Beauty is Pain...but it's worth it...sometimes!

I know we've all heard the term, "Beauty is pain". I want to explore and discuss why women feel that it's necessary to sacrifice comfort for what looks good.

I'm guilty of this myself. I mean what girl hasn't worn 5 and 6 inch stilettos because they were FIERCE, just to have sore feet by the end of the night? The thing is, the pain is only short lived so it's worth it...right? My shoe philosophy is "The higher the heel, the better the shoe looks"!

But it's not just shoes that we go through pain for the sake of beauty. There's all types of crazy surgical procedures: breast augmentations and reductions, face lifts, brow lifts (all types of lifts), nips and tucks, liposuction, etc. Hey, men do it too...can we say, Gynecomastia (enlarged male breasts). At the end of the day, these things make people feel better about themselves and more beautiful. My concern is for some of the bad things that can happen during surgery and the health issues that one can have later. I'm not going to preach about the risks that are taken but I do want to say, please if you are considering getting plastic surgery, DO YOUR RESEARCH! Or else, you'll end up looking like this:

The issue of going through some form of pain or discomfort goes all the way back to the 16th Century when Elizabethan women wore uncomfortable corsets and undergarments to look thin and more shapely.

"The iron corset must have been exceptionally uncomfortable and heavy to wear and could only have been worn by Elizabethan ladies not doing any form of heavy work. Their only benefit seems to be that they produced the incredibly small waisted, elongated flat chested smooth line torso. "

Early Corsetry: Fashion History By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com

In the past, women went through more extreme measures of portraying what was considered beautiful at that time. Crazy, horrible things such as: elongating and flattening the head, stretching the lips with metal rings, induced large eyes with deadly plants and binding feet as stated in Beauty is Shape  by Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com.

I'm very happy and grateful to be living in a much more open and free era. If women choose to alter their appearance, it's their choice and not a requirement. I think I'll just stick to the 5 inch stilettos!

"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."
-  Pierre Auguste Renoir

 

Inner Fashionista

I always feel bad when some women feel like they have no sense of style. Usually this type of thinking leads to them not even trying to make an effort. I find this unacceptable. I'm a true believer that all women have an "Inner Fashionista"! She just needs help embracing and unleashing her.

"What I often see is that people are scared of fashion — because they're frightened or insecure, so they put it down...There is something about fashion that can make people very nervous," said Anna Wintour in "The September Issue".

I happen to agree with Anna on this. I do feel that in general, we are afraid of what we don't understand. It may seem trivial or even shallow, but dressing well is extremely important. To me, your appearance says a lot about you as a person. For example, if I were walking down the street and saw a woman (or man) that looked disheveled, like they just got up and rolled out of bed, I couldn't take that person seriously. It tells me that they really don't care about how they are viewed...and not to mention it just looks BAD! 


Ladies, THERE ARE NO EXCUSES...WE HAVE OPTIONS!! Tons of options! There's never an excuse to look bad. Even on a budget, we can look like a million bucks. All it takes is some effort. A plain t-shirt and jeans can be transformed into something chic with a jacket, heels and some jewelry. Actually, just accessories alone, can turn a drab outfit into something fab!


If you don't know where to start, pick up some fashion mags like: InStyle (my fav!), Elle, W, Vogue, etc.  Grab a friend that you can trust to go shopping with to help pick out different looks. Try out a few and see what works for you. The key is to make an effort! Don't be afraid...DISCOVER YOUR INNER FASHIONISTA AND BE FABULOUS!!


Smooches
iT Girl Forever