Cardigan Empire

Salt Lake City Fashion Stylist

Beauty-Full Tuesday: Gentri Lee

I love every precious inch of this girl.  Read on and try not to adore Gentri Lee in all her darling glory, go on, you can try.

I’m a twenty-something year old who measure’s at a tiny 4feet and 8inches tall. Not only that, but I’ve got curves. It’s in my genes. It’s always been something I’ve struggled to deal with- being short is one thing, but I’m extremely short. Add the curves and you’ve got a body that’s “different”… not to mention hard to dress. Because of that, I’ve struggled with feeling overlooked, like something is keeping me from reaching my full potential. But why should that be? I’ve created these insecurities that only bring me down. “If I were taller I could have done this” “If I were skinnier he would have liked me more” “She can’t do as good of a job because she’s short” Over the years I’ve come (it’s a constant battle really) to accept who I am. These aren’t exactly things I can change. And yet, I wouldn’t want to. Because it’s my differences that make me- ME. My differences make me beautiful. There are times where I feel like these hold me back- but even more times where they make me stand out. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish some of the things I have without being unique. There are people I’ve been able to help because I am different- like them. I wouldn’t change that for the world. Our differences can either bring us down and tear us apart, or they can lift us up and bring us together. 

Celebrate your differences and love the differences in others! You are not alone. You were designed to be JUST the way you are. You are beautiful! You are unique. You are perfect. No one else is like you, and that is a wonderful thing.

Feed me fashionably fresh

Beauty-Full Tuesday: Any 2nd Now

 

Passion is beautiful.  Different is beautiful. Cyrillynn of Any Second Now is beautiful. 
 
When I see beauty there’s no doubt
I’m one of the devout…
“Sacred”
Depeche Mode
Before kindergarten, I know that my mom fancied me to be somewhat of a “doll”.  She dressed me up in frilly dresses and I remember seeing pictures of myself in cute little stylish outfits with coordinating purses and shoes.  I don’t remember those times, but it looked like it was fun.
Somewhere along the way in elementary school, I think I lost the meaning of “beauty”.  I was suddenly aware my appearance because someone said to me, “Wow, you have a big nose and huge lips!”  I felt too skinny, that my facial features were imperfect, and I felt awkward for my body.
When I left elementary school, I discovered the importance and beauty of music.  I had taken piano lessons for much of my childhood, but began to appreciate sounds, melodies, notes, lyrics and harmonies.  I was a teen in the 80’s so I had found what I had been missing, which was a voice for all of my innermost thoughts and all my intimate details.
After I found muse, it was then I started to carve my own path.  I stopped worrying about what people thought or said and I wanted to make a statement.  I decided all the “flaws” that people had picked apart in my childhood were what made me unique.  I started to meet people who found beauty in the same things that I did.
As I approached my twenties and thirties, I felt more beautiful than I had ever felt before.  I took pride in what I had and appreciated the beauty of the total person I was and had become.  Not only had I discovered early on that music was important, I had also discovered another outlet, which was fashion.  I could express myself and be different.  In fashion, it was what was expected.
Although my father’s passing in my mid-thirties left an empty space, I realize that it is a part of life.  My father had always taught me to appreciate everything, so as I enter my forties, I still find beauty in fashion and music, but also in art, places, friends, and family.  It was when I had accepted myself totally that someone else could see what I’ve always felt inside.  I married him, and now we have a beautiful son, and we are teaching him to love all that life has to offer.
I feel beautiful because I accept myself for everything that I am, and celebrate it in the things that I find beautiful.