I made face masks fashionable by making them myself everyday for a week

Everyone from Kim K to house speaker Nancy Pelosi are matching their masks to their outfits. Masks are becoming a necessity, and the fashion world want to make sure they stay trendy too.

Despite having nowhere to go in quarantine there is no reason not to get creative and find a way to become a fashion icon, even if this is just for one hour of government sanctioned outdoor exercise a day. Equipped with just a limited knowledge of sewing, some small squares of scrap fabric and some small pieces of elastic I set myself a mission to create enough masks to coordinate with my outfits for a week.

To my surprise, within a couple of hours I had successfully produced seven masks of various colours and patterns. This was achievable with or without a sewing machine and there were also plenty of tutorials which required no sewing at all. With my homemade masks in hand I set out to coordinate them with different outfits in order to escape my repetative daily quarantine routine of joggers and a t-shirt. I’m here, I am all set to be the next fashion icon of lockdown.

Monday – white floral mask

On the first day of the week my excitement was high which is easy to tell simply from the fact I was wearing jeans and had straightened my hair. I chose my favourite mask from the bunch and its decorative pattern meant that I had to keep the outfit comparatively plain as to not draw any more attention to myself then I already was.

Don’t let the bright nature of the picture fool you, I live in the north of England and this day, like most others, was windy, so I felt that the oversized jumper was entirely necessary. I was impressed by the success of my own craftsmanship in this case. The fabric successfully covered my nose and mouth, keeping me protected and I had guessed just the right amount of elastic to both fit round my small ears and allow the fabric to stretch and cover my wide face.

Rating – 9/10

Tuesday – the yellow mask

On day two I decided to go for a more subtle alternative to the bright patterns. This made it much easier to match with my outfit as I could just grab the nearest thing before going out for my walk. Because my outfit was more toned-down than the previous my subsequent casual outfit immediately put me back in my quarantine comfort zone, it is true, comfort is key. But this is never a bad thing.

Rating – 6/10

Wednesday – pink floral mask

At this point in the week my fashion choices became limited as I now had to factor in the outrageous sunburn across both my shoulders when dressing for my afternoon walks. Mask-wise I had come to the conclusion that a pattern allowed for much more leeway with the clothing and I knew what I had to do. I still managed to coordinate a passable outfit which I was satisfied with given the situation that I had put myself in. Armed with a half a tub of Aloe Vera I decided to try again tomorrow.

Rating – 4/10

Thursday – red floral mask

Clearly I had taken a liking to the patterned masks as the remaining two plain coloured masks were once again neglected for their flashier sibling. Although both the outfit and mask look successful enough the sad truth of this picture is that on this particular day I had decided not to get out of my pyjamas to take the photo until the evening. One of the better looks of the week worn only in my own back garden.

Rating – 8/10

Friday – green floral mask

By this point it was late in the week and I had come to the late realisation that I was not cut out for the fashion world. It was far too much effort when my normal quarantine routine considered not having a nap half way through the day to be an achievement. But I knew that in order to have any possibility of retaining what little clothing standards I had left I had to commit for the rest of the week. Besides the newly improved weather had lead to me to want a decent picture in one of these masks while the lighting was so good.

Rating – 6/10

Saturday – pink mask

It was the end of the week and my creativity was running thin. I did the only thing I could and matched the mask with my sunburn. Yes, I am aware that this should not count as coordinating the mask with my outfit but I would like that I improvised and used the negatives of the week to my own advantage. I allowed myself points for quick thinking and creativity but there was little to be celebrated with this look

Rating – 3/10

Sunday – blue mask

As you can see by the look on my face I was well and truly over it. Although immediately after making the masks I had decided that I wanted to be on the next season of ‘Project Runway’ my mind was clearly too consumed with wondering what my next zoom background was going to be or with trying to obtain toilet roll from the local Sainsbury’s to even consider venturing into the world of fashion. I think I’ll stick to the joggers for now.

Rating – 2/10

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