On a pretty LA day a couple weeks ago I stepped out to a fun little pop-up-event-museum-thing with my Momma and sweet pal. We expected to get some cute pics out of the day, but what we got instead was a legit really fun and awesome experience. If you're in LA (or soon Chicago will be getting a location!) you should definitely check out Happy Place! It was a delight.
Our experience taking pictures in all the different rooms reminded me of a couple things. The first thing was about my outfit. These weird palazzo overalls may be my most favorite clothing item. They are so weird. I love them so much.
A teacher I had a year ago at Second City told me once that he admired my style. I was wearing these same parachute dreams with a white t-shirt underneath so you could see that they were a stringy kind of overall. “You always wear whatever you want to wear and you don't care what others will think. I wish I had your confidence. You dress the way I wish I could.” I’m still not entirely sure it was a compliment, but I take it as one!
My style has always been a little bit different from everyone else's and I've always loved clothes. Even when I was feeling self-conscious about my body, or even when a shopping trip ended in tears because nothing fit, I have always loved expressing myself through fashion.
With a love of fashion, comes fashion magazines. With fashion magazines, comes fashion rules for fat girls. These rules are all I’ve ever heard and I’m just not about that life. Everybody gets a certain set of “rules” to make their body look “better”. Fat girls get rules, thin girls get rules, short girls get rules... it’s exhausting!
I much prefer to wear whatever I want to wear! A fashion magazine would probably tell me to burn these pants, but eff that! If someone doesn’t like my outfit they don’t have to wear it and they don’t have to look at me. I'll wear horizontal stripes, I'll wear something tight, I'll wear something weird! If something makes you feel confident and happy that’s literally the only thing that matters.
Life is short and tbh if you can’t wear overall palazzo pants like you’re in a Clown remake of Three’s Company doing a crossover episode with Little House on the Prairie then what’s the point? Wear the damn thing. Love your damn self.
The second thing I was reminded of was what a nightmare Happy Place would have been before I learned to not be ashamed of my body and to actually love it. I probably would’ve looked at a picture someone took of me and started weeping because I thought I looked too fat and then let that ruin our whole day. But we had so much fun! And we all looked so cute!
Pictures of my belly or chins before would have sent me into a self-hating fit, but if a picture like the one posted directly below is cool but shows an insecurity (like my double chin) then who cares?! The picture itself makes me really happy so why try to hide something that I perceive to be an imperfection? There's no reason! I think I look cool and powerful. If someone has a problem with that picture that's just their problem, not mine.
So here I will post some more pics that I wouldn't have posted before now in the hopes that they inspire you. Maybe now you will feel empowered to post a pic that you love, but that might make you feel a little self-conscious. Remember that everyone can see your body in real life so there’s no need to hide a picture that you love!
I am Beyoncé always.
Being afraid of what we look like or what people will think holds us back from loving ourselves, living life to the fullest, all those cliché things. It's all cliché because it's true. If something makes you feel happy, wear it. If a picture makes you happy, post it. You're the boss and you get to make decisions for your life that make you feel good without having to worry about what other people will think. My two cliché cents for the day. ;)
Is there something that you want to wear, but someone told you not to because of your body type? Do you not post pictures sometimes because you’re afraid what people will think? I wanna know what “fashion rules” you were taught and if you still follow them or not. Tell me all about it all on Facebook!
