Fresh Perspective.

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I’m pretty much the worst at finishing my magazines. I purchase them with the intention of doing a super cool flat lay for Instagram, finding some new style inspiration and all that other good stuff. However, that typically never happens. Determined to change my ways, I just completed InStyle’s March magazine yesterday. And yes, it took me nearly three weeks. While I did not capture the most perfect flat lay (too much work), I did manage to read nearly every article. I would say that’s a HUGE success!

One of the articles I read was by the one and only Leadra Medine! If you don’t know who she is, look her up. She’s basically the queen of unique style and one of the first notable “bloggers.” Begin an Original was the title of the article and just a few sentences into reading she shared a statement that has literally rocked my style core:

“Style is a monologue, a conversation you have with yourself.”

Pretty good, right? I feel like that’s one of those quotes that impacts individuals differently. For me, I interpreted it as, DO YOU. It may not be the norm or maybe it is, but it’s your monologue, so do as you wish. Growing up as a ballet dancer, dance was such an inherent part of my ability to communicate my feelings. I could dance as gracefully or aggressively as I needed to and or wanted to, to tell my story. However, since giving up dance nearly 5 years ago, in some element, I think that ability to freely self-express my emotions died. It wasn’t an intentional death, but more or less, just unsure of how to still feel alive and share myself as one medium so perfectly allowed me to do. Over the past several months, I’ve been on this journey of discovering myself stylistically. It’s felt nothing short of exciting and freeing. I finally understand that fashion, more specifically style, is my means to self-express. Some days I can have an expression that is loud with bold, colorful and exciting juxtaposition (such as this look above) or other days I can tell a muted and less colorful story. The bottomline is that it is my monologue. There are no rules, but daily opportunities to express freely and style a story that is your own.

Get The Look: 

• Old Navy Pintuck Swing Dress 
• Old Navy Sweater 
• Zara Ankle Boots (OLD, Similar HERE)
• Aerie Bandana 
• Celine Sunglasses
• Michael Kors Watch 
• Urban Expressions Handbag
• LIPS: Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick: Dolce (#02)