When I think about how my style has evolved in the last 5 years I get amazed about the change. After college I wanted to get out of my self-imposed uniform of jeans, polo shirt and a sweater so I began working on bringing out the different sides of my personality in my personal style; my favorite being the most obvious. I bought pieces not because it it happened to fit and cover my body but because they were what I wanted to express of myself.

Fashion, and more importantly style, is about who you want to be, dressing the way you like and owning it. For me this also includes challenging widely accepted beauty standards  that advertise ideal beauty so it is nice to know that there are brands that are willing to help push against this as well.

Lane Bryant gifted me this tee  to join them in their mission to inspire women to show the world what  real, strong, beautiful women look like by sharing pictures that represent our truest selves using the hashtag #ImNoAngel.  When it comes to a look that defines my truest self black leather, boots, and lace immediately come to mind and I love the fact that Lane Bryant decided to relaunch this campaign in the fall so that this style could truly shine.Because of the gold text of this graphic tee, my mind immediately went to styling a dressy look so I paired tee with this scuba midi skirt that I recently got from shopping Jonquel’s closet. (More on that coming soon.) It’s structured and  flared silhouette is very much like the skater skirts I love to wear, however, the length really elevates the look. While I wanted to keep the I decided to mix textures with my velvet faux button booties, a subtle nod to my art historian, and cropped faux leather jacket. The look came together with the addition of a gold skinny belt, choker and bold burgundy red lips.

Overall this is an unexpected head turning look and I love it so much.  It is celebrating my body positive journey as well as pushing for change in the fashion industry. I am no angel and this is me.

~Get the look~

Faux Leather Cropped Moto Jacket Women Plus (Size 18) | Lane Bryant (similar here)

Faux Leather Choker With Triangle | Lane Bryant

#ImNoAngel Graphic Tee (Size 14/16) | c/o Lane Bryant

Scuba Circle Midi Skirt (Size 1) | Fashion to Figure
Faux-Button Booties | Dolce by Mojo Moxy via DSW (similar here)

It took me a while to acknowledge the fact that my life  experiences are actually worth sharing so that others can be inspired, in fact it was writing posts here on this blog that revealed this to me.  So when I was approached earlier this year to submit a chapter for this amazing book project entitled”Real Women’s Stories” I took a chance. It is an inspiring anthology of women stories, written by women, with the goal of helping women as 50% of the proceeds go towards funding the Women’s empowerment nonprofit, 4 Real Women International, INC. and their initiatives. I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it with my own  chapter entitled, “A Genuine Smile.”

We managed to meet our crowdfunding campaign goal this week, but can can still  order a copy of the book on Amazon and on the Real Women’s Stories website. For more updates on this project follow Real Women’s Stories on Facebook. Thanks for the support!