Fairy Princess Awareness Day

You might recall from my persistent spamming all over social media that I was taking part in Dare to Wear Day this year, in aid of an Australian charity called Fitted For Work. Fitted For Work aim to hep disadvantaged women back into the workforce by supplying them with appropriate interview clothes, as well as help building their confidence and interview skills.

I think this sort of work is really important - the interview process is often the most challenging thing about getting a job, far more so than keeping the job if you're offered the chance. If you're at a point in your life where you're out of practice answering the ridiculous arbitrary questions that recruiters throw at you, the last thing you need is to feel like you're dressed like shit. A nice skirt suit really can make the difference between answering confidently and getting the job, and mumbling into your chest and being immediately dismissed regardless of how skilled you actually are. The women Fitted For Work work see also often have big gaps in their resume from time in prison, or raising a family, or all the other things that get in the way of a career, and I really feel for people in that sort of situation. My own work history hasn't exactly been a smooth path from Point A to Point B - no matter how you spin it, a three year break from the workforce because I had a mental breakdown so severe I couldn't leave the house never looks good on a resume. Gaps in your resume shouldn't be an automatic disqualification from the interview process, but unfortunately, they often are. So if you're out of practice, out of decent outfits, and have a gap in your resume, the odds are definitely stacked against you when you're going up for a job. Charities like Fitted For Work try to tilt the odds a bit more in the interviewee's favour.

Dare To Wear Day is held once a year, and works in a similar way to World's Greatest Shave  in that people sponsor you to do something challenging. In this case, I only had to wear something ridiculous to work for one day, so I decided to go as a Fairy Princess. I figure any excuse to wear a tiara is a good enough excuse.

Since some of you lovely people who helped out by donating, I promised pictures of my femmetacular outfit - so without further ado, here is what I wore to work on Friday. This was the Fanciest of all Fancy Fridays.

I would be totally lying if I said this didn't get pretty challenging to go the whole day in. While it was great fun dressing up, and I do love floofy skirts, I'm also the kind of person who has a very fine emotional line between enough attention and TOO MUCH attention, and this outfit definitely pushed the amount of attention I got firmly into the TOO MUCH category. I had a bit of a freak out about three quarters of the way through the day and tried to figure out a way to wriggle out of it, but then a couple of new donations came through, and I realised I would be letting people down if I let my self consciousness get the better of me. 

I'm sure you're all STUNNED to hear doing my nails so sparkly they could be seen from space was my favourite part of the whole outfit. This is Alanna Renee Mardi, with a layer of Femme Fatale Ebon Roses over the top, with a smattering of Hello Kitty holographic glitter over the top for good measure. This manicure was shiny enough that it was legitimately distracting.

I also took the opportunity to really go nuts with my Femme Fatale loose eyeshadows. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know I've been obsessed with these things since a wise Twitter follower gave me the marvelous advice to use Napoleon Perdis Cake Eyeliner Sealer to keep them in place. I'll be doing up a How To on this at a future date, once I'm a little more confident.

I made it through the whole work day, and even heading out into the city for lunch with minimal panic! When my boy came to pick me  up from work I was so pleased with myself we stopped for an impromptu photoshoot in the park.

But the most exciting part of the whole day was realising the donations had hit $500 - a completely arbitrary target I had set up when I initially hoped some of my workmates would join me. I didn't think I had a chance in hell of reaching it by myself, so I just want to say a great big THANK YOU to each and every one of you who donated. And don't worry, I don't do charity things often, so it will probably be a while before I'm hassling you again!