The Curvy Movement

Hey loves! As Styles by Shay Renae turns one this month, I want to get serious with you for a moment. I know in the past, I've posted a blog about confidence, but this one is different. I wanted to show you guys a little more of who I am and what my purpose for this blog and my styling is. Dive in....

I created this blog and decided to go into modeling/styling to show women of ALL SIZES to love themselves and accept their bodies. SELF LOVE is the greatest gift we can give each other and it's time we start being a little more giving....

We all need to learn to love our bodies more, no matter if we feel like we're too skinny, too fat, too short, too tall, or anywhere in between. At this very moment, your body is what it is. There is no magic trick to give you a "dream body" in the blink of an eye. If you are working out, awesome, but you still need to love your body as it is RIGHT NOW. Whether you believe it or not, there are people who love you for who you are. You owe it to yourself and to them to love YOU in the very same way.

Why am I going on a rant? Because women are dying everyday with homemade butt injections and breast implants, trying to achieve something that was never meant for them. Because they didn't love themselves enough to appreciate their body, they risked everything and lost their lives. There is a war going on in the fashion industry and in the media. They airbrush to hide and cover up natural beauty to make you feel less than because you can't meet their beauty standard. Well, I'm here to say fuck that! Be confident in who you are and what you look like!

I didn't always have the confidence I have now. Hell, I STILL struggle everyday. With my height, I was always the tallest kid (not just tallest girl) in my class. I was awkward and didn't like the birthmark on my left arm (one huge dark spot from the shoulder to the top of my hand). I was curvy as young as middle school, but I didn't see it that way. I saw myself as the "fat girl" in the group and I hated it. Homecomings and Prom gave me constant anxiety because of the mere thought of shopping for dresses. Never being able to wear "junior sizes" because my breasts were too big or because my hips were too wide was enough to drive me to tears on several occasions. By my senior year of high school, I dealt with full blown depression, simply because I hated my body.

Starving myself didn't work. Working out worked for a brief period of time, but I couldn't keep it up. I even thought of seriously hurting myself by contemplating popping pills to get the body I wanted. None of it worked.  Even though people would tell me I was beautiful, I didn't believe it. I just figured they were being nice because.. why tell the fat girl she's fat and ugly? I was living my own personal hell everyday when I looked in the mirror and nobody knew. 

I'm not really sure when things clicked for me. Slowly, subtly, I started to fight back as I got older. I started realizing that I am more than what I look like. I am worth more and I have become more. I started to look at the beauty in myself. Not all at once, but just bits an pieces. I saw the beauty in my eyes first. How they have a slight slant to them and sparkle when I'm happy. My nose, my mouth, my ears, all of me. Piece by piece until I was OK with what I saw in the mirror. Then again and again until I LOVED what I saw in the mirror.

Having a child, a girl in particular, hit home for me. If I didn't love myself, how was I going to teach her how to love herself? If I couldn't be happy with who I was and how I looked, where was she going to get her example? I wanted to make sure I loved who I was everyday so she can see me and know that what she looks like is a work of beauty. This is where my love of fashion began to thrive. I wanted to look my best. I wanted others to feel the joy I felt, so I decided to become a stylist. The more I researched and started to feed from the plate of fashion, the hungrier I got. Now, fashion is what I breathe, it's my passion and purpose (outside of my family, of course). I want to spread this knowledge and experience with women of all sizes, ages, and backgrounds to push the needle forward on the gauge of self love and body acceptance through fashion advice and wardrobe styling.

So why am I telling you all of my business? Simple, I want to make ALL women wake up and love their bodies! I'm letting you inside of who I am as a testimony to show you that you can love yourself despite any flaws you may see. That loving your body is the most valuable act you can make today. Loving yourself is the first step in living your best life!

So join me ladies! I want to see you love your body. I want to see you embrace your body! Using the hashtag #thecurvymovement I want to see your pictures on Instagram! You can @ me using @stylesbyshayrenae so I can see them directly!

 

  Let's start loving ourselves so others can follow in our foot steps... who's with me?

Stay Fab! <3

SBSR

If you would like to seek advice, please be sure to email me at stylesbyshayrenae@gmail.com. I believe that we all have a story to tell and if mine has helped you, I've served my purpose. God Bless, Dolls!

Photo credit to the AMAZING Maravilla by YP Studio