Rising Unapologetically: From Taylor Swift to Proud Poppy - A Fashion Movement of Confidence and Empowerment

If you are in Australia right now, Taylor Swift fever has swept the nation. Unless you are completely living off the grid, you would know she is here and the Swiftie's have gone wild. To be honest, I wasn't a "Swiftie" myself but after following along with all of the hype, I am quickly beginning to think we could be mates.

Now like what she is about or not, that's a you decision. But flicking through my socials this morning my feed was flooded of images of a strong, confident woman who is so comfortable in her own skin, not caring about anyone's negative opinions and absolutely KILLING it. Plus above all of the screaming crowds, glitz and glam, she genuinely looks happy.

My mind couldn't help but flick back to a distant memory of the VMA's when "Ye" jumped up in her spotlight and told her and everyone else in the room that she wasn't deserving of the award she was winning. That there were women in the room who were better than her and Taylor shouldn't be up on that stage accepting the award that she had well and truly earnt. Now I love me some Queen Beyonce, but I can't help but think how soul destroying crippling that moment must have been for the young woman, who would have already have been nervous to stand on that stage and be told she didn't deserve it. Can you actually imagine? Look I don't know the full story, the back story or the after, but what I do remember was that moment, how so many of us would have just given up right there. But she didn't.

Instead what we see now, is a woman who is strong. She is brave. And in my personal opinion uses these past moments in history where she was made to feel not good enough, to fuel her fire to rise above. So many of us would of had our "Kanye" moment in our lives. Which made us just stop. A conversation, a comment or a dismissal that would have made us feel unworthy. I know I have. Plenty of them actually. That made me stop, play small and pretend that I was less than what I knew I really was.

But when I see the images of Taylor performing to record sold out crowds of people screaming her name, with the carparks out side overflowing with more people doing the same, isn't it incredible to watch how far she has come when she too could have just stopped, played small and been less than what she truly was?

Why are you reading this on a fashion brands page? If you have got this far, let me explain. Proud Poppy is more than just a fashion brand, we are more than just another clothing store - we are a movement. We, as a community, are a collective of people who have wasted too much time playing small, feeling unworthy and knowing we had more to give. We are strong. We are powerful and together we are rising up in all of our glory to live our best lives UNAPOLOGETICALLY and not give a second thought to any negative opinions people may have of us, because life is too short and we are here to LIVE! We connect through a love of fashion, of so many different styles, be it bold and bright or boho babe, fashion is the way we express our identity and no matter what era we are in, we stand up and stand out as our confidence is what shines through.

We have all been on a journey, of self love and acceptance but we are arriving at the destination. There is still plenty of room on this train if you want to come along for the ride. Don't be scared, we've got you.

So to all of the Kanye's in our life be it past or present, we are entering our Taylor era, if our confidence makes you uncomfortable we suggest you look away because we are only just getting started.

Tara x