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Showing posts with label acceptance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acceptance. Show all posts
"Art isn’t something you need an outside license or a paycheck to pursue. It’s a way of life. It’s a way of adding up what you feel and where you’ve been and what you fear and what you can imagine. It’s a way of seeing your life through a lens that makes everything — good and bad, confusing and clarifying, uplifting and depressing — valuable." - Heather Havrilesky, Ask Polly 11/28/18
I stumbled upon the Ask Polly column on The Cut.com a few months ago while sick with the flu and to say it blew my mind is an understatement.
The author Heather Havrilesky answers letters weekly under the name Polly and honestly, some of the topics she tackles are deep and thought-provoking.
In the column titled ‘I’m Broke and Mostly Friendless, and I’ve Wasted My Whole Life’, she advises 'Haunted', who has written in about how disappointed she is in her life, haunted by the things she had set out to accomplish in life but at the age of 35, feels she has accomplished nothing.
Haunted has moved many times to different cities, traveled, had relationships and jobs. She is currently unhappy with her current job and is at a point where she is tired. She has tons of debt, no friends, single and no children. And the kicker? She's a writer.
I said out loud to myself, "Am I reading something from myself?"
I used to be Haunted, literally and figuratively. In the past, I have said many times how I felt like I have not accomplished what I set out to do in my life. I'm now in my late 40's and never married or had children. I've always felt like I should have done so much at this point of my life. I was haunted by what I didn't do because it made me feel inadequate and at times, worthless.
But this is something that many of us feel. We base our timeline on our age.
We're told that by a certain age, we should have X amount of things done. We should be married. We should have children. We should go to college and/or be set in our careers by a certain age. I could go on. But guess what? Life almost never goes as planned.
"Shame is the opposite of art. When you live inside of your shame, everything you see is inadequate and embarrassing. A lifetime of traveling and having adventures and not being tethered to long-term commitments looks empty and pathetic and foolish, through the lens of shame. You haven’t found a partner. Your face is aging. Your body will only grow weaker. Your mind is less elastic. Your time is running out. Shame turns every emotion into the manifestation of some personality flaw, every casual choice into a giant mistake, every small blunder into a moral failure. Shame means that you’re damned and you’ve accomplished nothing and it’s all downhill from here."When I read that, I was completely mind-blown.
Shame. These feelings I have, they have a name. I never thought of how I was feeling as shame but it is. One of the mantras I live by is change your mindset, change your life. And the difference between living inside your shame versus looking at your shame with an open mind and heart is that you look at life through a different lens, which then determines how you live that life.
Polly goes on to tell Haunted how she can create a new life for herself by simply looking at her shame differently. By not being afraid to accept that while life is not perfect, it can still be wonderful.
"You need to discard some of this shame you’re carrying around all the time. But even if you can’t cast off your shame that quickly, through the lens of art, shame becomes valuable. When you’re curious about your shame instead of afraid of it, you can see the true texture of the day and the richness of the moment, with all of its flaws. You can run your hands along your own self-defeating edges until you get a splinter, and you can pull the splinter out and stare at it and consider it. When you face your shame with an open heart, you’re on a path to art, on a path to finding joy and misery and fear and hope in the folds of your day. Even as your job is slow and dull and pointless, even as your afternoons alone feel treacherous and daunting, you can train your eyes on the low-hanging clouds until a tiny bit of sunlight filters through. You are alive and you will probably be alive for many decades to come. The numbers on your credit-card statements can feel harrowing, but you can take that feeling and keep it company instead of letting it eat you alive. You can walk to the corner store to buy a newspaper and pull out the weekend calendar section and circle something, and make a commitment to do that one thing. You can build a new kind of existence, one that feels small and flawed and honest, but each day you accumulate a kind of treasure that doesn’t disappear. Because instead of running away from the truth, you welcome it in. You don’t treat what you have as pointless. You work with what you have."Havrilesky does an incredible job of issuing advice while being transparent on how she identifies with the person's feelings, including admitting her own flaws. This makes her a real person and not just someone writing a column for a major website who also has a book out. Everyone, even someone like Oprah, has their struggles.
We always tend to look at the end result instead of the journey, when looking at people. So it's easy to compare our lives to theirs and feel some kind of way about their success in comparison to ours.
"When you carry around a suspicion that there’s something sort of embarrassing or pathetic about you, you find ways to project that shame onto completely innocuous things. You find ways to tell yourself that everyone is laughing at you behind your back somewhere, possibly at a party where they are serving beautiful tasty drinks but you weren’t invited. You’re too old now. You’re no longer exciting or important. You don’t matter. You never really did. Shame creates imaginary worlds inside your head. This haunted house you’re creating is forged from your shame. No one else can see it, so you keep trying to describe it to them. You find ways to say, “You don’t want any part of this mess. I’m mediocre, aging rapidly, and poor. Do yourself a favor and leave me behind.” You want to be left behind, though. That way, no one bears witness to what you’ve become. It’s time to come out of hiding. It’s time to step into the light and be seen, shame and wrinkles and failures and fears and all."That last line! I'm done!
This year, my mission is to step into my power. I want to show up more for myself and others. I want to put myself out there more with positive intentions. I want to walk in a room with a positive attitude and be open to what awaits.
Does it scare the shit out of me? Hell yes. But if I am to live out this life of mine as fully as I can, I have to let go of my shame, my past (including past negative stories I told myself) and being afraid of the unknown.
This year has already kicked off amazingly and I keep thinking of my niece. She now watches over me, along with my dad and brother. And I can hear her voice in my ear, saying "Auntie, you got this!"
Typing that out makes the tears flow because she's only been gone 7 months. But as I learned when I lost my dad and then my brother, time does not stand still. Grief is painful but in order to live and keep moving, I have to learn how to carry that pain with me and channel it into something positive.
Honoring their legacy and continuing her work is what drives me. I'm going to be 50 next year but you know what? It's never too late to do whatever is on my life's to-do list. Gray hairs, pre-menopause and all. No wrinkles yet but I am not complaining! LOL!
Here's to living my best life and you living yours at any age. xoxo
"I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me. But I can't help it that I'm popular." ~ Gretchen Wieners, Mean Girls
Last week was a real eye opener for me that made me reflect on my feelings about the fashion industry and my place in it.
I got invited to cover The Femmy Awards and Gala, taking place at Cipriani 42nd St. This event was sponsored by The Underfashion Club, a non-profit fashion industry group dedicated to "all facets of the intimate apparel industry: foundations, daywear, sleepwear, robes, and loungewear".
As someone who is considered media via my job at PLUS Model Magazine, I will admit I get some amazing opportunities to attend events like the Femmy Awards.
So I decided to put on a red dress (from Catherines) that had been sitting in my closet for the last 6 weeks. I was sick with bronchitis for about 5 weeks so my 2019 actually started on 1/25. Wearing red is always something that gives me some extra uumph, which was needed for this night.
See, this was not a plus size event. The theme of this year's awards and gala was body positivity and plus supermodel Emme was hosting (YES!), BUT this was an event where there would be media and some heavy hitters from the Intimate Apparel industry. Folks from Kohl's, Dillard's and other major brands were in attendance.
They were also having a design contest featuring six Fashion Institute of Technology students studying intimate apparel. For the first time, students’ designs were on exhibit via mannequins from size 7 to size 2X, in keeping with the theme of “Body Positivity.” The three top finalists won $5,000 and an all-expense paid trip to Paris.
I was basically walking into a huge event, not knowing a soul and possibly being the biggest girl in the room. Of course, in Fearlessly Just Me fashion, I did just that.
People stared and looked but not for the reasons I was used to. It was because I was wearing red in a sea of black and because people wondered who I was. I mean, I'm a gorgeous big girl wearing a body con red dress with short hair. And I'm walking up in there, like I own the place, lol.
The Intimates Apparel industry is a tight-knit community too, I learned later that evening. And they accepted me with open arms, actually intrigued by the plus size industry and how they can bridge that gap between mainstream/straight size and plus sizes.
Words cannot explain how included I felt and it had nothing to do with seeing someone else who looked like me. It had to do with being seen as more than a plus size woman. They saw me as someone who was their equal, someone in the media who came to the table confident, humble, professional and engaging.
My size was actually an asset in this situation as they now had access to someone who was visibly plus, looked fabulous and proved that plus size women can be stylish too and know their stuff. People came up to me, introduced themselves, asked where my dress was from and just wanted to know about ME.
I left that evening with a clutch full of business cards, including a few requests to be interviewed or featured on their website. As I walked out of Cipriani and to my waiting Uber, I skipped and danced a little, with a smile on my face.
I feel like we are now experiencing a shift in the industry where plus sizes are becoming mainstream. If you're a size 20 and under, you have become mainstream as almost all plus size brands and companies who expand on sizing, always offer up to a size 20. Those who offer above a size 24 are considered radical and really pushing boundaries in an industry where many brands think women above a size 20 don't shop or buy stylish clothing.
Why should my size speak for how I should dress? Why should there be an immediate asumption that separates how women view style and fashion according to their size?
As a size 26/28, I should not feel like I am outsized and not accepted by my own community and industry. But I do.
I just want to be around women who get me. But I also want to be around people who are looking past my size and seeing who I am as a person and what I bring to this industry as I have a seat at the table.
The use of the words "curvy" and "curve" have become the norm. And I feel like women like me have become lost in the shuffle.
I can't shop everywhere I want and while the fashion industry is changing, when I am vocal about my struggles with shopping, women smaller than me try to challenge that by saying they experience the same issue. NO.
I feel like I have to remind them that their situation is totally different than mine. If you're under a size 20, you can shop in mainstream stores like The Gap, NY & Company and countless others. I recognize that smaller women have their own fit issues but they have more options than I do when it comes to fashion.
Most plus size brands stop at a size 3X and 24. So while I get excited when a brand expands their sizing into plus sizes, I can't help but feel a little deflated when I see they are still not carrying my size.
As someone who is considered media via my job at PLUS Model Magazine, I will admit I get some amazing opportunities to attend events like the Femmy Awards.
So I decided to put on a red dress (from Catherines) that had been sitting in my closet for the last 6 weeks. I was sick with bronchitis for about 5 weeks so my 2019 actually started on 1/25. Wearing red is always something that gives me some extra uumph, which was needed for this night.
See, this was not a plus size event. The theme of this year's awards and gala was body positivity and plus supermodel Emme was hosting (YES!), BUT this was an event where there would be media and some heavy hitters from the Intimate Apparel industry. Folks from Kohl's, Dillard's and other major brands were in attendance.
They were also having a design contest featuring six Fashion Institute of Technology students studying intimate apparel. For the first time, students’ designs were on exhibit via mannequins from size 7 to size 2X, in keeping with the theme of “Body Positivity.” The three top finalists won $5,000 and an all-expense paid trip to Paris.
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| Me with the gorgeous Emme |
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| Emme hosting the Femmy Awards 2019 |
I was basically walking into a huge event, not knowing a soul and possibly being the biggest girl in the room. Of course, in Fearlessly Just Me fashion, I did just that.
People stared and looked but not for the reasons I was used to. It was because I was wearing red in a sea of black and because people wondered who I was. I mean, I'm a gorgeous big girl wearing a body con red dress with short hair. And I'm walking up in there, like I own the place, lol.
The Intimates Apparel industry is a tight-knit community too, I learned later that evening. And they accepted me with open arms, actually intrigued by the plus size industry and how they can bridge that gap between mainstream/straight size and plus sizes.
Words cannot explain how included I felt and it had nothing to do with seeing someone else who looked like me. It had to do with being seen as more than a plus size woman. They saw me as someone who was their equal, someone in the media who came to the table confident, humble, professional and engaging.
My size was actually an asset in this situation as they now had access to someone who was visibly plus, looked fabulous and proved that plus size women can be stylish too and know their stuff. People came up to me, introduced themselves, asked where my dress was from and just wanted to know about ME.
I left that evening with a clutch full of business cards, including a few requests to be interviewed or featured on their website. As I walked out of Cipriani and to my waiting Uber, I skipped and danced a little, with a smile on my face.
I feel like we are now experiencing a shift in the industry where plus sizes are becoming mainstream. If you're a size 20 and under, you have become mainstream as almost all plus size brands and companies who expand on sizing, always offer up to a size 20. Those who offer above a size 24 are considered radical and really pushing boundaries in an industry where many brands think women above a size 20 don't shop or buy stylish clothing.
Why should my size speak for how I should dress? Why should there be an immediate asumption that separates how women view style and fashion according to their size?
As a size 26/28, I should not feel like I am outsized and not accepted by my own community and industry. But I do.
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| TCF Style Expo 2018 - Size 24+ panel |
I just want to be around women who get me. But I also want to be around people who are looking past my size and seeing who I am as a person and what I bring to this industry as I have a seat at the table.
The use of the words "curvy" and "curve" have become the norm. And I feel like women like me have become lost in the shuffle.
I can't shop everywhere I want and while the fashion industry is changing, when I am vocal about my struggles with shopping, women smaller than me try to challenge that by saying they experience the same issue. NO.
I feel like I have to remind them that their situation is totally different than mine. If you're under a size 20, you can shop in mainstream stores like The Gap, NY & Company and countless others. I recognize that smaller women have their own fit issues but they have more options than I do when it comes to fashion.
Most plus size brands stop at a size 3X and 24. So while I get excited when a brand expands their sizing into plus sizes, I can't help but feel a little deflated when I see they are still not carrying my size.
Having empathy for other bodies is a part of being body positive. Admitting your own privilege instead of playing the victim is a sign of growth and truly being someone who believes that all bodies are beautiful.
The Femmy Awards taught me some valuable lessons. It showed me that you don't have to be around people who look like you, to fit in. At the end of the day, I am more than a plus size woman and have much more to offer as a human being.
It also showed me that there are people out there who want to be educated more on the state of plus size fashion and that as a visibly plus size woman who does not have access to all plus size fashion, I have a strong voice that can help with that.
While I may encounter the "You can't sit with us" mentality at times, I want to focus more on where I do sit and use that opportunity to educate, engage and network. Not being able to sit at every table doesn't limit my worth in this world or stop the work I am doing.
I'm more focused on inpiring the next generation of designers to embrace designing for ALL sizes and not just a range that excludes women who want to dress just like their thinner sisters.
As I chatted with the six design student finalists from F.I.T., I had hope for the fashion industry in becoming more inclusive. They all spoke so passionately about wanting to design for plus sizes with many of them even offering to create a dress for me! I never thought I'd feel or experience this in my lifetime but I am!
I'm excited to see what the generation of fashion holds for ALL women, especially those of us that are excluded at times from the plus size range AND the conversation.
You can find my Catherines red dress here and it's on sale for $40, up to size 5X including petites. (I'm wearing a size 3X petite)
You can follow those amazing F.I.T. fashion design students below on Instagram - hit them up if you need some custom lingerie or dresses:
Aura Alvarez: @aurahalvarez
Breanna Childers: @bre_childers
Laurel Yau: @yauleru
Dorshelle Guillaume: @dorshelleguillaume
Jessica Trusio: @jesstrusio
Sierra White: @intimatelysierra
Let's support and educate the next generation of fashion.
"Who says I can't be free from all the things that I used to be? Rewrite my history, who says I can't be free."
I look at this picture often because it serves as a reminder of who I used to be and who I don't want to be anymore.
I didn't love myself fully and covered up my body with layers, shrugs and long tops. I wore baggy pants, including jeans! I wore two sizes larger than my true size so I was grabbing those 30/32's out of habit and not even caring how baggy my clothes were.
So the red floral top seen above is something I would wear now but I would get it in a smaller size and belt it. Perhaps wear a cami or bra underneath. My, how times have changed!
Ten years later, sometimes I am so shocked at my own transformation. When many talk of their transformation, it involves weight loss. However, I haven't lost any substantial weight aside from maybe 25 pounds or so. And that only came off because I stopped drinking soda and eating take-out on a daily basis because my health depended on those changes.
But for the most part, I'm still fat with large upper arms, lumpy thighs, 23" calves and 68" hips. And I'm happy...
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| Dress: SWAK Designs |
I know that it's hard for some to understand how I can be fat and happy but I am proof that it is possible. A lot of it has to do with how you feel about yourself and how you let what others say/think affect how you feel about yourself. It's not rocket science and some have made a lot of money speaking to people about this but I'm going to give you my perspective for free.
The diet industry makes millions off of making people feel bad about themselves and convincing them that happiness and weight loss go hand in hand. I'm not saying weight loss is bad. I'm saying dieting is bad. They are two different things. You can lose weight by changing your eating habits for the better because you want to be healthier. However, going on a diet and not a lifestyle change is entirely different. Also, your reasons for going down that path mean a lot as well.
If you're looking for happiness to come when you lose weight, it will... BUT it will be shortlived if you never worked on truly loving yourself unconditionally... unless you work on yourself and how you feel about yourself. You will never be satisfied and will be forever obsessed with keeping that weight off.
And you don't have to lose weight to work on yourself on the inside. You can start to heal and love yourself at any size and that healing is imperative to being the best person you can be, AT ANY SIZE.
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| Dress: City Chic via Gwynnie Bee |
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| Jacket and Jeans: Eloquii, Sneakers: PUMA |
It's your body and you do what you see fit with it and if it's weight loss, I am not judging you. I'm only speaking of the Why's and encouraging you to look within yourself and be honest with yourself.
Life is lived fully when you are present and enjoying the now. If you don't, you will miss out on time you can't get back. Missed opportunities can mean missed moments of happiness. This I learned the hard way.
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| Swimsuit and cover-up: Lane Bryant |
Is it tough for me to shop as a size 26/28? Hell yes! But will I lose weight to be a smaller size just so I can have more clothing available to me? Um, hell no!
Why should I lose weight to cater to an industry that makes money off of making us feel like we have to fit a certain ideal to look stylish or beautiful? I think everyone is worthy of accessible fashion because we all need clothes. Last time I checked, it's illegal to walk around naked on the streets of New York.
And why should I wait to dress fabulously and feel good about myself? I don't want to sit around waiting until I'm a certain weight to dress fly.
I have my workarounds and have done my research. There's great brands for me to shop like Universal Standard, Gwynnie Bee, Avenue, Lane Bryant, Premme, Eloquii, eShakti and indie designers like Christian Omeshun, Ashley Nell Tipton and 2 B Continued Denim. I'm also finding new brands every day like Curve Girl and Curvy Sense, that offer above a size 24. Hell, ASOS even offers up to a 28 now and Ashley Stewart offers up to a size 34/36 in some styles.
It's a challenge to shop but it is possible. It just means that while I can't shop at Forever 21, Boohoo, Missguided or NY & Company, I can access designer pieces and get customized clothing made for me. I shop on a budget so I usually treat myself to one core piece a season that will last me for years. I also want to learn how to sew. To me, those are more positive steps for me to take than stressing myself to diet to be able to shop in more stores. I'm trying to love myself more and more daily and not succumb to what others say I should be.
I am enough.
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| Dress: Sexy Plus Clothing, Shoes: Catherines |
Am I glorifying obesity? No. I am glorifying self love and self care. Who made the rule that you can't love yourself over a certain size? Who says beauty only comes in size THIN? I would love to know who came up with all these restrictions on who I should be and how I should feel. Self means ME. So I should be able to make my own decision on how I (ME) feel about MYSELF.
Actually, once I started dressing more stylish and wearing my actual size, I felt better about myself. And this led me to want to take better care of myself. This led me to stop drinking soda and walking more. This led me to traveling more and being more positive towards life. If anything, having access to clothing in my size is not keeping me fat... it's actually helping me heal and love myself more, which in turn is motivating me to be healthier and be the best person I can be.
And that is subjective according to who you are and where you are in life. We all can't be the same size or fit this cookie cutter version of who we should be at our height and age. That's impossible.
My transformation began with the first step of getting a pixie hair cut, which made me see a glimmer of beauty that made me yearn to see more. You can read more here. So I peeled the layers off, literally and figuratively. I don't wear shrugs anymore. I don't wear long tops anymore to cover my thighs. I actually wear my size now. These things took time but it was worth it.
One of the best things you can do for yourself is invest in YOU. Building any kind of relationship takes time and the one you have with yourself is the most important one. So wherever you're at in your journey, I hope you will reflect, be honest with yourself and truly work on you. Work on seeing your beauty and worth. Believe in yourself and know that you can do anything you set your mind to. Happiness lies within you -- you just have to allow yourself to feel it.
It amazes me at times how, for instance, I can wear sleeveless styles and while I used to think the world was staring, in reality, no one is. And that one person who does have something to say, is not worth me giving that person time and energy to affect me. I used to make that one person seem like a million and let it limit me from truly feeling free. And I refuse to go back to that place. So I keep rewriting history and living my life one day at a time.
Where are you at in your journey of loving yourself? Comment below and let me know. Or feel free to email me at marcyc19@gmail.com if you don't want to disclose it publicly.
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| Jacket: Drew via Gwynnie Bee, Dress: Addition Elle via Gwynnie Bee, Boots: Lane Bryant |
How An All-Girls Staycation Weekend Reminded Me To Enjoy Every Single Moment
Saturday, August 26, 2017
"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here, we should dance." —Anonymous
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| Fabiola, Marlena, Nanthale, Myself, Jonquel and Brooke at Sunday brunch at Alice's Tea Cup. All looks provided by Eloquii. |
"If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door." -Milton Berle
I have found myself saying a few times in the last couple of weeks that 2016 was one of the best years of my life. If you have been keeping up with me and my journey, you know that I'm not saying that lightly because life has been hella rough for me in the last few years.Real talk, this was THE year I reclaimed my belief in my greatness and worth. I just had to work through the murkiness of my emotions and push through the grief. Grief is a sneaky thing. It can spread out and seize other parts of your life, if you let it.
When the year kicked off, I was lost but feeling like I was on the verge of either a breakdown or a breakthrough. Just keeping it real with all of you.
And I was not trying to have a breakdown. Oh no. Life is too valuable and short for all that.
I decided early on this year that I had to create opportunities for myself. I was growing frustrated at the lack of representation of someone who looked like me and I also wanted to be seen in order to gain more opportunities pertinent to my purpose, and that wasn't quite happening as often as I wanted it to. I realized that I had to stop complaining and just focus on creating avenues for myself to be seen as well as pursue opportunities.
Dreams are meant to be chased, not waited for.
And it worked! I had an amazing year! And 2017 is looking to be good, too.
So here's the top 10 reasons why 2016 was a kick ass year for me and truly changed my life...
#10: Moderating My First Panel
#9: Hosting an event at FFF Week
I have hosted a store event before but this was a huge hosting opportunity since it was an event during Full Figured Fashion Week and it was for one of my favorite brands, Avenue. I was honored they asked me to co-host this blogger event with them. I met some great people and got to know the Avenue team better.
#8: Writing for On The Plus Side
I kicked the year off, writing for a new online community launched by plus e-retailer Making It Big, who has since relaunched with the new name On The Plus Side. I love writing for this site because I write about what I love and push the message of body acceptance and confidence.
Click here to see what I have written for the site this year.
#7: Body Positive Campaigns
I was in two major body positive campaigns, both by indie size inclusive brand SmartGlamour. It was an honor to be a part of both of them but the first campaign #ImFlattered will always be one that's special to me as it was how I kicked off 2016. I had never been in a campaign nor in a photo shoot before. I was awkward and nervous. But the feeling of acceptance and women supporting each other really set the tone for me for the rest of 2016. And oh yeah, this campaign went viral and my face was seen on Refinery29, Yahoo and other media outlets. Yes!
#6: Revelist video
So when I saw a call on Facebook from Jessica Torres of Revelist, for women who had never worn a two-piece bathing suit before, I think the confidence gods possessed my body and that's what led me to send her a message, volunteering myself for what turned out to be a video, shot at their offices and posted to their I Heart My Body Facebook page. Click here to check it out.
I didn't think I had the guts to do it. I've never been a swimsuit person and I am very self-conscious of my lumpy thighs. But I thought, hell, you only live once and think of all the women you will inspire.
#5: New York Fashion Week
My lifelong dream has been to go to NY Fashion Week and this year, I was honored to go to my first designer show!!! It was the Christian Siriano show, which was a double win for me since I am a HUGE Project Runway fan. And it just so happened that the show I attended, Siriano included plus models on the runway. It was truly amazing. Special thanks to Lane Bryant for making it possible to attend the show.
Added bonus? A few days later, I got to meet the man at a Lane Bryant store event promoting the launch of his collection for the retailer. Dreams do come true.
#4: Shape.com's #Love My Shape Campaign
Remember how I said above that I wanted to create opportunities for myself in order to be seen more and gain more opportunities?
Well, imagine my shock when Shape Magazine emailed me back in March, asking ME to be a part of their #LoveMyShape campaign. Yes, me! I was floored. I am not a super athlete but at my size, I am healthy and active. And this was another test of my confidence since it required me to submit an image of me wearing a sports bra that they would provide for me.
I was the only one my size that was included in this campaign and it feels so good to have had that opportunity to offer representation for all women who look like me.
And this opportunity simply came up because the folks at Lane Bryant offered my name up when the Shape Mag folks asked them for some suggestions on who would be a fit for this campaign. It pays to have great relationships and continue to nurture them. You never know what it can lead to.
#3: The Today Show
One day, I was scrolling through my Google Alerts to see what was going on in the world of plus size fashion for potential article stories for work and came across a Craigslist ad (of all things!) which linked to The Today Show website, where they put out a call for plus size women looking for a makeover.
I was in the midst of revamping my style but having challenges because of the lack of fashion available in my size. So I decided to email them and got a callback! It turned out to be a segment that was sponsored by JC Penney where plus size fashion designer Ashley Nell Tipton would make us over in styles from her new collection with JCP.
The segment included myself and another young lady who I have remained friends with to this day. Host Bobbie Thomas was so awesome! It was an amazing day.
#2: Gwynnie Bee
Immediately after I did the #ImFlattered campaign, I landed an awesome opportunity via Gwynnie Bee. They were launching the First Fit Project, where influencers of different shapes and sizes would try on new styles prior to them launching online and provide their reviews.
Almost a year later, I have to say, this new gig has changed my life. I'm the only one who is a size 26/28, which is major. I have tried on styles I would never have on my own. It has opened my mind to wearing different prints, silhouettes, colors, etc. It helped me rebuild my body acceptance and love for myself. And it has helped me inspire other women in the process.
More representation means more acceptance and Gwynnie Bee did this for me and countless others. Special shout out to blogger/model Kelly Augustine who spearheaded this project and runs it.
And I am a model. WOW! lol
#1: Style 22+ Lookbook
For a long time, I have had this dream to create a lookbook showcasing women above a size 22, along with positive messages and quotes. And this year, that dream came true. The Style 22+ lookbook launched in mid-November and it has made such an impact to the point where I am working on the next one! You can read more here why this lookbook was necessary and such a personal thing for me.
To sum up my 2016 experience, I offer this quote from Walt Disney:
"All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them."
I can't wait to see what 2017 brings. I am already on board for another fashion campaign for a major plus size retailer that will focus on size diversity AND I am going to start writing for another body positive website. The sky's the limit!
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