Every Girl Looks Good in a Tutu (Even if She Don’t Know It Yet)
Have you ever known a woman who was not happy with her relationship, job, weight, appearance or just her overall life? You may be that woman. Are you that woman? You keep thinking…once I find true love, then life can start. Or, once I get my dream job, I will be happy. Wait! The biggest one of all, once I lose weight, I can wear certain clothes, look a certain way, and then I will be happy because I am skinny and can wear clothes that I always wanted to wear. Never mind that you have been saying this for the past 15 years and even when you were thinner, you were still afraid to wear certain clothes. Well, if this sounds like you, then this “Story Behind the Piece” is dedicated to you, Ladybug.
One rainy afternoon, as I sat plotting how I could to get more Followers on social media, during a brief lunch break I posted the last photos to wrap up The Statement Piece’s (TSP) week and half long “Introduction to The Statement Girls Tutu Social Media Campaign.” The Statement Girls are TSP’s models who consist of my Un-biological sisters, Goddaughters, and adopted new friends. They are women of all ages ranging from early 20s to late 50s, and are of diverse races and backgrounds. Each have their own unique and individual fashion styles with different body types and personalities. And if it were not for their association with me, their paths undoubtedly would not have crossed.
I contend that if you had asked them four months ago, they would say that they never, ever would have been seen wearing a Tutu in this lifetime. They would say this even though they secretly at some point in their lives had an inner child that wanted to look and feel like a princess. Well, the princess came out of every one of them once they put on their very own tutu for The Statement Piece Hard Launch Social Media Campaign photo shoot. And those who thought they would not look good in one realized they were wrong and became believers…
It all started back in 2014 when I purchased my first [hot pink 42” long Kelis style tutu skirt] to wear on my birthday. “My Milkshake Brings All the Boys to the Yard” Kelis? You know…the hot pink skirt she wore for a magazine photo shoot that went viral on the internet? Well, let me tell you…as soon as I saw her in that skirt, I decided then that I needed it in my life. And it was confirmed that I needed that skirt in my life when one of my un-biological sisters, who after seeing that same photo, sent it to me a few weeks later.
After a little research, I found the company that made the hot pink tutu that Kelis wore in her shoot. It is a Small Business in Florida , and they create some of the most beautiful American-made tutus I have ever seen. I also learned that this company provided the beautiful white tutus for a [Sean Combs (Puff Daddy) Cîroc Vodka ad and Times Square media event]. Needless to say, I was more than happy with the skirt when it arrived. Over the past few years, I have purchased several more and now they are one of my requested Statement Pieces from our DimePieces (TSP customers), and TSP Black Label Styling Service customers.
Now back to the story. Fast forward to my birthday in April 2015. Almost half of The Statement Girls (1st Cycle) joined me in my birthday celebration and we had a blast! And, though it was one of the best birthday celebrations I had ever experienced, what I remember most was seeing each and every one of the girl’s faces light up when they saw me in that skirt. Their admiring eyes twinkled as they told me how beautiful I looked in the hot pink tutu and a few followed with, “you look like a princess…I would never look good in that.” I disagreed with them all—but, it fell on deaf ears.
Later, as I reflected on the evening’s events, I thought about what many of the girls said and wondered why they thought that way. It was a full length 42” long skirt of tulle with a wide elastic waistband. Why wouldn’t they look good in it? One of my ‘Antoinette Marie Theories’ on clothing is (there are a few exceptions to the theory) if it is the right length, cut, “SIZE” and color, you can rock it. If the desire is to wear it and you wear it with confidence, then you can. Women put limitations on what they wear by saying, “It looks good on her but it wouldn’t look good on me” or “it’s not my style.” When women say this to me, my thought iswhy is clothing that you admire on me or other women not your style? It may not be the right color for you, cut, length or “SIZE” but, if you like it and wish you could wear it, then you know what? It is your style!
The Antoinette Marie theory was further proven a year later when one of the Girls (who shall be nameless) that admired the skirt, had a milestone birthday coming up. This girl in particular stood out more than the others. Let’s just call her, my “Not Outside the Box Statement Girl.” You know, the friend who never goes outside the box in fashion and always plays it safe. This is what she likes and this is what she’s comfortable wearing. Don’t get me wrong, she has excellent taste, just as long as it is gray, black and white, and well…. not outside the box. So my Not Outside the Box Statement Girl, like the others while admiring the skirt, gushed out loud, “I just LOVE your skirt! I could never pull that off, though.” Of course, I adamantly disagreed with her. That was her belief until I purchased that big puffy tutu skirt for her to wear on her milestone birthday. Not only was this outside the box for her, but it was the first time I had ever known her to be completely satisfied on how she looked for an event. It radiated through her the entire evening. She looked, and most importantly, felt beautiful in that skirt and in her own skin. I recall laughing at her on the phone later, around 2 a.m. in the morning as she told me –or rather sang to me, “I’m just sitting here in my house, by myself, eating my birthday cupcakes, wearing my tutu! I’m just not ready to take it off.” This was so funny to me and I was pleased that I was right yet again…
So needless to say, when I heard “The Voice” telling me to go forth, spread the gospel and do this whole fashion thing, it was a no brainer that I wanted to take all my [un-biological sisters] on a ride to share this new adventure with me and turn them into princesses for a day for [The Statement Piece] Hard Launch Social Media Campaign photo shoot for TSP. It was also during this photo shoot with The Statement Girls for The Statement Piece Hard Launch that the AMD Theory was further solidified. What was remarkable was The Statement Girls fashion style along with their personalities are all over the place. Their personalities range from my strong-willed Not Outside the Box Statement Girl, strong-willed Grown and Sexy Statement Girl, strong-willed Eccentric Statement Girl, the strong-willed Girl Next Door Statement Girl, to my strong-willed Girly Girl Statement Girl. Notice I put “strong-willed” in front of their style/personality name? So with the exception of my strong-willed Girly Girl Statement Girl, as you can imagine, most of them had no problem expressing to me their strong detainment with having to wear such a thing. Several went on to tell me that they were only doing this for me and if it were not for me, they wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a tutu. As time went on and we got closer to the shoot date, I suspected that every one of them could not wait to get into those skirts; however, they needed to keep up the pretense just in case they could not pull it off. The gig was up when the tutus arrived to my house a few days prior to the shoot. All of the girls accidentally expressed how excited they were after I sent photos via text message to them of the skirts as I pulled them from the packages. And on the day of the shoot, I could not believe my eyes for there was not a trace of resistance in the air. Even my strong-willed Eccentric Statement Girl turned into a little princess. I watched as she twirled and jumped for joy in her tutu skirt in front of the camera; and she was not alone. As each one got in front of the camera, they couldn’t help but to let their inner princess child come out, and it exuded in their pictures. Most of them stated they didn’t think they would look good and that they felt pretty.
The moral to the story is life is too short--do something you always wanted to do, but have not had the courage to do (like start a fashion blog), wear something you admired on another person, but was afraid to wear yourself or thought it wouldn’t look good on you—like a tutu skirt. My thought is…. if you want to wear a tutu, then “DAMN IT,” wear a tutu! Just make sure that it is the right cut, length, size and color that compliments you.
This is the Story Behind the Piece.