Be Yourself, Make a (Fashion) Statement

I'm going to start this post off by saying that I have wanted to write about this every day for the past 15 years or so, but I didn't want to just write the post....I wanted to live it and learn from it as well. In order to be affective when writing about this particular subject, I had to sit back and think about the last time that I felt comfortable wearing any piece of clothing that showed my leg braces (i.e. shorts, dresses, capris, skirts, etc.).


When I thought long and hard about this, the answer didn't shock me near as much as I thought it would. I didn't have the 'aha' moment that I was hoping for. It seems this all started when I turned 15. I know you're all as shocked as I was to discover that a 15 year old girl would be concerned about the way she looks in front of her peers; especially, when it's so obvious that this girl was already different in so many ways from her peers.

So for the past 15 years, I’ve been steadily making sure that my prom dresses, graduation dress, college formal dresses, and even my wedding dress were long enough to cover my leg braces, and the tennis shoes that I am forced to wear with them in hopes that people would forget that I am different. Not to mention the fact that I can count on one hand the amount of times that I have worn a skirt or shorts in the past 15 years. That’s saying a lot from a woman who has lived in Jacksonville, FL during the summer. Why? What in the hell would make me think that this would make my difference go away or be any less obvious? Why would I want my difference to be any less obvious? It’s obviously made me into the person that I am today.

For the past year, I have been doing A LOT of work. I’ve been working to lose the extra weight that I gained when I had my daughter. This has been a big goal of mine because under all that extra weight is the heart of the person that I used to be. I’m happy to say that one year later, I have lost a total of 20 pounds, and I am on my way to finding that inner peace again. In the past few weeks I have also began to wear dresses again. I no longer think of my leg braces as an embarrassment, but as accessories now. If others think wearing Ugg boots with a dress makes a fashion statement, then why can’t my leg braces and tennis shoes do the same?

So, I’m going to leave you all with this quote from Isaac Bashevis “What a strange power there is in clothing.” From now on, I won’t be a slave to my clothing. Instead, I’ll use it to empower myself. That is my promise to you. Think about what clothing means to you and whether or not you give it too much power in your own life. Are you a slave to name brands? If so, ask yourself why. If it’s because you love the clothing and it makes you feel good about yourself, then keep on keeping on. If it’s for other reasons, examine those and ask yourself if you need to make a change. In the end, yours is the only opinion that matters.