Cardigan Empire

Salt Lake City Fashion Stylist

Beauty-full Tuesday: Freckles in April

Who are you not to be beautiful?  Thank the liberation of Kayla of Freckles in April.

My figure is the opposite of hourglass. My nose is weird from a break when I was a kid. My skin is and has always been a battlefield. My nails are flimsy and sad looking. I have split ends.
But…eh.
The older I get the more difficult it is to summon up my old teenagery angst over my flaws. I’ve learned to dress for my shape. I’ve gotten over my nose. My skin still annoys the crap out of me but I doubt I’ll still be breaking out at age 50 so at least that has an expiration date.
And at some point between the black self-esteem hole of high school and now, I’ve decided that it’s ok to think that I’m beautiful.
For some reason I was always afraid to let myself think so highly of myself. What if I was wrong? What if other people disagreed?
As it turns out, other people are kind of busy with their own stuff so I gave myself permission to think that I’m pretty and awesome and superwoman and a hundred other good things. And, like so many things in life, you become what you think about. As soon as you let yourself think you’re amazing you will be.
Just in case he’s forgotten, I occasionally like to turn to my husband and say, “Aaron? I’m pretty.”
And I am.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Marianne Williamson
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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Anthropologie

10) Her headquartered hometown is Philadelphia
9) Momma company is Urban Outfitters 
8) Siblings are Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN


7) Born 1992 in Wayne Town Pennsylvania

6) That first store sold men’s and women’s clothing
5) Their clothes and styles are geared toward mature, sophisticated demographic (35 +)
4) She is feminine, down country, well traveled, educated

3) Each section of apparel is built around a personality, with its own name and story
2) The housewares are laid out like a home, the more social living room is up front while the more intimate apothecary bathroom and bedroom are towards the back.
1) After seven years of working for Anthropolgie, I’ve retired as a personal shopper
This last number is richly nostalgic and slightly melancholy. 
I remember when Anthropologie and I locked eyes in Newport Beach California, July of 2000.  Tears were cornering in my eyes, I loved her at first sight.  Together we identified an ochre gold cowgirl shirt with snap buttons and piped brick-red trim.  I still have our shirt; I wear it at the cabin, and I sit close to the fire so it will smell like roasted tree logs.  
Pologie and I entered a serious relationship when I accepted a position at the Kierland store in March of 2004.  The forty-five minute commute to work provided proper anticipation.  Every shift greeted me with the smell of the Capri Blue Volcano candle and sound of the First Lady of France (back when she was just a French pop star).   
I’m going to miss the smart, interesting employees, the sweet customers (even the crazy ones), folding the pretty clothes, and the discount.  
But I simply adore my new role as home making executive/directorial secretary of CoVi Industries (a vertical conglormerate corporation providing living essentials for Co-Partners Coco Noelle Bagley & Levi Sims Bagley).
And it frees up some of my time for other ventures.  Like speaking at conferences (HT!H and R&R), professorial teaching (my Wardrobe Strategies class starts this evening), editorial writing, and musing here with you.
And I still get to date my Anthropologie, who knows maybe we’ll find a new cowgirl blouse together. 
What occupation floats in a frothy pink bubble above your head (or what is your dream job)?
Feed me fashionably fresh