Comparison Hangovers: The Importance of Keepin' It Real Fashion Ads

Your head is throbbing and you're irritable. You look in the mirror, poking at your puffy eyes and examining the dark circles underneath them. You're totally and completely hungover. Again. Your stomach is tight and you shrink back into bed, nursing Fiji water and asking “why do I do this to myself? I'm too old for this.” Last night was a party, alright. But there was no alcohol involved and in fact, you spent the entire night on your couch alone.

Yep, you spent the night scrolling through Instagram. You see the highlights of everyone's weekend: the parties, the beach, the boyfriends, the seemingly perfect body and impeccable fashion. You drank it all in and now you've got yourself a comparison hangover. Full blown anxiety and fomo with a side of sadness to wash it all down.

Can you relate? I know I can. I have wasted so much time (mostly unaware of the time I'm actually wasting) comparing myself to others and feeling less than enough. We purchase clothes and shoes and pretty much anything that we think will make us feel or look like the ever elusive, more-put-together versions of ourselves. And in fact, advertisers use this fear as a vehicle to convince us to buy things we don’t actually need so we won’t feel subconsciously separated from “the pack”.

The point of this post today is to tell you two things: 1) you already are capable of being your best self right now, today. You're perfectly imperfect. Now I'm not saying that we should ever stop improving, or that treating yourself to a new accessory isn't an amazing feeling (I mean girl I AM in the business of selling jewelry, after all). I just want to remind you to let any post on social media allow you to feel less than worthy. 2) I promise to do my best to KIR (keep. it. real.) and promote healthy and authentic images on my website. It’s very important to me that a woman of any age, size, color, sexual preference, hair style, cat or dog lover, feels accepted in this space

I hope that when you scroll these pages that you feel included. You are not on the outside of some exclusive club of insiders and girls that are cooler than you. YOU CAN SIT WITH US (Mean Girls reference, anyone?) You ARE the cool girl! 

I think there's a new wave coming. A page is turning and women are feeling more comfortable embracing who they truly are. This is so critically important that we stay united in this mission, especially in the age of technology and Insta-comparison at our fingertips. The days of heavy airbrushing, extreme contouring, waist trainers (which are legit traumatizing btw) and generally pretending to be something we're not are slowly fading away. And that's what I want to be a part of.

Why is this so important? For (literally) generations, women have been subjected to unreasonable standards of beauty to gain social acceptance. You can find examples of this in almost every culture, during every time period. There is no comparable amount of scrutiny that is widely placed upon men. And as the emotionally heightened and sensitive creatures that we women are (thank the lawdy lawd lawd for that!), we have undoubtedly allowed this scrutiny to diminish our self worth as individuals. Basically every woman I have ever met will confirm that they've felt this way at one time (usually it's a long battle). Add in the extra pressure of being a minority woman, trans woman, or any other not-the-status-quo type of western woman and it starts to feel like staying empowered in this modern age would be a miracle. I can say one thing for sure, it starts with us women demanding acceptance and creating opportunities for each other. We must set positive and authentic examples for young women. We must start to acknowledge the pressure placed upon us by ads and stereotypes and archetypes and give them the boot. Express yourself in whatever way you want whether it's wearing makeup or not, dying your hair or not, shaving or not- just be you and don't make your choices based on what you see on screens.

This is why I am so committed to KIR. I'm committed to fueling women to feel empowered, and I plan to do that by avoiding extreme editing, by telling uplifting stories, and by using my platform as an artist to be a healthy voice in the fashion market as best as I possibly can.

Will you join me?