my life the kind of structure it was lacking. It's satisfying to be able to look back over the past twelve months, and know that I actually did things. It's not all just a blur. It makes the concept of time just that little more tangible.

And what a year it has been. I could never have anticipated my dad's passing away, nor the solace I would get from writing about it, which was cathartic.

Never in a million years did I think I'd be writing posts about subjects as diverse as my grandfather's ancient typewriter ...

a nostalgic trip to the seaside ...

a rather wet Welsh holiday in June ...

a gloriously sunny one in Belgium's Westhoek in September ...

my first pair of shoes found at the back of a cupboard in my parents' bedroom ...

or a post inspired by Winnie-the-Pooh!

And never, in my wildest dreams, would I have thought it possible that one year later, I would be publishing my 98th post, and that I would still have things to talk about. And outfits to show!

The most wonderful thing of all is that, through this first year of blogging, I have made so many friends, even if we haven't (yet) met in real life.

So, dear friends and readers, I am thanking you all for bearing with me, for indulging me and - most of all - for having been made to feel so welcome in the wonderful world of blogging.

I would never have made it this far without your continuing support!

A big hug to you all xxx