Cardigan Empire

Salt Lake City Fashion Stylist

Beauty-Full Tuesday: Mel

Pretty doesn’t come in a tube and isn’t hanging on a department store rack somewhere.  Those things might help you feel more confident, but they can only enhance the soul grown pretty that you can’t buy at a store.  My Melly’s got a fortune of that kind of pretty.  I’m glad she decided to share some with us.  
Since bearing my first child at the age of 20, my body has gone through some rapid changes. The metabolism I so enjoyed in my teenage years slowed to an unrecognizable pace and the slim hips I used to balk at have widened substantially. It took me some time to cope with all these changes but once I decided I could embrace my new self, my life became much easier.

After a difficult pregnancy with my second child, my son, 4 years ago and dealing with post-partum depression, then ultimately losing him to SIDS at 5 weeks old, I was sure I’d never have another baby. But once I felt like I could maybe handle another little one, I decided I was going to do as much as I could to prepare myself and my body to be in the best possible condition before becoming pregnant. So I began exercising regularly and continuing to while pregnant, and I’ve never felt better in my life.

Simplicity is the key in my life. I have depression and bi-polar disorder so there are quite a few things going on in my head during the day. As far as fashion goes, I’m truly a minimalist. As my main job is at home, I take full advantage of that and usually don loungewear. Make-up is not applied regularly around here. I have 2 pairs of shorts, one pair of jeans, and probably 8 shirts that are always in rotation. I don’t usually wear accessories that are fashionable, only ones that are meaningful, like a ring on a necklace representing my son, or a pair of earrings my husband gave me. I do not claim to know anything about fashion or beauty, but I do know a thing or two about comfort and I’ve been rockin that style for years now. However, I’m grateful to those fashion experts who take the time to explain to people with pear shaped bodies what clothes flatter them the most. It’s helped a lot during my stressful shopping trips.

With my expanding waistline, dressing has become more difficult but it’s so easy nowadays to find cute maternity clothes at great prices, I really have nothing to complain about. I feel good about myself and when I feel healthy, I feel happy. I’m looking forward to seeing how exercise affects my post-partum depression as I’ve heard it helps in that area. For now, I’m just trying to enjoy every second of this journey and embrace my growing belly.
Feed me fashionably fresh

Beauty-Full Tuesday: Alex of Its a Love Story

Alex is honestly one of the prettiest people you will ever meet in real life.  I was so tempted to be jealous of her, I had to make her my friend, so I could own and adore her.  And I’m glad I did because she offers the strongest example and gives the sweetest compliments ever.  Meet Miss It’s a Love Story.

When I was a Senior in high school, I was the smallest I have ever been. I was so tiny, in fact, my Mom asked me one day if I had been eating (I had). It was a combination of healthy eating and working out a lot with my boyfriend, now husband, that led me to lose a lot of weight in the summer. My pants were baggy, my shirts were loose and I’m sure anybody else, especially my Mother, thought I was a good weight. I had a good body. But to me? I still wanted to lose 5lbs. Eventually I did lose it, but it wasn’t enough. I still wanted to lose 5 more. Looking back now, I can see that I had a problem. A problem that consisted of loving the positive attention, fitting into smaller sizes, showing my body (and junk food) who was boss and never being happy with myself.

The next year, I was married and pregnant. I gained a healthy amount of weight during that pregnancy and a couple weeks after giving birth to my son, I returned to my pre-baby weight. (Thank you teenage body.) But alas, I still wanted to lose five pounds. Five months later, I was pregnant again. (I know, I know) Thinking it would be a repeat of my last pregnancy, I ate what I wanted and I stopped working out. It turns out my body didn’t like being pregnant twice in one year because I gained a lot of weight. After my daughter’s birth, I still thought it would be like the last time and I would lose it all right away. Not the case. I think I only lost about 10 pounds. Now, I weighed the most I had ever weighed. I had to work really, really, really hard to lose that weight. I mean, I trained myself to not even dream of cookies and soda. I would put the babies down for naps and work out the entire time in our little living room. After a summer’s worth of sweat, blood, and tears I was finally to a good weight. But can you guess what? You guessed it. I wanted to lose FIVE.MORE.POUNDS.

I don’t remember the day. I don’t remember how old I was but one day I stopped. I stopped expecting too much out of myself. I stopped worrying about my weight. I realized there is a big difference in exercising to be healthy and exercising to be skinny. I realized that counting calories; only getting water at restaurants; skipping out on dessert; and torturing my body with a fierce workout just to work off that cupcake was no way to live. I realized that no matter my weight I would always want to lose five more pounds. I was setting myself up to always be disappointed with my body. I will never be as skinny as I was when I was a senior in high school but I feel more beautiful and more confident than I did then. Than I ever have. 

It’s because after all of that, I finally learned that feeling beautiful will never be found in being skinny. Or in those last five pounds. Beauty is found in a confident woman. It’s found in the euphoria of working out, not because you’re punishing your body but because your body is divine and deserves to be treated as such. It’s found in a mother who has just given birth. It’s even found on a make-up-less, baggy shirt kind of morning. Beauty isn’t a given. Beauty isn’t a number or a fashion statement.Beauty is learning to appreciate who you are. And after you do; wherever you are, wherever you go, beauty is found because you are beautiful.

Feed me fashionably fresh