Inspiring Women: Sally McGraw: Style and Body Appreciation

Sally’s mission statement for Already Pretty reads in part: “My primary mission is to show that body knowledge gained through explorations of personal style can foster self-love and self-respect.”

Like Ariel who finds “color…where there appears to be none”, Sally seeks inspiration “everywhere,” particularly from fellow fashion bloggers towards whom she is unfailingly generous, as the representation in her weekly Lovely Links post demonstrates.

And Sally’s style, clothes and colors and textures, is impeccable, helped by the clear photography and frequently lovely open air settings she chooses. Whether it’s focusing on a particular piece of clothing as in this essay on blazers, or advising readers where to buy or consign clothes (she places particular emphasis on thrift stores,) Sally offers an endless stream of tutorials and novelty.

Sally’s blog combines great style advice and examples with serious consideration of women's body image. She writes also that through dressing beautifully she began to appreciate her own body. This post includes a generous quote that expresses Sally’s body experience masterfully.

Body Gratitude is an excellent example of Sally’s aims, where she lists ten qualities she appreciates about her physical appearance and capabilities, following a few identifiable disatisfactions.

In response to a feminist documentary that makes her question her focus on clothes and style and body, Sally frames her work: “The point is not to feel beautiful. The point is to feel powerful, capable, invincible. The point is not to feel pretty. The point is that you’re already pretty, and once you’ve accepted that, you free up an enormous amount of mental space for other things. And, in the vast majority of cases, those other things have nothing to do with shoes or moisturizer or nipped-in waistlines. Tools. They’re just tools. Weapons, even. They help you build and craft the external you, so that the internal you can do her work unimpeded.”

Similarly, read the encouragement she gives other women not only to appreciate themselves but to say so out loud:

“Wouldn’t you love to hear more women talking about their amazing legs, fabulous shoulders, and flawless skin? Wouldn’t you feel empowered by overhearing a pack of ladies lauding their superior strength and sensual curves and undeniable grace? … I constantly ask women to cast off their self-focused negativity and accept their own beauty. But it would be equally beneficial to encourage women who have ALREADY accepted themselves as gorgeous beings to say so. Aloud. Declarations of self-admiration and bodily-love are brave and inspirational acts, not indicators of conceit. And we who struggle should acknowledge them as such.”

Sally’s writings on self-care and fitness are equally noteworthy explorations of how her practices sustain her healthy self-image, showing what works for her and ultimately brings her joy that it may help her readers towards something that works for each.

Inspiring Women: Ariel Adkins: Wearing Art

I love fashion. When I was in college, a friend remarked to me that fashion is “art that people are wearing around.” I had no idea what he meant. Ariel taught me differently.

There are many wonderful fashion blogs; however, what Ariel accomplishes with her art-inspired outfits, her juxtaposition of paintings and photographs that show a range and flow of movements, is something quite extraordinary.

Ariel’s knowledge and appreciation of art enables her to draw out particular colors, styles and poses for her compositions. See the results of her influence from Paul Klee here and here. The paintings complement the photographs wonderfully, clearly demonstrating her inspiration. She shows a range of works from the artist to illustrate the significance of the works for her.

With work from the period typically called Abstract Expressionism and the artists influenced by it, Ariel’s outfits and motions really reflect the dynamics of the artworks. See her piece on Twombly with her fantastic paint-splattered trousers. She draws out some heart-burning colors from Rothko in this series. And Ariel makes a wonderful primary-color outfit reflecting Barnett Newman’s images.

Ariel does great things with early 20^th century painters such as Kirchner and Marc, the French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists (see especially her umbrella, shoes and movements and poses by the sea in the former.) Some explore particular themes or subjects of one artist, like Degas’ dancers, Picasso’s guitars, or globes and maps in Joyce Kozloff’s work. It’s a delight to be introduced to previously unknown artists (to me) such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Rufino Tamayo and Ariel’s results are equally stunning.

She’s not limited to painting, as this exceptional series inspired by medieval unicorn tapestries reveals.

At any rate, I’ll leave you with two posts that sum up how inspiring Ariel is. In one, she says, “An important lesson I've learned from art is how to discern color where, at first glance, there appears to be none,” and then goes on to transform the landscape suggested by this particular artist. In another, which may be my current favorite, she quotes Matisse "There are always flowers for those who want to see them," and the flower that is Ariel makes a bold color and texture statement enlivening a grey day.

I also like this short video of Ariel talking about her style inspiration; her voice is sweet and her enjoyment is enchanting.