Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

1. Do you think there is an incompatibility between feminism and a love for fashion?

Absolutely not.
So many people think that a feminist has to look a certain way: unfashionably dressed, no makeup, almost dirty in a way, as if our appearance is the last thing we care about.
But just the opposite is true.
If that's truly what you want to look like and where your priorities lie, go for it.
But if you actually like nice clothes, makeup, fancy hairdos, go for that too.
Disregarding your own appearance doesn't make you any better a feminist, and caring about your own appearance doesn't make you any more a feminist.
All that makes you a feminist is actually caring and fighting for the rights of women. (that includes BOTH the right to dress up and the right not to give a crap about fashion at all.

2. There is more to each of us than a love for fashion, how do you incorporate every aspect of yourself into your blog?

While my blog is mainly a fashion/style/beauty blog, I do talk about aspects of my own life. I'm not interested in incorporating EVERY aspect of my life into my blog, but I do hope my personality comes through. I want my readers to have a grasp of who I am.

3. With the fashion industry still being a male-dominated profession, how do you think it would differ if women played a larger role?

I think if women played a larger role in the fashion industry we would see more variety and equality spread throughout different shapes and sizes of women. Not only in the models that walk the runway and grace the catalogs, but in the clothes that get designed. No matter how much men study women's bodies, until they actually live in one and have to dress it, they can never truly understand the way it feels to be women or the needs we have in our clothing.
Further, as a plus-sized gal, while the variety in clothing for our demographic is getting better, it's still minuscule compared to "average" sized gals. (Though, last I checked, the average size for women is considered plus-sized in the fashion world. But I won't get into that.) Most of the clothes I see for larger women are matronly and have no shape. Those that do are often created in unattractive prints or cheaper fabrics. Also, designers of plus-sized clothing seem to think if you're a larger gal, you must be larger everywhere. So not true! I have a big booty and thick thighs, but I'm still small-of-boob. By the time I find dresses that fit my hips and thighs, there's enough room in the chest for someone to crawl in there with me. I feel like if women were more involved in the fashion world, there would be more innate understanding of these issues, and they would be better addressed.

4. How is your self-image and the way you carry yourself informed by your beliefs?

I'm not really sure what this question is getting at...
I generally believe in the "to each their own" adage, but I don't often-enough apply it to myself. I don't judge others nearly as harshly as I judge myself.
I'm a fairly liberal gal, but I think I behave and dress much more conservatively than my personality really is -- whenever I go shopping, my husband points out cute outfits and I shoot them down, saying I'm too old or big to wear them. Who says? No one but myself...

5. Do you think clothing/makeup/hair helps communicate the truth about yourself or are those things superfluous add-ons?

Both.
From the perspective of someone looking at me, they can probably guess my age, possibly my weight, and know that I work in an office environment from the way I dress M-F. They may be able to tell if I'm heading to work, the gym, or somewhere more fun. All these things could be true. However, if I'm wearing a short skirt or a low-cut top or heavier makeup and someone thinks I look loose or cheap, does that make it true?
But from my own perspective, I can dress to intentionally mislead people. Maybe I'm feeling ugly that day, but I don my best dress, put on bright red lipstick, and style my hair fabulously. Someone else might look at me and think I've got all the confidence in the world, but inside my own head I know I'm doing the whole "fake it til you make it" thing. I'm basically lying to the world.
Also, sometimes I like to dress silly and just for fun. If you ever see me out at a concert, you will probably think I've lost my mind. I might spike my hair up, wear 3 tons of crazy makeup, and wear things no adult woman should be caught dead wearing. In those moments, my "style" is purely superfluous -- I'm dressing 100% totally for fun.
I guess in a way, all of these things speak to some sort of truth about me. But at the same time, it's all superfluous and means nothing unless you get to know me.