Tuesday, January 27, 2015

#EffYourBeautyStandards


Good morning everyone! 

It's Tuesday and it's cold. The East coast is embracing sheer madness with this  impending snow storm Juno. (In Vermont, of all places, where I am, this storm is non existent) My fellow college students and I have work piling up by the minute. 

Amongst all these things, I wanted to place some inspiration into your day.


As an advocate for body image and positivity, I am SO pleased to hear about Tess Holliday and her unprecedented accomplishment in the fashion industry.

Before I get too ahead of myself, here's what you need to know first.

1. It is near impossible for anyone under 5'9 to be a model. In the world of fashion, tall and thin is the schema.

2. Going off of that notion, god forbid an individual is bigger than a size 0. Cue the negative body image b.s we are all currently undergoing in some way.

Read the above rules. Great.  Now forget them. 
Because of Tess  Holliday, we no longer need to cling to these archaic standards.

At 5'5 and  a size 22 Tess is your average woman on paper.  In person anyone can see that Tess is an absolute stunner- a brown eyed beauty with some pretty sick tats nonetheless. To modeling agencies she would be frowned upon. That is, until Milk Model Management saw the beautiful potential in the plus sized- model and blogger. The rest is history. Tess is the ONLY plus sized model at any major modeling agency in the WORLD. 


IN THE WORLD.
This fact astonishes me and I'm sure Tess is over the moon.
 She is paving the way for so many more women of all shapes in sizes; not only in the fashion industry, but also in their personal, daily goals.

To celebrate, people have started  the  #effyourbeautystandards trend on Twitter and Facebook.

Tess shows us all that she is fierce (as if you couldn't already tell), ready to take over the fashion world by storm and that shows us that dreaming big has it perks.

Only YOU can set your limitations. Don't you dare let anyone else try to tell you anything different. 

Have a great day!

With love,

Monday, January 12, 2015

DIY: Grunge Shirts


Sometimes I get so excited when shopping that I buy things without even thinking. I should know after many failed attempts that taking that extra time at the store can save a lot of money AND the hassle of going back to return something.

Just one point proving this-  I really wanted a 5 Seconds of Summer shirt. I went to my Hot Topic numerous times with no luck. Then one day, on display was a beautiful 5 Seconds of Summer shirt; the search was over. I had tunnel vision.  Saw it, wanted it, bought it, took it home... and WHAT THE HECK it's like the shirt was crafted for a child! (I was sad not going to lie)

However, times like these are why muscle shirts are a thing and cut up shirts are in!



 I decided to embrace the awkward sizing and DIY my shirt after 5 SOS. If there's one thing they can do perfectly besides performing it's destroying band tees. Besides great hair, grunge shirts are the guys' staples.  Calum, Ashton and Michael's (Not so much Luke) shirts  always manage to be the perfect balance of lived in and 'I just got in a fight with Freddy Krueger'. It's an art form really.




 I decided to cut and tear not only the band tee but also two other brand spanking new shirts I got at Target- Sorry mom!

If I can do it, you can do it.

  All you need is:
- a concrete surface
-scissors
- a shirt 



You want to put your shirt down on a concrete surface so that your scissors have something to strike against. The scissors will catch on the unevenness of the concrete and in this case, that's how the magic happens.


Once you start to see the fabric rip, pull the shirt with your hands. This tears the fibers even more and creates bigger holes.





Do you like my crazy hair? 
Bonus: A festive Christmas tree in the background.

This project is not only fun, but also allows you to make something that is truly your own. Here are the finished products... 


I see Mickey Mouse shirts like this everywhere now. It just goes to show that you're never too old for Disney.


There are a few holes on the bottom of this which aren't visible because my pants are  black. I transformed this baby into a muscle shirt and  I'm thinking about cutting the neckline later as well.


I originally wanted to make this a muscle shirt too, but realized that nothing beats jumbo, oversized sweatshirts- ever.


The whole cut up shirts/ jeans/ 90s grunge trend is in right now and there's no need to run to Urban Outfitters just to spend over $30+ for a ripped shirt. ( i.e. the shirt above) Grab a pair of scissors, an old shirt and let your creativity run wild!


Best,





Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year! Now Let's Get to Work


Happy new year everyone!

I could start this post by saying today is the start of a new chapter. Cheers to page one.

I could say 'New year, new me' across a plethora of social media.

 I could say that your  newest resolution is awesome and you will definitely stick with it.  

While these are all nice gestures, I'm ridding of the cliche's to simply say: you've made it. We've made it. Ehh, somewhat.  After looking back on all of 2014's events it's safe to say that while we're all older, we are not wiser. 

Here's some food for thought to put your new year in perspective.  This is not a resolution, but rather thoughts on  actions that we all know we should be doing but have forgotten somewhere along the way. Let's get back on track.

We still dwell on the things we cannot change. 
Our mindsets are our biggest hinderance, yet one of the easiest things to adjust. All we have to do is try. Approach things with a positive outlook. Get rid of the things that drag you down and don't make you you

Here are some ways I've adopted a more positive mindset and I know you can too:

1.  Correct yourself. 
This is a great tip I've learned from my roommate. Every time you say you hate something, stop and counteract your statement with 3 things that are positive about the before mentioned person, situation, etc. It's actually very therapeutic! When you let this practice be known, your friends will catch you every time you say something negative, forcing you to correct yourself. Chances are your friends will start doing this too- you can start the trend.

2.  Start a positivity jar. 
There's good in every single day. Seriously. I've blogged about this in the past and will be able to open my jar in a few months. You can read about the positivity jar project in full here.

We still refuse to accept other's differences.
We are surrounded by so many beautiful things. Beautiful people. In turn, we can create tons of beautiful memories by simply taking a step back and appreciating what other people have gone through, what they have to offer. And while we're at it, let's stop dwelling on all the things in the world that just downright suck.

In befriending and supporting others (and ourselves!) we can truly enrich our lives. 

 So here's to a new year, a new way of thinking.
If you approach things with an open mind- I can assure you that the best is yet to come.

With love,