fall in love with yourself

I recently wrote an article for my university's magazine called The Regis. I was asked to write a fashion article, and I took some liberties in terms of content. But I like what I wrote (which actually happened during a lecture - I just powered it out and edited it later). And the lovelies at The Regis did too! So much, in fact, that they had the photo I attached with it illustrated and it was the cover story of the print issue! I'm so excited to pick up a print copy tomorrow.
I'll post it for y'all to read! If you go to my univ (you probably don't), you can get it at King's campus, in Labatt Hall.

The beautiful ladies in the photo (and cover illustration) are Emily, Lilly and Lydia.

It's too small to read in that pic so I will paste the article below:

While mainstream fashion media primarily instructs us on how to “dress for our body types,” get the “right” haircut, wear trends “appropriately” for different age-groups or ooze sexuality – the truth is: fashion is not intrinsically other-directed. It is not inherently a way of being attractive to the opposite sex, or even the same sex. Despite what Cosmo tells us, you do not actually have to get dressed with the male gaze in mind. This gaze is what we’ve internalized from years of consuming the media; a lifetime of advertisements telling us what’s okay to wear and what’s so not. This gaze is one that feels ever-present - that wants us to be self-aware, not self-loving. It’s why we’re taught to objectify each other and ourselves.

That is not to say that there is something wrong with wanting to be sexy, or desired. Rather, looking and feeling your best should not come at the expense of any other part of you. There is never a reason to compromise the way you want to present yourself with the ways you’ve been instructed to dress in order to “flatter your shape.” The way you feel best is the only universally complimentary style. And that is not meant to simplify fashion to the ol’ confidence-is-sexy mentality, either. Fashion is more than owning what you choose to put on in the morning. Fashion is even more than what is seen; it is what it creates. And what it creates can mean something different to each person; from the shape of your silhouette to the way it makes you feel to the expression of who you are or want to be.

Fashion as an industry feeds on insecurity, it relies on our flaws and convinces us that in order to be deemed attractive we must wear this and avoid that. This gaze may not always seem so bad – hey, it can feel good to be looked at! But remember to look in the mirror wearing the same rose-tinted glasses you wear while looking at photo-shopped images of celebrities. Gaze at yourself; fall in love with yourself. Wear what speaks to you, and do it for you first. Wear your short skirt because it makes your legs look great, not because of an ideological subscription to what is flattering. Suddenly, fashion becomes a world of expression instead of an industry of suppression. Turning the gaze on ourselves allows us to see more clearly that fashion the industry doesn’t speak for fashion the art.

- celia