Yes, ladies and gentlemen, your eyes do not deceive you! That is indeed a photo of myself wearing a dress, with red lipstick and rolled hair.

I feel about 100% better when I dress in clothes I really like rather than opting for the scruffs I've been favouring recently!




Photos by my dad

Photos by me and my dad

Even though I'm busy, I like to keep my blog up to date if possible. It's definitely tricky with such a busy lifestyle, but it can be done. Over time I've settled into a routine which helps me keep my blog running whilst also fitting it round everything else that I have to do.

This probably isn't new information, but maybe there is something here which you haven't considered before!

Here are some of my top tips for writing a blog alongside the rest of your responsibilities:

1) Design a blog schedule

Stick to it if you can, but don't worry about it if you can't. Currently I post on Mondays and Fridays, and I can say having blogged both with and without a schedule that I find it much easier to organise myself if I know what I'm posting and when. That said, there are plenty of bloggers who blog successfully with no particular schedule - it's all down to what works for you.

2) Write as many posts as possible in advance and schedule them for later dates

I mostly write my posts a minimum of two days in advance, fitting my writing in during the evenings when I've finished working for the day. This means I'm not left without a post when I need one.

3) Concentrate on writing less time consuming posts

At the moment I have some more clothes I'd like to put up for sale, and some reviews I'd like to write - but since these are both very time consuming posts to write, I'm focussing on outfit posts and things which can easily be worked into my day-to-day life.

4) Don't let your blog take over

If you're a hobby blogger, then let your blog be just that - a hobby. If it gets stressful or starts taking over from your "real life" responsibilities, then consider taking a break from blogging and come back to it later when you're less busy.

5) Accept help...

If someone you trust offers to guest post for you, consider accepting. Even if you normally don't accept guest posts, it's one less thing that you have to write for yourself.

6) ...And ask for help

If you have no time to blog but really want to keep publishing posts, ask some of your favourite bloggers to guest post for you. The worst anyone can do is say no - but in my experience most people are happy to help if it is possible for them to do so.

7) Write some draft posts which you can publish if you run out of other content.

Keeping some posts behind in your drafts means you can tweak them as and when is necessary. I currently have 10 posts in my drafts which I have never published for one reason or another, but they're all posts that I can and probably will publish at some point.

8) Keep your devices handy

There might not be anything you want to photograph, but if you don't have your camera or phone then you can't take photos even if you want to.

I got this awesome jumpsuit on Ebay last year for about £6 including postage. It's a bit more than I like to pay for second hand modern clothing but come on - it's too cute. It was bought as something practical to wear for volunteering at the LBA and for some reason I haven't worn it yet this year, even though it's equally practical for my current lab/field work. The jumpsuit was sold to me as a size UK 10 but is actually a UK 12 so is at least one size too big, as you can probably tell! It wasn't worth sending back though, and I think it looks not too bad. It's super comfy so I'm not too bothered.

Sometimes I feel a bit weird about the outfits I've been posting recently. It's almost a guilty thing, like it's not worth me posting unless I'm wearing head to toe 1950s or whatever. However, I have always aimed to be honest when blogging. The outfits you see here on Lovebirds Vintage are actual outfits that I wear for my day-to-day life, especially because my busy uni schedule means that I usually have to work my outfit posts in around whatever else I'm doing on any given day.


I have been trying really hard to improve the overall quality of my blog posts and photos recently as well. I feel like I'm finally starting to learn my way around my DLSR and to make it work for me the way I want. If anyone has any opinions or suggestions for improvement (which type of posts you like or dislike, any improvements I could make to my posting style - or any other ideas!) I would love to hear them. Blogging is a hobby for me, and I do it to please myself - it's a great feeling when photos turn out just the way I imagined! - but of course it's important that other people enjoy reading my content. One of my top goals for blogging is to improve over time, and I definitely see an improvement between now and when I first started blogging, but I don't think it's quite at the level I'm aiming for just yet.


By the way, I am having so much trouble uploading my photos to Blogger recently! The quality is horrible. I've tried uploading via Flickr but they seem to have made it really complicated recently. I've tried following the instructions available on various websites but there is just no option available to link Blogger to Flikr in the place where everyone says it should be. Bah. Sorry to inflict that on you, I swear my photos aren't this grainy prior to uploading!


One last thing - if you don't like the tie belts that come with your clothing, or fancy mixing it up a bit, wear them as a headscarf instead. I've tied mine at the back underneath my hair, but tied at the top or at the side would be just as sweet. Or tie it round a hat or around your ponytail. Lots of options :)

Photos by my dad.

Today was spent in the lab and working in the field (literally in a field, and trampling through brambles again) so my outfit was planned partially around that, and I specifically worked it around a pair of very comfortable shoes. I clocked up a lot of steps yesterday and my feet were killing me! These leather ones from Clarks are much more comfortable, even if they took ages to break in.


I wore all modern clothing as is my preference for lab work (I promise there will be more outfits with real vintage items when I'm spending less time doing messy things and climbing in brambles!) and went for a sort of 40s landgirl inspired look.

I had decided to try a new setting pattern though, and it didn't come out looking the best (I tend to forget that I don't usually get new hairstyles right on the first go!) and although I can definitely see the potential in it, it was better today to just throw it up in a ponytail and be done with it. By the time I'd put on the scarf, I was getting much more 70s vibes from this outfit than 40s. It just goes to show how much difference your hairstyle can make to a vintage look.

I'm still working on my lab stuff at uni (only got till the end of the month to get it done and am still a bit worried about getting it finished by the deadline!) so I'm still choosing my outfits for comfort and ease of movement while avoiding things that I would cry about if they got ruined. As I mentioned before, I do wear a lab coat which should prevent any major clothing-based tragedies, but yesterday I spent a lot of time grubbing about on the floor and got the knees of my jeans all dirty and today I went to help my friend lay pitfall traps at her experimental site, which is all brambles and nettles and totally overgrown. So there is definitely potential for a horrible accident to befall my clothes. Obviously this outfit is not the best for trekking through undergrowth, but the trip was unplanned (at least for me, I just tagged along) and I saw a teeny frog in the bushes so I was happy :)