When I was a little girl, I thought that looking good was about making sure you looked as much like Barbie or a model on a magazine, as possible.

I was very enamored with the all of these women that were portrayed so flawlessly.

As I got older, I began to realize just how different I was from the women that I had so looked up to. My hair was not long or blonde, my eyes were not blue and my frame was much curvier than theirs.

Yet no matter how hard I tried, it was extremely hard to find inspiration from girls and women that looked like me. This, undoubtedly begins to affect you on a deeper level. For some unknown reason, I began to think something was wrong with ME!

But thankfully, in my heart of hearts I knew the problem wasn’t me at all, the problem was that I needed to be my own inspiration before I could look to anything else outside of me for it.

I closed my eyes one day and thought: How do I want to feel? How do I want to look? What does beautiful look like to me?

Those questions and the answers to those questions have led me to do the work I do today; create personalized style for amazing women changing the world. Those questions are really all that matter when it comes to your personal style.

You have to get super personal with the person you really are, free of anything or anyone’s expectations of who you should be.

Take yourself on a date and do the things that really fill you with joy and wonder. Pay close attention to the things that make you smile and also to the things that make you crazy. Dare to accept every single part of you . . . even the parts of you that you wish were different.

And most importantly, show yourself some love!
Admire your features, your body, your talents, your ‘short-comings,’ your heritage, your brilliance.

Then write it all down!

Write EVERY. SINGLE. THING you discover about yourself down on paper, and come back and read it again, and again, and again, because that my dear, is YOUR story.
THAT is what makes you like no other human being on this earth.
THAT is what great style is made of.

Sure, glossy magazines, big designers and hot runway shows can help you add a little spice to your style.
But the truth is, great style is about capturing the greatness of the person wearing it.

So as you begin to curate your style during this month of love, start by showing and giving love to the person who deserves it most . . . YOU!

xo
Elsa