Today I want to address one of the many reasons that I started this side project of a style blog. As I have mentioned before I have always loved clothes and fashion, and at one point was even considering fashion design school. Had I ever dared to send in my applications to RISD and AI NY and been accepted, who knows what different path my life would have taken?
Despite not making it into a career, I have still always loved style and self-expression through hair and clothing. However, there are also many aspects of the fashion world that I abhor. The biggest one being the unhealthy focus on only being thin, instead of having a healthy, relaxed body attitude. I also detest the way fashion magazines always made me feel poor. $100 t-shirts and $6,000 gowns are just unrealistic for almost all people. While I realize that the fashion world seeks to inspire, and that I can replicate looks without copying them exactly, it still makes me a little bit sick to think that a few people out there actually buy such high-priced garments while others struggle to put food on their tables.
Years ago, I cancelled all of my fashion magazine subscriptions. I just could no longer bring myself to gaze at glossy images of women who represent only one body type, and who wear over-priced clothing. It was making me feel bad about myself, and I could not let that continue. So, instead, I now peruse style blogs on the internet, written by everyday people. I love style blogs of all kinds, and they have inspired me for new ways to wear my own wardrobe and put things together.
My favorite style blogs are the ones that are least like the magazines. Women who are on a budget like I am, and who discuss body image in a positive way, no matter their shape or size. People who seem more down-to-earth and have something to say about how clothes fit into their lives and represent their personalities. Bloggers whose photos don’t look like a professional shoot, photoshopped and straight from a publication. A big part of the reason that I decided to start this project is to join in with these everyday voices, and to have an outlet to express my opinion on these matters.
I think the media of the fashion world is perpetuating some negative things about what women should look like and who they should be. I hope to present myself as a real woman, who wrestles with insecurities and who wears what is realistic for my own unique life. Perhaps you will be able to relate to me in some small way. I may not be dressed chic, or high fashion, and I may not have the flashiest fashion blog out there, but that is not the point. Instead, I wish to portray the daily life aspect of style, that your clothes can bring you comfort and show your personality, without having to fit into an unrealistically constructed ideal.
This Mumma's Style 