Unsatisfactory

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I want to talk about something quasi serious today, but first let's talk about clothes.  I am participating in the Summer Fashion Challenge with the ever so lovely Megan of Megan Mae Daily and Keely from Casual Chic Kiki.Today's challenge was Tribal or Floral print. 

It would have been easier to go floral since I have essentially a freaking garden in my closet, but I've been wanting to wear this dress again since one of my favorite clients brought it back for me from Ghana, where he is from. 

Also, yes, these shoes are part of my new Payless extravaganza. I thought they were super cute, but I was nervous wearing them because they look so freaking uncomfortable (not something that has ever stopped me before . . .), but I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they really were!  And I was about 5' 7" in these babies so . . . WIN!

So today one of all time favorite bloggers Ife of Fashionista Next Door posted about Insecurities and it got me thinking.  If you've clicked on the link you can tell that Ife is a gorgeous woman and it would seem that there was nothing for her to be insecure about.  But . . .

As people in general and women in particular, we have a born and bred natural wishy-washy-ness about our appearances.  There are many reasons and causes that I could go off on (media, other insecure people taking their insecurities out on us to make us feel bad, etc.), but the main focus here is that we all have something (at least one thing) that we feel less than stellar about.

I thought she was really brave to bring this topic up and it made me feel good that she was so honest with her readers.  Some people think that style blogging is all about insecurities--either we as a group are so full of ourselves that we just want to post all these pictures of ourselves on the internet to "show off" or we are so insecure with ourselves that we post a lot of pictures of ourselves to get praise and attention to make ourselves feel better.  I find this interesting because from my experience, we are just a bunch of girls who like and appreciate clothes.  It's simple really.

But the interesting thing with Ife's post is that she put hers right out there in the open!  Things you wouldn't otherwise think she would be insecure about, you realize she was.  What's great about that is that it opens the door for other girls who know where she's coming from to realize that other people feel the same way.  So now I wanna play.  Here are my vain insecurities:

My legs.  I don't know what happened to my legs.  Maybe it's bad diet or bad circulation or something but my legs bruise like none other and usually I have no idea where the bruises come from.  And, after I was pregnant with Conner, I got these sickening little spider webby vains all over the place.  I get really dark tan in the summer, but even dark skin can't hide their vicious ways.

My feet and hands are freaking huge!  I have skinny little fingers and wrists, but those palms are man-ly.  For real.  And I have the widest feet in my family.  My sister and mother are the same size (roughly) as I am and they were 7's.  I am an 8 1/2 or 9.

My teeth.  I hate my smile.  First of all, I have what my son calls "butt teeth" (translation: buck teeth).  My front teeth completely cover my bottom ones.  To add insult to injury, I still have a baby tooth on my top row of teeth, so it looks ridiculous (I've asked about getting it out but there is no adult tooth to replace it and I'd rather have a baby tooth than a gap).  The decade long smoking and drinking coffee brigade certainly hasn't helped either . . . Sigh.

I hate when people call me "skinny".  Seriously.  And I'm not rail thin, but I get the skinny comment all the time.  Some people like to "yeah right" this comment but it is freaking true and here's why: My family is all thin.  It is not in my genes to be a heavy person.  But people always like to make comments about what I am eating.  I happen to love vegetables.  Love them.  But I feel like shit eating them in front of some people because they assume that I am on a diet or something.  I always get the "well eat something!" comment and I'm like "um, I do . . ."  And people make assumptions about my weight that is totally bogus.  I'm sorry.  I am who I am.

So what about you?  Do you have insecurities that you would like to share?  How do you feel about bloggers sharing what they are insecure about with their bodies?  Yay or nay?

Tribal Printed Dress-gifted from Ghana, Africa; Military Vest-Old Navy; Leopard/Red/Black Platform Sandals-Payless; Earrings-gifted; Elephant Cuff-vintage