Sparkle

Fashion Friday

Rewind the clocks about 10 years and this blog post would have never happened. It wasn’t because I didn’t like taking pictures or wearing nice pretty clothes, you see sharing these pictures is a quite a big deal for me and it’s proof of where I have reached in the journey towards loving myself. This little back dress was a gift from the fabulous Jeanette Young, and I think it’s gorgeous, however, 10 years ago I would have never worn anything like this, because I really despised my legs – in fact let me just keep it real – I used to hate my legs. Summer was a sad time for me because I lived in jeans and leggings.

I was born with a birth mark on my left calf, and as I got older it grew with me, leaving a rather large, light mark on my leg. I have other scars and blemishes on my legs too, and because of this decided my legs were not worthy of being shown to the world. At one point it got so bad that I wanted to go to a laser surgeon. Hatred of my legs literally consumed my thoughts day and night… but not anymore. To some this might seem boastful, but I absolutely love my legs now and they look pretty much the same as they did 10 years ago.

For me, the turning point happened when my sister (MO ISO) forced me to put on a pair of shorts and look at myself in the mirror. I really didn’t want to as I had done this before and it usually resulted in tears but I did it. She began to tell me that I looked gorgeous but I didn’t believe her. In an effort to convince me she called her fiancé (at the time) and asked him if he saw anything wrong with my legs and he said they seemed perfectly fine. I can remember being shocked as he shared what men look for: ‘no hairs’ and ‘soft legs’. I’m not sure if it was because he was a man (and has always been like a big brother to me) but I started to think that maybe he was right. The next day I decided to wear a pair of shorts and fight the negative thoughts in my mind. I also started to tell myself that I was beautiful everyday, and I prayed for God to help me to truly love who I was, and He did! One of the greatest things you can do to improve your self-confidence is to start celebrating yourself every day, and trust me, you will start to believe you are beautiful. It feels amazing to be free from all the lies in my mind.

Self-acceptance is a journey, and the confidence you see in these 14 pictures was not something I gained overnight, but I am living proof that it is possible. There is no magic remedy, you start by making the decision to love all of who you are. A great man named Christian Tapper said ‘To be a woman is to be beautiful’, you are a masterpiece.

Big Love

Sharlene-Monique