Tag: 1990s

Book Review: What Would The Spice Girls Do – Lauren Bravo

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I’ll tell you what I want what I really, really want. This book, although I didn’t know what before I bought it, but that is why this review is here so you know from the off. Ok, maybe not my most eloquent intro but I was SO excited by this book.

If you were a 90’s kid you will know the Spice Girls were everything. Hit after hit, I idolised them and when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. I didn’t know quite how much I would enjoy it until I finished it on a trip to London and listened to all the songs as loud as my headphones would go (sorry fellow travellers but you needed to spice up your life.

A collection of personal memories, those of fellow Spice Girls fans and looking at the cultural history of five women who wouldn’t take no for an answer and how they changed our lives. Additionally, Bravo considers modern problems through their eyes and ask what would they do? Hello new motto for life!

This book is incredibly well written, of course it is fun but it’s also very informative. Bravo considers what the Spice Girls were up against for the time, how they broke boundaries and more. The were, an always should be considered groundbreaking in the music industry.

What I found really interesting though, and this might just be the marketing geek in me, was looking at their choices from a marketing perspective. Bravo pointed something out I hadn’t considered that they made the Spice Girls merch something everyone could enjoy. From Spice crisps to a Spice Cam no matter your budget you could enjoy it.

I was a Spice Girls collector, long after the split I was picking up everyone else’s memorabilia at car boot sales to add to my own…it now live at my Mum and Dads. This book brought back the joy I felt for my entire childhood. I was born in 1994, when I was 2 years old I bopped to Wannabe, at 3 I had my own Spice Girl oufits, I had to start school with bunches like Baby Spice. And then, the holy grail, my Mum got us tickets to see them live at Earls Court in December 1999 – minus Geri, although I made up for that in 2007.

I’ve been recommending this to anyone and everyone who I know is a Spice Girls fan, of course I gave it 5 stars. This is a small but mighty book and while I listened to the audiobook, I now need to get my own copy of the actual hardback and proudly display it on my shelves. If you loved the Spice Girls this is for you. Trust me, you won’t forget it.

And now I leave you with the Spice classic that started it all.

Growing Up With Girl Power – The Spice Girls & Me

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spice girls return

I might have squealed when I saw this on Instagram…

 

I love music and have done for just about as long as I can remember and everyone has to start somewhere, right? Unless you’ve been completely removed from the internet in the last 48 hours you will have seen this picture. Be still my child heart because all five Spice Girls were in a room together with their previous manager and now there’s actually talk about new Spice plans.

The Spice Girls were something else for me and millions of other little girls. ‘Wannabe’ came out when I was two, I wanted to listen to these ladies all the time, I had no idea what they were singing about but I loved them. The older I got the more I wanted to be like them.

I remember around the age of four sitting and watching the new videos that came out on the TV or just waiting to see old ones. I remember watching Viva Forever’s video for the first time. Spice World was the first film I ever saw and then in 1999 my incredible Mum took a five-year-old me to see them at Earls Court, Victoria waved at me and it was the best day of my little life.

There’s something else that stands out to me as an adult though, the Spice Girls were a marketing machine. They absolutely nailed it. In the 90s you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing some reference to them, they took over the world – and with a good message. These were women who did what they liked. They were funny and loud and everywhere.

The message of Girl Power is one I held with me long after the girls parted ways. Although I know, Geri Halliwell claims she’s not a Feminist for a lot of young women, myself included, chants of Girl Power were the start of their own belief in women and Feminism. I truly believe that the message of the Spice Girls was part of me never feeling like I couldn’t do something just because I was a girl. I had, and still have, Girl Power!

Whatever these ladies choose to do as a five-piece I’ll be so excited. Really because they were a big part of my life growing up and who I am today.

What are your Spice memories? Are you excited to see them back?! Let me know in the comments below and as ever, Spice up your life.

Payday Haul! 

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Hello, hello, hello lovely readers!

The end of our last Bank Holiday Weekend of the year is here! That might get you down but just think, the next Bank Holiday is *Boxing Day*, which means Christmas fun! Anyway, back to the matter at hand. This month marked the first month I got my ‘normal’ paycheck since I lost my job back in April. Since then I was temping and then started my new job in the middle of the month. So this payday I was able to treat myself a little bit while also paying the bills.

So, let’s crack on with this haul.

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First off, some beauty. I waxed my best friends eyebrows last week and told her she needed to get some good tweezers for strays. While we were shopping we found these cute ones for £2.00 from TK Maxx!! I’ve also finally run out of blusher so picked this up from Superdrug for £2.50 and got myself some wax strips for £6.95. I still have eyebrows so I’ll call that a win.

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I also managed to pick up the most 90s kid pyjamas in Primark. I used to watch all of these shows growing up. I constantly watched Nickelodeon and Boomerang as a kid and Rugrats was my favourite! They were £10 for the set, not bad.

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Harry Potter 9 3/4 PJs. I really controlled myself with the new Harry Potter range. These are a nice mix for Autumn while there are trousers they’re still quite lightweight. Also, look at all the amazing little illustrations on it too. Beyond cute. BEYOND CUTE. Also, £10 for the set.

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Ok, the last pair of Pyjamas I promise! I’ve been eyeing these for about 2 weeks, need to rep my house colours! Go, Go, Gryffindor! The best part is that these were only £6. £6!!!

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Finally moving away from PJs and on to stationary! Now, I don’t do a bit back to school/uni shop anymore I don’t buy that much stationary, that was until I found Typo. All three of these notebooks were on an offer which meant 3 for £6. I’ve also got more bits coming this week so I’ll do a Typo haul for that! These are so cool and I’m a total sucker for anything motivational!

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A band I absolutely love, PVRIS, were playing Reading and Leeds this weekend, on Friday Ali and I got to see a small acoustic set of theirs live and pick up their new album All We Know of Heaven, All We Need is Hell. It was so good and made me fall a little but more in love with Lynne.

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Book time! Of course, I was going to buy books. For some reason, I ordered an edition on Amazon that said this wasn’t out for another year?! That was until Abbie told me it was out as Melanie was on book tour! I’m so excited to read a book by one of my favourite people to watch. Catch Melanie’s channel here.

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And last but not least, I really want to increase the amount of poetry I have and read. I completely understand the classics are classics for a reason but I want to read poetry I can relate to! So I chose Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook.

 Now I have the rest of the month and I’m trying not to spend unnecessary money! I’m making healthier lunches for me to take to work, trying to cook more from scratch as well as taking cash out and using that when possible. I’ll let you know how I get on!