The inside on beauty.
“Beauty is how you feel inside, and reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.” - Sophia Loren
Recently I read this quote above and it confirmed everything I have ever thought about beauty, to be true. Lately I have been hearing so many women complain about the way they look, and it frustrates me. I am not sure if it has anything to do with being older and I pay more attention to it, or that the season of life I am in brings about such comments. For most of my life I have been what people consider “skinny”, with the exception of five years ago. I was put on a medication for migraines and I gained over thirty pounds in less than six months. I stopped the medication for many reasons, but the weight gain was one of them. Within less than six months of being off the medication, I was back down to the size I am now.
I decided to write this blog because so often I hear women that might be a size 10, 16, or 22 complain about being “fat” and most of them make comments about my size. Now I know what your probably thinking. ”she’s skinny and pretty”, so she can say that.” ”she’s so lucky”, etc. Well for starters I will say that I am a very beautiful person but I don’t think of that in terms of how I appear on the outside. I think of my beauty in how I feel about myself, the respect I have for me, the love I have for others and my overall general outlook on life. These are all the things that make me beautiful. If I was in a horrible accident tomorrow and my face completely burned, would people say “she’s so lucky” or “she’s so beautiful”. I would hope that people would say that I am beautiful because of who I am and not what I look like on the outside. From the time I was a little girl, all through high school and college, I was absurdly skinny. It wasn’t because I was anorexic(although my doctor swore I was), and it wasn’t because I ate like a bird. I would eat an entire pizza by myself and still be hungry. My mom and my best friend Mandy’s mom, were probably convinced I would eat them both out of house and home. Still I would go to school and was teased incessantly. I was thrown in a trash can, locked in a locker and even one time held out the window of our high school by my ankles. My favorite story is one night we were riding back from a basketball game and on the bus one of the players, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I asked him why and he started singing “if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife”. That moment has stuck with me since and I was insecure in relationships because I never thought I was pretty.
It wasn’t until I was older that I started growing into myself. I became more confident, I was firm in my likes and dislikes, for the most part I knew what I wanted from life and had finally reached a point where I could speak my mind. This is when I became beautiful and when the compliments started. This was when I started doing more things to take care of myself, such as my hair, my skin, eating healthier(although I can still annihilate a pizza and I often do), drinking more water and many more things that help you look better externally. I often hear how lucky I am but the truth is I am not. I have had my own fair share of struggles and many of them people wouldn’t even dare to wish for. I have been told many times, I need a cheeseburger or two, that I am too skinny, even that I have an odd looking face. The truth is, I eat cheeseburgers(probably too often, I am far from too skinny(I wear a lot of black and thank goodness for Spanx) and I do have an odd looking face. I know I have one eye larger than the other, a crooked philtrum(the ridge under your nose), ears that stick out a little and if I gain any weight it goes straight to my face making me look like I have more chins, oh and did I mention I have cellulite?? Yes, I absolutely do and I have tried every anti cellulite cream and treatment I can find. All of these flaws make me very much who I am. Without them I would just be a clone of someone perfect and frankly I prefer the flaws. I also love when others have what are considered flaws too. Maybe they have a scar on their face, or a bigger nose, their teeth aren’t completely perfect or so many more. These things make a person who they truly are. I am not saying a person shouldn’t have surgery to correct anything they dislike but only have the surgery if it is what they want. Never do it for the approval of others. Also, I know first hand, that if you do, you won’t look like yourself after all is said and done. Recently I had filler put in my lips. I did so because I knew it was temporary and if I didn’t like them it could be undone. Well for several weeks afterwards, I hated the way I looked. Not because I looked bad but because I didn’t look like me.
I shared all of this with you because I want women to stop being so hard on themselves. Your age, your dress size, your weight. They are all just a number and they are all relative. If you are happy with who you are, and forget about those numbers then the confidence will shine through and you will be beautiful. It might even be the best diet you ever try. So here is my challenge to all women, Love yourself. Respect who YOU are. Be confident. Say what it is you need. Embrace your flaws. Know your likes and dislikes. Show love and respect to others. Eat healthier. Walk more. Drink more water. Tell yourself you’re beautiful because SERIOUSLY, you are!!!
Absolutely adore these fall outfits.
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This is adorable!!
Formula One FashionGood evening fashionistas! Jennifer Boatwright of www.thedailylook.com and the fashion editor of WINK, here to share with you some fashion tips. I’m currently out in Austin, TX for the Formula One(F1)race. Today, was practice out at the track and the sound of fast cars buzzing was more exciting than I imagined. Several days before my flight here, I started researching what to wear to an F1 race. F1 takes place all over the world, so from my research, I found tons of exciting things said about the fashion at F1. It has been five years since the United States has been home to an F1 race and the track here in Austin was built just for this event. Austin already has a unique and eclectic style of its own, so I was hoping to be overwhelmed by fashion. Boy was I wrong. Even the Internet was wrong. Maybe in Europe they take pride in this event and dress stylishly, but it in America, it’s all about jeans and sneakers. Now don’t get me wrong, this is not an event where you break out the 5 inch stilettos(yes I actually saw a bit of that) but you don’t have to dress frumpy. In my years of fashion research, I have always read that Europeans can spot Americans by the way they dress. They say it’s the jeans and sneakers that give them away. Well, today America did not disappoint and came through with their typical attire.
When I packed for this event, I had a few main things in mind. Comfortable shoes, layers, comfortable clothing and style. I think I managed to pull these off successfully. For today’s events I paired a long sleeve striped tee shirt, with a black mini, black tights, black Minnetonka boots, pink eternity scarf and a oxblood crossbody handbag. Simple, comfortable, yet still very trendy. With all the walking during this event, comfortable shoes are key. However, you don’t have to sacrifice style for comfort. Any cute pair of flat boots would be perfect. While F1 might not be your thing, it’s still pretty fascinating overall.
Check out my post on the WINK Magazine blog.
(Source: winkcolumbia)
Formula One Do’s & Dont’s
While out at practice today, I tried to find some stylish ladies to photograph. It isn’t the easiest thing in the world to take photos while people are walking around. However, I did manage to get a few. Herebare two I want to share with you. As you can see, the girl on the left is a DO. She paired skinnies, with flat boots, light sweater, a scarf and a cross body bag. The lady on the right is definitely a don’t. Now it isn’t that her outfit overall is bad, it’s just how she has it paired. First of all her shirt is too tight. There is a difference between clothes being fitted and clothes being a second skin. Always go for the fitted option. She is also wearing cargo pants and while they are starting to make a comeback, I’m still not a fan. As you see in this picture, her pants are too tight and she has her pockets stuffed full. She is also wearing five inch wedges, which for this event is a big no. The only law I like to promote, when it comes to fashion, is just be you. Don’t dress to impress anyone, your clothes don’t have to be skin tight to be sexy. You don’t have to wear five inch heels to be in style. Think about where you’re going and what will be appropriate. Keep this in mind and you’ll spend less time being tortured and have fewer blisters to show.
Check out my post on the WINK Magazine blog.
(Source: winkcolumbia)
Fair Fun!!
Blazer: Forever 21; Tshirt: Target; Jeans: Gap; Scarf: Forever 21; Boots: Forever 21; Arm Party: Forever 21, Amazon, Tanner Goods and Rumba watch.
Now that fall is finally here in South Carolina it’s time for me to break out my uniform. Skinny jeans, boots, jackets and scarves are the essentials I use for just about ever casual fall outfit. It’s simple, fun and you can play with color still, so you’re not feel drab and depressed. Do you have a uniform? A go to outfit style? If so let us know what yours is.
Everything about this, I LOVE!!!
(Source: fashiion-gone-rouge, via hollystair)
The Daily Look: the professional
Top: Charlotte Russe; Skirt: Forever 21; Shoes: Revente; Necklace: Ebay; Arm Party: Forever 21 and Michael Kors
One of my all time favorite pieces is a white button down shirt. I would wear them everyday if I could. However, I like other things too so I’ll keep mixing things up. If you don’t have a white button down, I strongly suggest you add it to your wardrobe.
“all alone no one to be with”
snc, september 2012
adeline jouan by nikolay biryukov
Love these. The red is phenomenal.
Model wearing a dress by Sacony of Arnel Celanese, 1957.
Love this classic look.
(Source: myvintagevogue)
