I’m not someone who posts photos of myself because I like to look at myself. I have long struggled with body image- often saying that the mirror is a fun house mirror to me, what you see isn’t what I see.
For reasons I’m not sure I can explain other than I learned early that style is an expression of myself, clothes are important to me. I was taught to look nice, that there are certain things you don’t wear in public, and never show off your bra straps. Grandma Zurawski lectured me when my yellow Forenza sweater fell below the bottom of my shorts. Handbags weren’t really my thing– I bought one on clearance in the spring and then one in the fall at Foley’s (before it was bought by Macys).
Somewhere nearing forty though, after years of fun style lying dormant in my life, I began to take a different interest on how I dressed and the handbags I carried. I spent a lot of time searching for just the right items and when I was staying with a friend in Hawaii for a speaking engagement, a woman in Whole Foods complimented me on the dress I wore.
“You must hear that a lot,” my friend said.
I began to realize others appreciated my style, too, as this started to happen periodically.
When Chelle Summer was born, I knew that I would have to be my own model. People have to see you carrying handbags not just in person but online, too. They need to see the dresses and swimsuits on a person. And not just any person, someone who looks….real.
I always wear a style of dress I make and sell when I’m at markets. At the last Palm Springs Vintage Market I received so many compliments about being a great model. I take the compliment, but I know the 100 photos it takes for us to get the right one, the one where I’m halfway happy with it, to post.
I only make items I want to wear and carry. I always try to use them before I make them to sell, to know that they work, that they are comfortable, and swimsuits won’t do things like fall off when you jump into a pool.
Part of Chelle Summer has been forcing myself to stretch in ways I don’t always want to but are necessary for people (and you know I really mean women!), to see that what I make is for them, too. That means being my own model, swimsuit and all. After all, there would be no point of all of this if it wasn’t real.