Why I Blog About Plus Size Fashion
I'm not a plus size fashion blogger. And that's totally OK.
Let me start off by saying, I love fashion bloggers. I love them for pushing boundaries and stepping up to represent plus size women at a time when there was a shortage of visual role models out there for women of size. But (and I say this with only a smile in my heart) I'm not a plus size fashion blogger.
plus size fashion inspiration from Sarah Sapora
Venice Beach, California - Photo by Nichole Alex
Whaaat? But you post outfit pictures. And talk about clothes.
Yup. I do. I LOVE clothes. And I have had the immense privilege of working in the plus fashion industry for almost six years. And I LOVE working with models and running photoshoots and crafting engaging and authentic marketing campaigns that help other plus size women to embrace their own love of fashion. Seriously-- I LOVE working in this industry as a professional.For me, this goes a lot deeper than clothes. I blog about life. I consider it my job to talk about the stuff that so many people think and feel yet don't know how to express. If I can talk about my own life in such a frank and intimate way that it helps you to think about YOUR life, than I have done my job. I want to be brave enough to dig deep to show you that you can too. I want to illuminate the common emotional threads between us. Whether it's a fear of aging, the changing of our bodies, accepting of ourselves physically - I want to be a catalyst for you to live a more kind and confident life. My emphasis is not on the clothes. It's about what the clothes can DO for you. How they can make you feel. The doors the open for your heart and spirit.
Here's my secret. Taking pictures of myself is actually kinda hard for me.
plus size fashion inspiration from SarahPlusLife
Photo by Nichole Alex
I'm not naturally a true extrovert.My first photo shoot ever, when I worked as Director of Marketing for SWAK Designs, I told my boss I would take pictures if I could have a good hair and makeup person. If every ex-boyfriend or future ex-boyfriend could Google me, I wanted to look as good as I, personally, could look. Yup, I literally said that. LOL. The decision to be a more public person was actually pretty darn hard for me. It was only when I realized if I could get more comfortable with being
uncomfortable
, that I could maybe do more good in this world than by staying inside my own bubble.I take pictures because of women like Lesley Nick Monroe - a spirited gal from the South who had never embraced her own body and love for fashion until she joined the social media community we had fostered at SWAK. My pics made her feel comfortable enough to take her own pictures. Now? She has opened the floodgate on her love of fashion and grown so much in the years since I met her.I take pictures for the woman who wrote me from the train in England. She had read my blog and it hit her to the core. She saw myself in her and herself in me. And found comfort in that.I take pictures for the woman who emails me and says she never wore a skirt, or dared to bare her arms in public till she saw my picture. And we sort of looked similar. And, if I didn't look so bad than maybe she didn't either. So she stepped out of her comfort zone for the first time in years.I do it because I
know
, that reaching through this blog and creating a connection too you is the way I can make a difference in this world. And, if pictures of me open the door for us to tear down that fourth wall, then I want to do it. So I have the currency to bring up the deep stuff, and you can trust me. That I've been in your shoes. That we can relate to each other. Because, in so many ways, we are the same. And if, together, we can find our ways to more confident, more awesome and kind versions of ourselves, then that can only be a good thing.I am lucky in that my work and persistence has allowed to build some lovely relationships with amazing industry people. Models, bloggers, artists and even some brands. I am SO grateful for these connections. And I am so grateful to have the opportunity to connect with you.Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my social media world.With Love,SarahAbout the LookSeveral people have asked me about this outfit. The top is from Asos Curve! It is no longer available but the do have some other