I am curvy, voluptuous, thick. My stomach is by no means flat. It’s mushy, malleable, full. At times it has been tighter, or a little more firm. But my stomach—like my life—has undulated, accordioned, and shifted with time. Nearly my entire life, I forced my stomach to exist in a vacuum. A siloed section I was afraid to know. That was sometimes related to the way body dysmorphia intersected with the eating disorder I had from ages 11 to 21, sure. Read More...
The way we get dressed every morning is as personal as it gets. There are outfit repeaters, vintage treasure hunters, and even emotional dressers. But while everyone loves a good fashion trend, here at InStyle, we're interested in the deeper stuff, too: the way jewelry makes us feel, the way a beloved coat can spark joy on a cold day, the way a pair of shoes can pull a whole look together. How I Get Dressed unpacks fashion routines, rituals, and go-tos — straight from the fashion tastemakers we love Read More...
In the fourth grade, I won my school’s spelling bee and, as my prize, I received tickets to Akeelah and the Bee, starring Keke Palmer. The quintessential awkward Black girl myself, I was made fun of for being an “oreo” and ostracized. I found comfort in seeing myself represented by another brainy girl who looked like me, and grew confident in my intelligence. I watched and re-watched the film until the scene of her reciting W. Read More...
