Photos by Christina Emilie

Augden Skirt (Similar Here & Here + Black versions Here & Here) // Lulu’s Backless Top (Similar)
Boohoo Heels (Similar) // Vintage Belt (Similar)

I now I’m like a broken record at this stage but I’m going to just go ahead and say it again… I can’t get enough of (anything) fringe right now! I know that it’s just a trend and it will be gone again before we know it, but for now, it’s all I want to wear. And that’s what I’ve being doing. This fringe skirt (cheaper alternative here) and backless top combo makes me way too happy. Happy enough to also want to buy a black version!

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“Exist to be happy, not to impress.”
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Something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently is the way in which social media has well & truly taken over our lives. I mean, I’ll be first one to praise it because after all, it’s what my full-time job here in New York revolves around and it’s also a HUGE part of Retro Flame. But every now and again, I think back to how much less complicated life was without it. My biggest worry used to be having enough Vodafone credit for my phone…to simply call & text my friends. It’s crazy how fast things have changed.

As a blogger, it’s safe to say that I more or less document my whole life through social media. You guys know what I do at the weekends, you know who I hang out with here in New York, you know what my apartment looks like, you know where I’m off to next month and yeah, you pretty much know the whole story. My Mom always says that she loves that I’m a blogger, simply because she can keep up to date with me while I’m living here in New York and I guess, it seems like I’m not actually that far away. One day recently at about 10pm (Irish time) she sent me a text asking if I was OK? I text back right away saying yes, of course and when I asked why, she informed me that she was worried because I hadn’t posted anything on social media all day. Haha! I still laugh at that response!

Social media definitely has it’s pros & cons. It’s safe to say that I’m pretty much addicted but the problem is that this isn’t exactly a good thing. I spend half my day scrolling through those ‘perfect’ Instagram accounts where those ‘perfect’ people portray their ‘perfect’ lives. Their photos are immaculate, they never seem stressed and somehow, they always look, well, perfect. I feel like it has come to the stage that on Instagram, especially, everything has become extremely calculated and I’m just not sure how I feel about it. I drive myself insane making sure that my photos are consistent, that everything fits together nicely, that I’m posting 2-3 times per day, blah, blah, blah…! Don’t get me wrong, I 100% couldn’t live without my Instagram account but I’m just worried that it’s starting to lose it’s fun-factor. I have a feeling fellow bloggers will relate.

Thankfully, we live in a world where there is ALWAYS something new around the corner. Always another app waiting to take over, always something new capturing our attention. For me, Snapchat has been an absolute breath of fresh air! It’s definitely my new favorite for a number of reasons. The main one being that it’s just 100% ‘real’. It allows you to see someone’s true personality (which can be both a good and a bad thing) and just feels a million times less staged than the other social media channels. I share so many more snippets of my daily life here in NYC on my snapchat mainly because there’s absolutely no pressure to have that beautiful, perfectly filtered picture. It’s just exactly how it is. What I also love is that it’s easier to show the not so perfect part of my days. For example, those of you whole follow me on my snapchat (retroflame1) will know that I’m pretty sure I’ve sprained my ankle and as a result, have been wearing ugly runners to work all week. I’ll leave that story for another day, but you get what I mean.

So anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s important to never take social media too seriously. Behind every perfect selfie are 20 bad ones and things aren’t always as perfect as they seem. So if you fancy keeping up to date with a very ‘real Retro Flame’ (haha), come join me over on my Snapchat. My username is ‘retroflame1’ or you can just add me by taking a snap of the icon below…

Hope you enjoyed this one!

Stylishly Yours,

Erika x