Fluffy Grl Summit

Hello lovelies, sorry for the delay in posting but here I am J  So I was invited to join this year’s Fluffy Girl Summit held on Mizzou’s campus as a panelist.  It was flattering that someone thought of me enough so say "hey I think Mimi will be a great candidate".  I drove up the morning of and was already a little worried because it was storming pretty badly and of course, it is hard to get people to attend an event when the weather is crappy.  I wanted everything to go right for this group of young women.  I already met two of the young ladies several months ago and was so excited to see and support them.  I finally get there at 2pm and the show starts at 4pm.  The helper and model in me hurries to the back room to see if the girls need my help.  I know that majority of them do not know me but I know how stressful it can be backstage.  They handled everything quite well and only asked for a little help here and there, but they definitely wanted me to have a seat and relax.

Its 3:30 and the door opens, the guests have a seat and patiently wait for the show to start.  Tyler, the host of the evening was hilarious and a great addition to the event that had the entire audience laughing.  The time has come and the first set of ladies grace the runway.  They separated each part of the show into categories (1) business, (2) evening wear, (3) spring, (4) pop-out season (lol), (5) beachwear, and (6) lingerie.  I loved the confidence in the ladies especially those that were chosen for beachwear and lingerie segments of the fashion show.  It takes a lot of courage to get out on the runway and strut them curves but it is a whole other story when you are showing off them curves for the world to see.  They had fun and that’s all that mattered.  They showed the audience that they love the skin that they are in and probably inspired other young women to do the same.  Like I always say, “You only have one life, so why not love all that makes you, YOU!”  

** Ladies during Evening Wear Segment**

During each break in between the six different categories, Tyler kept us entertained with his jokes and dance moves, he even brought up a young little fella (like 2 years old) that was absolutely adorable.    Mid-way through the event, Tyler explained the images that were displayed on a screen on the wall opposite of the runway.  It was a slideshow of the ladies included in this event wearing swimsuits, under garments, and some nude with the special parts covered.  It was fantastic and loved that the ladies had the power within themselves to take the photos to share with the participants.  They truly are inspirational and a much needed group of women on Mizzou’s campus. 

** Ladies during Lingerie Segment**

At the end of the fabulous runway show, they provided lunch for all the participants, which was super nice and asked everyone to come back into the room and eat and stay for the panel discussion.  There were four panelists and loved that I was a part of this great event.  Kelsey Hammond is a photographer and a business owner, Sylvia Jauregui is the current Residential Coordinator of Center Hall on Mizzou’s campus, Yvonne Chamberlain is the current Director of Leadership, Programming, and Diversity at Stephens College and then there was Me.   We sat on the stage as we were asked questions from Tyler as well as the audience.  It was a great discussion about the plus size community, the locations that we shop, what being a fluffy girl means to us, how we felt about plus size starting at a size 8, and even spoke about dressing for your curves and what is right for your body.  It was nice to be able to share our advice with the crowd and answered some fabulous questions from those in the audience.

**Ladies during Pop-Out Segment**

The ladies over the event took the panelists to dinner a couple of hours after the event was over and it was nice to be able to sit and relax and get to know the ladies a little bit more.  We dined and shared stories and I showed the girls the pictures that I took of them strutting on that runway.  At the end, it was sad knowing that I was not going to see majority of them until next year.  As we were about to leave the table, the ladies presented a gift to the panelists who attended dinner and expressed their appreciation for our participation in the event.  It was a beautiful bracelet that was made by some of the Mizzou students.  It was very touching and so thoughtful.  Overall, the event was great and I am super duper proud of my boo Briona Conway, she represented on that runway and was quite the leader backstage.  It was so nice to see Joniece Cooper again and was great to meet all the ladies of the night!  I am happy and honored that I was able to be a part of such a great and well-needed event.  I cannot wait until next year’s Fluffy Girl Summit!

** Ladies during Beachwear Segment**

**Me and my Boo Briona at Dinner**

Weight Shaming

From time to time, I come across pictures that wakes up the tamed beast inside of me.  Pictures that express hatred for women of all walks of life (such as: tall, short, curvy, skinny, photoshopped, not photoshopped, makeup, no makeup, natural, not natural, vegan, non-vegan, etc.)  I have not even touched up race, which could be a whole other story.  The crazy part is the ones expressing the hatred are of the same gender.  Why must we as women degrade others?  There is so much crap going on in the world, so wouldn't it make more sense to lift each other up? 

** Photo of the 19th Amendment**

What frustrates me the most is that during 1848 to 1920, women fought tirelessly for the right to vote.  It was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18 (my birthday) 1920 (not the year just the day, lol).  The 19^th amendment guaranteed all American women the right to vote.  Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest.  Several generations of women suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution.  Only a few early supporters actually lived to see the final victory in 1920.  And here we are with all of our weight bashing and various forms of discrimination.  Thousands of questions run rampantly in my mind: How is it that we as women who have come so far in life, now have to be concerned with a label or being placed in a box or category against other women?  When did we stop uniting and start fighting? How can people be so judgmental? Why can't we accept people’s choices in life?

** Picture was created by a weight shamer during Fat Shaming Week, yes you heard me**

In this world of social media, it is easier for those women to bash other women faster than ever before! With such hate virtual mail passed around through various social media platforms, many women find themselves vulnerable to eating disorders.  I have personally seen women on both sides of the spectrum that ended up with detrimental health conditions and some who even died from it.  With so many women struggling with eating disorders, there are even more out there that thrive on the weak.  This weight shaming movement is a serious act of self-hate.  Who died and made these weight shamers and shamers in general, God?  They are taking pain from within and reflecting it on others knowing that they too deal with a body issue that they can't quite handle.  They hate on others because they really hate something about themselves.  Weight is the last acceptable version of discrimination.  For someone to say that I am better than you because I am skinny is like saying I am better than you because I like coffee and you like Tea.  It’s ridiculous for real!

** Picture was created by a weight shamer during Fat Shaming Week, yes you heard me**

The word plus size is forever moving around on the scale and what really does it do other than make people aware of their size.  When in the world has “regular size” only been 0-4, while “plus size” is a size 6 and up according to some humans in the world.  Why is it that a photo of a Plus Model in lingerie can stir up so much controversy as if the world is about to end? I am not perfect, no one is, and I am okay with that. We need to encourage positive body image by celebrating all types of women! 

I really could go on and on but then it will be an entire book on Weight Shaming (hhhmmm).  Just wanted to voice my thoughts running on in my head!!!

Thanks for reading! Until Next Time,

Mimi

HCB at FFF week Casting Call

The ladies of Honey’s Child Boutique (HCB), Boss Lady and her Hunny, traveled to Atlanta from Indianapolis, IN to attend this year’s Full Figured Fashion (FFF) Week casting call.  It was an experience especially after the rude awakening that we dealt with in Indianapolis, as we were there to present at Midwest Fashion Week (blog coming soon).  We all piled up in the van and prayed right before hitting the road.  It was about an 8 ½ hour drive and we finally made it to Atlanta.  We had some time to get ourselves together and relax, being that the casting call was not until the next day.  We sat down for a nice dinner as we talked, shared stories and fellowshipped.  This group of beautiful and strong women has been a great blessing to me.  We all have weaknesses and have been through lots of hardship, but we continue to uplift and help each other through rough times.  We get back to the hotel and now it’s time to get ourselves prepared for the morning.  There are many things that must be done.  We get together and make sure everyone knows what will be worn, get pictures/comp cards in order, practice a few times up and down the hotel hallway, and watch prior FFF week videos.

The sun rises, coffee starts brewing, and alarms clocks go off.  We go through our morning routines, fill out necessary paperwork, handle any last minutes stops, and made our way to the casting call right after a much-needed prayer with Boss Lady.  Her words are so touching and inspiring that we all get a little teary eyed.  We get ourselves together and listen to that GPS lady along with upbeat music to get us “on point”.  **Singing, “I woke up like this”**.  Traveling there was a challenge but God was watching over us like always and we all made it there safe and sound.  We arrive and enter the building one by one.  Hearts were pumping hard, palms of our hands started sweating, prayers were being said in our heads and we shake off them jitters.  We strut our curves on the walkway provided, stop with our signature poses, and network with others as we make our mark.  I heard someone ask if Boss Lady is our agent and I can totally see why someone would think that.  We came to Atlanta, about seven deep, representing for all the curvaceous women in St. Louis.  Even though she is not our agent, she sure does so much for each one of us that one may feel as if she was.  We make some great connections and head out of the building to debrief with Boss Lady and Her Hunny about all that happened with each one of us.  Afterwards, we look around and notice how great of a backdrop this could be for a random cell phone photo shoot.

** Photo of the HCB Models during our cellphone shoot**

As we Vogue and Strike a Pose, others watch but that’s okay because we were feeling good and looking good.  I cannot even tell you how long we were out there but it was a long minute, LOL.  It made for a great ride home, as we shared pictures with each other and uploaded them to our social media platforms, for all our loved ones to see.  The reactions we received from our social media framily, placed smiles on our faces as they expressed such kind and inspiring words.  We finally arrive back to HCB headquarters and it’s time to get back to our STL lives!  Stay tuned to see if anyone is selected to rip the runway at FFF Week in New York! 

**HCB Models with Boss Lady**