Why I do what I do.

This is one of those posts... the ones that are a long time coming, but probably should have been done a long time ago!  I've been blogging since Big A was little, starting with my first little project, and the whole time, I've been wrestling with why I blog.  It started more as a hobby, and as an announcement that didn't go as planned, and morphed and changed, like so many projects do, until I can finally put a finger on the direction this blog has gone, and is continuing to go.  Here's the most important:

I'm an avid supporter of Fair Trade Fashion, and I love telling other people about the companies I run across, and the amazing good that they are doing across the globe with the dollars spent on some beautiful products. Part of that is my personality.  I love finding a way to bring together things that seem to contradict each other, such as faith and fashion, and make them work together.  I had the privilege of hearing Dave and Mel Murray from JOYN and Dehradun Guitars talk about what they do, and why they do it, and let me tell you something: supporting this company, and the many others like it, is supporting God's work.  There is no other way to put it, but I'll back up that statement with a verse:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27, NIV)"

You should explore JOYN's website.  Read the stories of their artisans, and be amazed at the beautiful stories that come out of a country filled with areas of complete poverty and pain.  But, there's a reason I decided to make this blog about so much more than just Fair Trade clothing.  There are some great blogs that focus solely on this area of the fashion industry, such as Let's Be Fair, and the lovely Dominique does a great job of explaining why she supports that industry in this post.

There are a few more reasons, or myths as I'll call them, that inspired me to expand the blog to include my Outfit and Thrifted Pinterest posts.  It's not because I enjoy taking pictures of myself either, although I do enjoy taking and posting the pictures of my kids in the Kidlet Style posts!  Trust me, the "outfit putting together-ing" that I do for myself is a lot of fun (I even managed to pull together an outfit yesterday that was made up of items that were all free!), but the picture taking?  Not so much.  It's even worse if there's neighbors outside.  I haven't had to have the awkward "why are you and your tripod hanging out on your front porch?" conversation yet, but I'm imagining it will go as awkwardly in real life as it does in my head! ("so, I, um, take pictures of myself and post them on the internet.  yes, I AM fully clothed.  no, I don't get paid for it.  yes, it's kind of weird....)  So here are the myths that I'm trying to debunk by blogging:

1. You have to be rich to enjoy fashion/have nice clothes. - um, no?  I try to make it a point to keep all my outfits that I throw together under $50, unless there are fair trade items included. And I love playing with fashion!  I love the drama of a ball gown, the happiness of a playful print, or the fun surprise of an unexpected silhouette.  But, I have to keep a lid on buying everything I like, because otherwise the rent might not get paid!  Pretty much everything in my closet is either over 5 years old, from the clearance rack, given to me, or thrifted (and sometimes repurposed!).  Which brings me to my second myth:

2. Everything at thrift stores is too old/ugly/junky to be fashionable. - Once again, not true!  You may have to invest in a little bit of time to dig through the racks, but there are so many cute things that are donated!  Plus, if you just never find anything you want at the local Goodwill, there are usually local consignment and resale shops, such as Plato's Closet, that sort through the items brought to them to check for stains or holes, and that pick newer and trendier items to re-sell on their racks.  In the same vein:

3. If you can't afford Fair Trade/ethically produced clothing, give up and buy the first cute thing you find at the mall. - Seriously?  Thrift and resale stores.  I think that's all the discussion that point needs. Actually, I take that back.  Sometimes, you may have to find something specific at a low price, like a white button-down shirt.  For something like that, I would probably still check your local thrift shops, but if there's not one that will suit you, find one at the best price you can afford.  Since it's a 'staple' that will probably get a lot of wear for a long period of time, that's probably something you want to buy specifically for your needs. Remember: buy less, and buy better.

Here's the biggest myth that I've had to struggle with myself:

4. You can only be fashionable/care for yourself/have a fashion blog/etc. if you are young, skinny, and/or don't have kids. - This one gets to me.  I'm not a confident person when it comes to dressing my body.  I went through a time when I dressed to get attention from members of the male gender, before that I changed how I dressed because I was teased mercilessly for my sense of style (or lack thereof), and even now, I dress to cover up perceived 'flaws' that my body has after bearing and birthing two kids.  I wish that those insecurities would just evaporate, and leave me content with the earthly body that God gave me to enable me to do His work.  As I've heard described so many times before, humility is not thinking less of yourself (or your body), it's thinking of yourself less.  Less time berating myself because I had a second cookie and now my jeans don't fit means so much more time wrapped up in HIM!  Less time not wanting to leave the house, and staying in my sweatpants because I'm having a 'fat day' could mean more time building relationships and friendships with the people around me because I'm focusing on them instead of how I think I look.  Less time scrutinizing my photos to choose the ones to post that don't show off my 'extra fluff' means more time away from my computer screen and playing with my kids.

There are about a million more reasons that I could go into for why I blog, but I have a baby who wants food, and a three year old who needs a nap, so that'll have to wait!  I think I covered the major points I was going for.  Feel free to leave me any feedback or questions in the comments!