Photo credit: Dana Suchow
Her headline reads, "Photos I wish I didn't Photoshop," and it exposes a handful of times she used the editing program to change the way her body looks. It was a simple slimming of the tummy here and there that started to weigh on her conscience.
"It's weird, because I stopped manipulating my weight in photos with Photoshop about a year ago. But I just felt like I had lied to my readers and needed to come clean," she tells SheKnows. "I Photoshopped the images in the beginning of starting my blog because I wanted the money type of success," she said. Since those days, she's learned to measure success differently.
Photo credit: Dana Suchow
"I don't make any money from my blog, so from a fashion blogger business perspective, I am a failure. But to me success is being honest and true about myself no matter how large or small my audience. It's receiving a letter from a young girl in Sweden telling me I made her feel better about her body for a moment. It's looking at my blog and being proud of the content." You better cheer for that like teenage girls screaming for Ryan Gosling.
Too often, it's assumed that if you don't look a certain way you can't be a certain type of person or work in a certain industry... and too often, we believe it. Thankfully, more and more women are proving us wrong.
Photo credit: Dana Suchow
Still, fashion bloggers treat Photoshop like another shoulder to lean on. It's like an addiction the industry can't break. "Fashion is synonymous with beauty and perfection, and fashion blogging is big business. Fashion makes millions selling perfection to the imperfect, and an imperfect fashion blogger is a tough sell," says Dana.
But here comes the silver lining. When I asked Dana if she ever felt pressure from brands to look a certain way, it was a big fat no. "By now brands know who I am and what I'm about. I think my realism and honesty appeals to them. They know there might be a feminist rant along with their pretty necklace shots. It's a chance they've got to be willing to take." So, stand your ground. You be you and don't hold back.
Photo credit: Dana Suchow
Hilariously, she says that wedgies are the only thing she edits out these days. (I can respect that). She also stresses that Photoshop isn't the enemy. "It's an amazing program that can make a cloudy day look sunny, it can bring out the greens and blues of a dress so they pop and it can make a blurry photo look like it was taken with a steady hand." Rather, we need to stop abusing the privilege that is Photoshop.
Her message to women and girls everywhere? "Don’t believe anything you see. If you can't touch it, it's not real. The only real thing that will support you through life is your body. And that's something you can hold… right now."
Lastly, she says, "Imagine if women put just half the energy we put into trying to change our bodies into trying to change the world. Imagine what an amazing place it could be."
We'll leave you with that.
More on fashion and body acceptance
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