My dear CBH Fam,
I hope you have been keeping well and that the year end is coming along nicely. It’s been quite a year hasn’t it? All I hope for everyday is respite for weary souls and a little more understanding between people. Be it 2015 or 2020.
It has been a while since the Halloween post! While the eerieness of those photographs was exactly what I was hoping to capture, it was a last minute decision in all honesty. Halloween and Diwali give me the annual ultimatum of Which festival will you dress for?? My answer to that for 2015 was Neither! Forgoing the usual route of an ethnic top or Punjabi suit, this time I rustled up a festive dress from my Dec 2014 shopping haul and made it work..
Diwali 2015
bardot sleeved dress – Pink Clove, maroon shrug – Marks & Spencer’s earrings – Ankara at Tekka Mall, Little India
My mother who has been doing rather poorly this year had yet another fall a few days after Diwali. She sustained a right hip bone fracture and underwent surgery for a steel placement where the fracture happened. Mom had one too many falls this year which slowed down her walking a fair bit and made her quite miserable with having to manage the pain. Thankfully she is a tough cookie and within two days of surgery she stood on her two feet with the walker but my little family unit was understandably distressed during this period. November passed by in the blink of an eye and I had other things to attend to..so the blogiversary post just did not happen.
What has kept me so busy? For starters I have been writing weekly articles for US online magazine Wear Your Voice. The issues I tackle in those write-ups are diverse and are not limited to ones of a body positive nature. I have written articles from the perspective of being part of the South East Asian and South Asian diaspora. I have penned posts about the agency for body positivity in my region. It’s been a great platform to speak up and I could not ask for a better editor in chief and colleagues. They are so supportive of my pitches and ideas, they encourage me to be outspoken and to harness all that anguish I harbour into words. The team is so dynamic and they discuss topics ranging from politics LGBT issues to intersectional feminism to pop culture. You can check out my latest article pertaining to body image in Asia here.
It’s a learning curve; migrating from writing informally on the blog to penning articles with an air of professionalism. But it feels So Good. Okay I’ve said that already but yes it’s exciting for me 😀
Honestly I would not have made that leap had it not been for my editor-in-chief Ravneet. If she hadn’t reached out to ask me if I was interested in writing for WYV, I might have stayed in my rut. It’s difficult for me to self promote and I know that’s what we have to do in order to get ahead but loves I have not done anything of that sort in my life. It’s hard for me to see my strengths or capabilities like an outsider can, I’m sure some of you know the feeling.
2 weeks into my new post as weekly blogger for Wear Your Voice, I took another leap of faith. I reached out to Velvet D’Amour, whom many of you familiar with the plus size industry would know was The model who walked the runway for Jean-Paul Gaultier in 2007. She is an acclaimed fashion photographer and editor-in-chief of magazine Volup2. She was looking for weekly guest bloggers for her magazine and the chance to work with Velvet was too good to pass up on. I would have been kicking myself if I let my insecurities get to the better of me and let this go. To my surprise, she was enthusiastic about having me on board and you can read my latest article where I interview Corissa of the blog Fat Girl Flow here. I look forward to my weekly write-ups for both magazines and promise to share them here for your reading pleasure 🙂
So as you can see, there has been some settling in to do aside from my personal life. Which unfortunately left my blog unattended but it is a matter of time before I manage it all with more ease.
Before I launch into my Blogiversary Outfit of the Day look, there is another announcement I have to make. A lot of you must be well aware of who Tess Holliday is and her successful Eff Your Beauty Standards movement. (This is when I say, kindly leave your opinions of Tess out of my comments section because I know people are testy about her right now). She was enquiring for bloggers who would be interested in representing Asia along with the rest of the EYBS team. I thought I’d let her know that I would be keen, it is so important to rope Asia into the body positive movement..we have a lot of work ahead of us here. When she signed me on along with the wonderful Harnaam Kaur, it felt surreal that I was doing all these things I had not dared to venture into. Which also means, MORE effective time management!
I Cannot even think about forsaking my blog any longer than I have. I have missed my little nook and it’s just so comforting to write from this space. This is where it all began. What an adventure these 3 years have been!
Righto so Onwards (finally) with my belated blogiversary outfit of the day look that I shot over the weekend :
Can I just say after the weeks of sitting with bed head and my fingers typing away from the laptop, this was a welcome breath of fresh air! There should be a scent concocted that makes you feel exuberant as if you are dresses to the nines because it is a delectable feeling.
I am beginning to veer away from ‘fast fashion’ because of what I am learning about ethical fashion consumerism but I had to wince and get some items from Forever 21 Plus for Nov-Dec because my medical and dental bills were not going to get paid by a mysterious donor (I wish. Actually I don’t. Sounds creepy).
Plus Size Velvet Tonal Sequin Dress in 1X
Rubi black pump heels
Lovisa beaded green earrings
I was in the mood for a glitzy party dress and aside from this number on plus size store Jibri ‘s website that was just far too expensive for me, this mermaid-like number caught my eye.
Not wanting to take attention away from the dress, I opted not to accessorise as much (you must be quite accustomed to my accessocrazynes). But I did go for a bold lip from my LA Splash liquid liner collection. This was from the Hocus Pocussed bundle that was released during Halloween. The shade I am wearing is Til Midnight. Aptly named.
Hurrah! The blogiversary post is done! Ootd posts are just so much fun and I cannot wait to get more done in the near future.
Thank You for the love, the support, the well wishes through my meandering as a plus size woman rediscovering aspects of herself that were previously buried beneath self loathing and fear. I am constantly learning so much and although it can get challenging, I know I am right where I want to be.
Chat Soon 🙂
All my love xxxo
Aarti Olivia
Curves Become Her 