talk about a fashion GLOW- UP! || my modest fashion journey
Hey, Hey, Heyyyyy!! I’m telling everyone up front that this post is going to include some very embarrassing pictures. Pictures that I didn’t ever think I would bring up to the surface ever again. But for the sake of B E I G E and for the sake of everything else, I guess there can be an exception. After all, if you’re taking the time to read my blogs, then I consider you a very special person. Well what are we waiting for? Let’s get to it!
Where do I start…. Going into a lifestyle that was centered around everything being modest, it wasn’t always easy for me to pair outfits. I knew what I wanted and what I envisioned but many times it was hard to deliver. Not to mention my sewing was not so good back then. I actually didn’t like sewing a lot during that time because I would focus so much on just wanting it to be done, instead of enjoying the process. I skipped corners and chose to hide mistakes instead of taking the extra time to fix them. (Honestly, this is a separate blog post in itself.) So how did I go from someone who didn’t know how to dress (if I’m being honest) to someone who did? That’s a very simple answer: PRACTICE. To be an expert in anything you need EXPERIENCE. With experience comes a ton of practice and that’s how it all started. I was insecure from the beginning. I wore clothes just to be clothed and I didn’t find joy in it. Then there was this stage where I was like “okay, well if I have to dress modestly, let me try to start making an attempt.” And this… was that stage. I would say that I definitely was more confident in myself but outwardly, I still felt like I had a ton of work to do.
Welcome to my closet of embarrassment….
Okay so here’s the thing. One of the first few outfits that I wore (that I had made) was to a church convention. I have pictures with my coat on so I’m assuming it was the End Of Year Convention at HQ in Philly yyeeeaaarrrsssss ago. So from the start I figured that anything stretchy was what I “wanted”. Because in the modest world, the more stretch you have then technically the more movement. And I needed more movement. The pictures below are the outfits that I wore. You can clearly see that I even wore the same headwrap throughout because at that time I was still struggling to figure out how to master them especially when my hair was in flat twists underneath. I did A LOT of protective styling back then because it was easier to throw scarves and hats on if my hair was pretty much “done”. The first picture you see with me in neutral tones and black was the outfit I made. It’s okay I guess. Especially with that being years ago, I can proudly say, “I made thattttt.” And back then, to me, it was a success to be celebrated. I did well coordinating my colors but the structuring and silhouette of my outfit was weak. Very Weak. Looking at it now, the outfit was way too “droopy.” In other words, there’s too many things that are hanging or flowing. The belt I have is perfect because it doesn’t take away from the outfit at all but when it comes to the lace “shawl” I have over the black long sleeve shirt, I probably should’ve found a different way to style it. Or another alternative would have been to wear something less flowy on the bottom. So basically, wear a different skirt…. But the outfit does pair well with the accessories I chose. Including the beige watch on my left wrist.
If you look close enough you can see the raw edges of the shawl that I refused to hem. You can see the bunchy seams at the color block part of the skirt at the bottom. It doesn’t have that smooth, flawless look. And if you look really really close, you can see that I was wearing black shoes underneath. But you see that reflection? That means I had to be wearing shiny black flats and shiny black flats would NOT have gone with this outfit at all. I should’ve chosen something with a matte, material finish instead but hey, what’s done is done. (placing the shrug emoji here)
All in all, it’s not horrible… but the execution of my horrible headwrap and structure choices would have made it look a lot better for sure. Looking at the outfit ,front-facing, I look like a human rocket ship ready to take off like what the actual world was I thinking???
This next picture is another picture from the same convention. One of the same problems I had previously was my headwrap for one. I just was not doing something right lol. I make them really good now but back then… nuh uh. The belt in this picture I MADEEEEE. It’s just a very thick piece of elastic that I sewed buttons on and attached via buttons in the back. The back looked a mess though, so that’s why it’s not visible in my outfit. I would say the colors are okay. Going for a Maroon-ish type vibe with floral touch. The structure of this outfit is a little bit better than the last one but still not on point. My shoes are full floral which honestly I don’t hate because I love making a statement. And I LOVE a pop of COLOR and PATTERN. The skirt that I’m wearing my sister actually made instead. It was this nice satin-ish-silky material. It was pretty comfortable too. I’m wearing the beige watch again becauseeee that’s the only watch I had at the time lol but it kinda goes so I don’t have a problem with it.
Color block central… well kinda. I was still getting into the whole idea of “cutting and pasting”. This outfit was one of my faves because my outfit wasn’t super flowy but I still had plenty of room to walk. My headwrap looks a little better… or maybe it’s the angle LOLL. I’m smilinggggg. Anddd I’m rocking another belt that I made along with the black top I made as well underneath the black blazer that I’m wearing. Long story short. This was a maxi racerback dress that I bought from Rainbow a while ago and it was too snug around my backside. So what did I do? I created the black top to cover the lil snugness in the back for one. Two, I cut the top part off of the dress along with some midsection and used some of that material to make the belt OHHHHHH and the bag I made too. Omg yall, I made a bag to go with it. I hope I can find some pics for y’all but I just remembered I made my own handbag for this outfit too!!!! There’s many things I like about it but mostly the silhouette. It’s very together compared to the past outfits I wore.
Okay next picture…. I’m getting better! Still have the beige watch though lolllll. I guess I just felt that it went with everything. My skirt choices were getting better and I was learning how to pair different materials, lengths, and colors together. I was also getting better with my head wraps and how I styled my hair.
Okay for this one I’m laughing because if you look really closely you can see a close wardrobe malfunction. Firstly, I have no idea why my face looks like that, all scrunched up and stuff, but whatever. Secondly, I’m wearing the watch again lolllll. What was it with this watch? The bag that I’m styling, I MADEEEEE - Out of this really cool suede material. The blue cropped shirt was one of many but I think it looks very nice paired with the yellow circle skirt that I made. If you look at my waistline, you can start to see a darker shade below, kind of, at an angle to the left…..
That’s my slip underneath lolll. I used to wear these silk slips that didn’t fit me at all and I had to pin underneath EVERYTHING. You can see it’s very loose. It never came off though… but God forbid if it did!
And lastly, my haiirrrrr. I was really getting into styling my hair
out in an afro style. I was just so into my natural hair at this
point that I just wanted it to be OUT and FREE. Any scarf would do, to just wrap around the top of my hair and I’d pick the rest out. Clearly, my afro has grown a lot since then.
This next picture is just a fun one for laughs. I. Finally. Got. All. My. Hair. Underneath. A. Baseball. Cap! I did it! I finally did it! I mean I probably had to keep adjusting it but I did it! Major Accomplishment for sure.
Next picture please! Okay, this was a statement piece for me in so many ways. I was going for the “Oh, I’m so bad” look. (figuratively speaking of course!) I found this cotton material with birds on it and I was like… never seen anyone wear a skirt like this before! Let me go for it! And I did! This is a pleated skirt and back in the day I had no patience for it so my sister made it for me. I wore my favorite black blazer jacket with a white-t underneath. I had these dope mirror image sunglasses that went ever so perfectly with the entire outfit. The structure of it, again, was so much better than my previous outfits a few years ago so I was really growing and feeling myself a little. I actually started thinking, “hey, I actually look good.” I loved the headwrap style for this outfit because having a section of my hair up like this was very cool and different to me. I loved it a lot and looking at this picture right now, I still do!
The younger version of me would’ve ignored this picture because of my smile. “Oh, no my crooked teeth are showing.” okay… so what? I can own it now… back then I lowkey was very insecure about it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this outfit. Why? Because I just felt so DOPEEE. Ironically, it was raining A LOT that day and I just had to wear all white, shoes included. But I absolutely loved this hoodie. This was when I just started college and found this new confidence about me.
One of my favorite things to wear in my college dayzz were hoodies! And this hoodie was one of my favesss. I paired it with a white racerback maxi dress that I wore underneath. I also wore white sneakers with it, more like tennis shoes-styled. If I were to wear this outfit again I would definitely wear it with chunky shoes instead.
I’m putting this picture in here because I was really in my element lol. My statement bomber jacket and favorite t-shirt!
Honestly, I loved this outfit for two reasons. One, my small circular sunglasses that I wore with it. Two, the yellow sweater that I bought from ROMWE. My buns were cute too, however a little uneven when it came to placement smh. I’m wearing a new watch! It’s not the beige one lolll.
Putting this picture solely because of the belt I made. I was really making these waist belts back to back. This one was one of my favorites too!
This is a picture for simplistic purposes. At this point in my life I had managed to find clothes to wear on my downtime. I was able to find skirts and tops that I could easily pair together to be comfortable. It might not look like much but it’s a lot beyond words. Years ago you would’ve found me in a more baggy flowy skirt and I have no idea about the top part smh. That’s how bad it was but I had a glow up for sure. I could own the fancy Nae, the dope Nae, the Trendsetter Nae and the Comfy Casual Nae.
Now this outfit is a favorite of mine because of one thing… the suspenders! I had never worn suspenders before so it was new and fun! I used the yellow shirt underneath to be my accent pop of color. Everything else was black. I wore this leather jacket too with zippers on the pockets and a trimmed collar. It was my first time wearing a hat as well because I was always the one to go for scarves.
It was the first time I wore a hat like that and it felt good. Fun fact: I took pictures and videos of this outfit in the shower because it was the only place that had all white and bright lights lol. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
I love bomber jackets!!
Oh before we get into the next photo, how’s the ride so far? I know I’m jumping in a lot of places right now but that’s the beauty in a glow up!
Okay let’s continue. Bomber Jacket. I had found this awesome maroon bomber jacket and I was like, “I have to have it.” Do I still have it? No. But it was fun while it lasted. The 90’s shirt that I'm wearing, I MADDEEEE. Thinking about it now, I should probably put more 90’s apparel on my website. Hmmm, good thought. I wore this outfit with high top sneakers and bright white laces. I was really into wearing my hair out or in buns so I wore scarves pretty much all the time. I added a bandana to top it off.
Anddd this brings me to one of my all time favorite statement pieces. My crazy but together, pattern and color block outfit. Let’s start from the bottom and work our way to the top. A tan/brown maxi dress that I wore underneath. It came with splits in it so I had to sew up both sides if you can see. Next is the yellow top. I love this because it has a lot of movement in it while also keeping it’s structure which is great. My belt, I made. It’s elastic and I added all the gem pieces onto it in the design I wanted. Next is the jackettttt. I loved this jacket. The pattern is very beautiful and bold. The cut of it makes it super sophisticated. And to top it off, I wore my yellow sunglasses which are still one of my favorite accessories to this day. I also wore tan flats to even out the outfit.
Although these outfits only brush the surface, I have a ton more outfits to share with you that contributed to my stylish glow-up. I don’t want this post to be super long, so I will have to do a part 2 for this. If you liked this blog, don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list! Follow me on Instagram to keep up with my fashion and trends. Who couldn’t use a bit of inspiration!