Don't judge a girl by her obsessions

During my recent beach trip I finally got to delve into some of the September issues, which never fail to amaze and inspire me! My favorite is usually Glamour, but I decided to start with Elle because I wanted to be ready when one of my new favorite bloggers, Mademoiselle Hannah, posted her read-along guide. If you haven't checked out the first two installments, do it now because the girl has done an incredible job commenting on everything in the magazine from articles to ads. Though I tend to spend the majority of beach time enjoying the waves, as a swimmer the water just calls my name, I dedicated enough time to beach tanning/reading to finish the entire magnificent issue! To say I am in love with this issue is an understatement. From the ads to the content to the trends everything was just perfect. And surprisingly, one of my biggest take-aways from the issue had nothing to do with clothes, and everything to do with a golden nugget hiding away on p. 198 in the letters section. I was thrilled to see that Mademoiselle Hannah took note of this in part 1 of her read-along guide, because I think it is something every fashion-obsessed writer has dealt with at some point. Reader Michelle made an excellent point about the danger of judging a person by their interests when she said, “I have Prada shoes, an IQ of 147, and a college education.” Well said Michelle! While I don't have Prada shoes (yet) and I don't actually know my IQ, I am the proud owner of a college degree, an aspiring journalist working on the editorial page of a major newspaper and an unashamedly self-proclaimed fashion addict. It is bothersome to me that some people in our society think that because a person takes an interest in how they present themselves to the world and how the express personal style, they can't also be an intelligent human being. Instead, they must be a shallow, materialistic individual incapable of understanding the world around them outside of their fashion bubble. For me, fashion is not just about labels and trends.It is about the power of clothes and about how the right outfit can change my entire outlook on the day and give me a level of confidence that my sweatpants and t-shirts could only dream of. When I take the time to prepare an outfit and pair accessories, my day starts off organized and I simply feel better. Vice versa, when I rush out the door in something that I carelessly threw on, not only do I usually wind up looking less than polished, my morning feels chaotic and stressful before I have even gotten to the office. I really get annoyed when I tell certain friends or family members that I would love to one day work for a fashion magazine and get the response, "But why would you want to waste your talent?" Clearly these folks have never taken the time to read an article from a fashion magazine and be immersed in the beautiful, powerful writing that graces those glossy pages that they deem "fluff". This particular issue of Elle had one of the most poignant and moving articles about women and civil rights that I had ever read! I truly felt grateful for having had my eyes opened to the ugliness that African-American women faced and reading about strong, graceful women truly empowered me. Isn't that always the desired goal of any journalist crafting a story?

On a lighter note, I wanted to post just one of the photos from my fantastic girls beach weekend! My cousin and I had loads of fun switching off role of photographer and model and here is one of the photos my very talented cousin shot.

Bisous!