Electrum

mixing hardware, as per usual.

chiffon blouse, american apparel / velvet leggings, american apparel / boots, madewell / everything else, vintage

left: bracelets, j.crew / key ring, forever 21 / silver band, flea market / oval ring, h&m

right: watch, marc by marc jacobs / silver cuffs, vintage / rings, h&m

For a few days now, I've contemplated not using these photographs for an outfit post. I actually really, really love this outfit and it's one of my favorites I've thrown together this past month or so, yet I was still hesitant about posting them. Why, you may ask? To put it shortly, I think my body looks unappealing. This is a subject that I've wanted to touch upon for quite awhile, though I never really took the time to write out all the things that were on my mind. I think it's important that I open up about this because a lot of women go through the exact same thing on a daily basis. 

First of all, please don't compliment me on or talk about my weight, because it's not something that I want anyone to do. This is a post about body image in general; I'm just using myself as an example. I've had a body image problem for quite some time now. These past few months I've been trying to view myself differently, though before this change I was constantly judging myself. Every single day I would look in the mirror and think, "you look disgusting". Because of these daily thoughts, my general mood was dimmed and I began to view myself as inadequate and downright gross. At the time, I never realized what a problem this mindset had caused. 

Flash forward to just a few months ago, when I realized these negative judgments needed to stop (thanks to the constant reassurance of my boyfriend and a close friend of mine). Instead of looking in the mirror and thinking negative thoughts, I began saying to myself, "you look beautiful today". Boy, what a difference this small change made. Instead of feeling down, my mood was brightened and I began to care less and less about my body type. (Of course, there are occasions when my self-conscious habits advance, such as not wanting to post these photographs, though I try to make sure my rationale has the upper hand.) 

As I said, I know a ton of women (and probably some of you!) go through these same internal battles every day. Obviously this is a subject that people talk about all the time, but I wanted to convey this through my blog as well. I want all of you to know that I think making judgments of people based off of body type is just wrong. Why should it matter what your body looks like as long as you feel good? Whatever your body type: thin, average or a bit curvy, I'm sure you're all beautiful in more than one way. Don't look down on yourself like I did; embrace your figure! 

(the reason for titling the post "electrum" is because the Pyramids at Giza were once capped with a mixture of gold and silver metals, known as electrum.)