You must be thinking that moving and traveling is an interesting topic to talk about here on the blog, and I totally agree with you on this one. However, as I mentioned just above, the blog ruled my days already and I preferred to take advantage of these life experiences to stop being constantly behind a camera and start living in the moment. I used to waste spend a lot of time preparing photo shoots, sorting and editing my pictures and starting over again when I was not satisfied with the result. In the end, I just felt a real urge to let go. Blogging was supposed to be fun but I slowly turned it into a tedious task.

The question of the photographer

Talking about traveling: not only did I chose not to blog, I also didn't have any other option actually.

While I was living in Morocco, my brother (sometimes other family members) was my main photographer. When I started traveling and moving to different countries and continents even, I no longer had that designated person following me everywhere and helping me photograph my outfits. 

Tired of being the focal point of this blog

And talking of taking pictures of myself, I was honestly so tired of being the focal point here on the blog. Creating photos that make you feel beautiful and having a visual record of yourself that you can look back at and see how you have evolved is the best part. The not-so-cool part though is that without me even realizing I started putting a lot of pressure on myself to look better and only post a picture if I think that I am on my best light on it. I really, really needed disconnect.

Freeing myself from the consumerism trap

This one, ladies and gentleman, is a major reason why I decided to stop blogging.

Think about it: I blogged about fashion and personal style (mainly), creating new content was intrinsically linked to having/buying new clothes. Little by little, I became a victim of this consumer society.

But besides the fact that I was spending a lot of money on clothes, there is the fact that I grew more and more aware of the issue of sustainability and of how fashion (and fast fashion in my case) was negatively impacting environmental and human resources. I no longer wanted to contribute to that system, I wanted to free myself and it ultimately made me drift away from the blog.

The Serial what..?

Sooo this one is easy to understand. As a direct consequence of what is said right above, The Serial Shopper was miles away from who I really was. Clearly, I needed a new identity. I could no longer identify with the one created here. In fact, I went from "serial shopper" to "extreme minimalist" (the ridiculously empty luggage that I took with me on my 5-6 months stays abroad can attest of that). I started feeling the need to get rid of anything superfluous in my life, and that went beyond the mere material tangible things.

And here is a bonus reason why I stopped blogging: self-sabotage is my hidden talent.
Guys this is actually pretty bad and I really need to start working on this aspect of my personality.
Most people I know are scared of failing, I, on the contrary, am scared of succeeding. As crazy and twisted as it might sound, this is actually something that I have witnessed in many areas of my life. If a relationship starts going really well ("too well" I would say), I will freak out and make sure that it doesn't go so well anymore and will then walk away from it. When my blog started getting attention not only from readers but also from brands, I suddenly shut it down and disappeared. Yes, it is twisted and doesn't make any sense, but the underlying reason to this is that I self-censor myself. For a while, I never told any close friends that I had a blog. I didn't want them to think that I am just very full of myself and kind of pretentious (otherwise why would I be taking so many pictures of myself, right?), I didn't want them to think that I am just a "fashion victim" and that I "love shopping" when I actually love fashion. Of course, real friends would understand but think about it: when I started the blog I was 15 or 16, still in high school, and still in that difficult teenage phase of life. Blogging wasn't as common, it wasn't even a thing yet. It is no surprise that I had some level of fear of "what people think". Today I am 23 and soon 24, I have grown so much and accumulated all sorts of personal and professional experiences. My vision of life is completely different and I am slowly getting to that point where I can do what I want without thinking of other people's opinion.

Step 1: choose your colors and lay your leather flat

Step 2: place your passeport on your piece of leather piece

Step 3: measure out the dimensions of your passeport and trace lines beyond your measures

Step 4: cut out the piece of leather you will be working with

Step 5: fold your leather around your passeport exactly as you want it to look in the end

Step 6: cut out any excess leather

Step 7: use your passeport to find the unecessary angles you need to cut

Step 8: fold your leather in place and start sewing !

Step 9: cut out any remaining excess leather

Bonus pocket!

I wanted to add a little extra to my passeport cover with a special pocket for my credit card for example.

Sewing can get pretty hard with the thickness of the leather pieces so don't hesitate to use a thimble.

And voilà!

Travel essentials: passeport, card holder, charger and power bank, notebook and last but not least, earplugs haha!

I was transferring new pictures to my hard drive the other day and found these old ones that I have never showed you for some reason (oh how I miss my short hair). I love wearing this outfit which I find both elegant and confortable. Wearing an all white outfit, or any monochrome outfit for that matter, can get tricky and can turn out boring sometimes. However, there are very easy ways to make a monochrome look work.

Here are some cool tips and ideas to keep in mind when going for monochrome:

1/ Play with fabrics: A key way to avoid turning a monochrome outfit into a monotonous one is by mixing fabrics. Try combining satin, coton, leather, silk, wool...

2/ Mix different shades of the same color: ...50 shades if you wish. It will still be a monochrome look since the colors will not clash but rather blend well together. 

3/ Play with textures: In my outfit here I have solid white and transparent white. It is a very fun way to add playfulness to a monochrome look. You could also do it with cut-outs for example, or pompons or  fringes... You name it.

4/ Try prints: Similar to playing with textures. Why not do some tone on tone prints? It is a pretty cool way to add dimension to a look.

5/ Accessorize: Probably the best way to make your outfit more interesting. There really are no limits with accessories. Anything will work since the monochrome look is like a blank canvas that will make everything stand out.

So there you go, five easy steps to making your monochrome outfit more sophisticated and fun! 

Do you have any good advice when it comes to monochrome looks ?

 Top, pants and sandals - Zara

Necklace - bought in Istanbul

Clutch bag - bought in Casablanca

Sunnies - H&M