Freedom of expression… Oh, and LGBT history month.
LGBT History Month is fast becoming an icon of freedom and, in our western society, we are witnessing a piece of history where, in 50 years, I am sure that this expression of self will become stories of revelation that we both educate and inform our future generations of. Personally, I hope, these stories we have the freedom of telling our grandchildren and future generations will be alien to them – a story that feels so unrelatable to our future family because times have changed.
BOLD boudoir is all about feeling free to express yourself. It is a moment where you can celebrate your self and your personal journey with your own identity and its story. You may or may not know that we used to be known as “be bold be you” – a phrase that a real woman, just like you & me, used to describe how her boudoir photo shoot with us in Derbyshire made her feel. Be Bold Be You is now a registered charity – something of which I am immensely proud of – but that’s a blog for another day. The phrase “be bold be you”, however, was coined together by the iconic Oscar Wilde. Wilde – a famous Irish poet and playwright – is now known, in 2025, for his eccentricity, in both voice and fashion sense: Wilde loved the arts – music, dance drama and “art”. It was his form of expression and, I’d argue, his only way to define who he was longing to be but society wouldn’t allow into their world. He published his first, and only, novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and the opening pages of the novel, first published in the summer of 1890, were published in a magazine. The magazine’s Editor, at the time, deleted roughly 500 words without Wilde's knowledge, fearing the story was “indecent” for its readers and the wider, Victorian, society.
Historians now say that it’s made clear to the reader – within the opening pages – that Basil Hallward, the painter of Dorian’s portrait, is in love with his, male, subject. You may know that ten years after this novel was published, Wilde’s life had taken a dramatic turn. Just five years after the revelation of Dorian and his antics, Wilde had been imprisoned after being found guilty of gross indecency, following details of an affair with a male Aristocrat. His marriage to Constance Wilde, with whom he had two sons, collapsed into a state of disrepair and following his release from prison Wilde fled to France. Wilde lived his remaining years in exile and died in a run down Parisian hotel. More on his life can be found here, in a previous blog, if you want a proper scroll through the history!
The reason I mention this is I feel proud that today I can stand within my western world and, for the most part, know that those of the LGBTQ+ community are as welcome as I am in my East Midlands community. Let’s not forget that it’s ONLY been 58 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England & Wales and our fortunate position here in the West allows us to talk of this historic moment along with our opinions and our right to freedom.
Our motto has always been – and will always be – “be bold be you; everybody else is already taken”. These wise words, of Oscar Wilde, are still as powerful as they were when he first put pen to paper and it’s an absolute privilege to have a photography studio, in Derbyshire, and us be a part of the tool kit individual’s use to express themselves within their own journeys through life. This right of freedom may not have been available to Oscar but that just makes me even more determined to make it as accessible to as many people who want it – it’s a freedom of choice, just like sexuality – and we will always be here to celebrate an individual and their strengths. I have a unique job and my primary role – in life & career – is to make sure that anyone I meet feels welcome in my world and I hope, subsequently, I am given the privilege to be welcome in theirs.
