Benji had three weeks off for the holidays, and that last week, the poor kid was stuck in the house while I was at work during the day. So, I asked for a couple days off, and we put our annual passes to good use.
While Disney is building the Avenger’s Campus over at Disney California Adventure, we decided to concentrate our time in Disneyland park, specifically, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.
I wore my new skirt from Her Universe featuring BB8 and D-O. I paired it with Doc Martens and a gray tee. I finished the look with a leather jacket from Torrid and my Millenium Falcon necklace from Amazon. Then I found a great scarf/hood combo at the park and snagged it. It is very Kylo Ren-inspired. Inspired enough, that I got detained by Kylo himself. I was eventually released with a stern warning.
For our pictures, I bought a kid’s lightsaber. They are very reasonably priced at $32 and the blade is colored, which makes it great for pictures day or night. They also have a shorter blade and are much lighter, which again, makes it great for pictures and for carrying it around the park all day.
Benji tried on this jacket and immediately feel in love with it. He also really liked this staff. Needless to say, we went a little nuts in the market place in Batuu! Totally worth it!
Available shopping links are above so you can shop these looks yourself!
I hope everyone had an amazing time over the holidays. We had a great time, and now we are looking forward to a new year of fashion! There are some great new things coming up this year that we need to get ready for. WonderCon, Spring Dapper Day and the opening of the Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure.
Until then, here’s a quick recap of my holiday trip to Disneyland (Benji had theatre and couldn’t make it. Just want you all to know I’m not a jerk that went to Disneyland without my kid!)
I wore my Disney Dress Shop dress and silver holo ears.
This dress is no longer available at shopdisney.com, but you can still get it on Amazon. Same goes for the ears.
I had a great time enjoying the holiday decor, not to mention the treats.
So, here is our first outfit of the day for the year. A year with tons of fashion adventures ahead. So, stay tuned…
*This is a repost that will hopefully respark your confidence for the new year! Here’s to an incredible 2020!!!
I recently went back to therapy. I like to go every few years for a kind of “brain tune-up”. This time around has been especially helpful. My therapist just gets right to the heart of things quickly.
Why am I telling you this? Well, the other day I was at my appointment, and the subject of holidays came up. I am not especially fond of any holiday except Halloween these days. I don’t like Thanksgiving in particular, but it wasn’t always like that.
When I was a kid, I liked all the holidays, including Thanksgiving. After my Grandmother died, I stopped liking the holidays. The holidays became this tense and unpleasant time where everyone complained about everyone else, and the energy was just plain… bad.
So, my therapist asked me what in particular was so great about the holidays when my Grandmother was still with us. I told her about how it was my job to set the table. I was my Grandmother’s assistant. She would go to the china cabinet and get out this photo from a magazine of an elegant place setting, so I could copy it. That photo always came out to help me during the holidays, and I just liked helping her. I felt so proud, so important.
Unfortunately, after my Grandfather passed, the family was packing up the house, and I couldn’t find the picture. I was going to frame it. So, that is why I really enjoyed the holidays, but I didn’t feel like I had communicated to my therapist why. As usual, she knew exactly what I was trying to say. “You were seen during those times. She saw you.” Wow, just wow. Yes, that is exactly what it was!
My Grandmother always “saw” me. She saw me when I was happy, sad, silly, whatever. She loved me no matter which one of those people I was.
Cut to today and my life as it is now. It is pretty great, I gotta say. I am seen. I am living my best life. I have a job I love. I have a great home. I have friends. I have my writing to express myself. I have a blog and a hobby that makes me happy. I had no idea that my blog and cosplaying were my way of being “seen” again!
Out of all of these great things in my life, most of all, I have a great kid. Now that I know how to properly express it, let me say this. My one job with him is to make sure that he is “seen”. Everyday and in every way. I think I already am, but I definitely will. I will because of how great being seen made me feel when I was a kid, and I want that for my own kid now.
So, first my Grandmother gave me a love of style and fashion, mid-century style in particular. Then she “saw” me as I was. Both of these gifts serve me well in my adult life. Finding cosplay and blogging is a way to be seen, and my love of 50s style is a perfect fit for my cosplays. I feel like she is still helping me. I love how I continue to discover new ways to be grateful to my Grandmother. What incredible gifts she gave me.
Helping you be seen is one of our goals here at inplainsight.style. Let us know what you want to see to help you achieve that goal, so I can pass my Grandmother’s gift to me on to you!
So, here’s to being seen!
Love, Kim and Benji
*All pro photos by Justin Davidson Photography. Book him here.
*This is a repost that will hopefully respark your confidence for the new year! Here’s to an incredible 2020!!!
We’ve been talking a lot about body confidence and body positivity for the past year on this blog. It occured to me the other day, that not everyone has this and may not even know what the heck it is.
How do you achieve body confidence? I mean, there are so many things out there working against you. The photoshopped models in magazines, fat shaming celebrities on the internet and on television, weight loss “solutions” in infomercials, trolls leaving comments on just about everything, things like Leslie Jones actually having trouble getting a designer to work with her for the “Ghostbusters” premiere (Christian Siriano, for the win!)
I put the word, “rules” in quotes because this blog will never, and I mean, never, write rules for how to go about your life, express yourself and conduct your business. This blog is not the destination for that, but I did think a list of “rules” for achieving that body confidence would be helpful. I know that some of them were a nice reminder to me, so I hope you get some benefit from them as well. Here we go!
Stop all talk about “flaws” or hiding anything. As many different people as there are in the world, that is how many different types of looking people there are. Some have freckles, some do not, some have birthmarks, some do not, etc. These things are what make you, you. They are not flaws. I’ll give you an example. I have a double-chin. Do I like it? Hell, no! I’ve worked very hard to learn how to pose in pictures so that it doesn’t show. Is it a flaw? Hell, no! It is part of my face. You don’t have to like all the parts of you, but don’t refer to any part of you as a “flaw”. Got it? Good.
Be honest with yourself about who you are and what you look like. I am a plus size, 49 year old woman. I have a big butt. I have a tummy pooch. I love my butt, but don’t like my tummy. I’m never going to be built like Scarlett Johannson. She’s already taking care of that job nicely. My job is to look like Kim, the single mom who is 49 and plus sized. Once I let go of the “wish I looked like…”, I was free.
Take good care of your health. That means feeding your body, your spirit and your soul. That means movement everyday. You don’t have to go to the gym everyday, but get out and do something everyday. Go get your check-ups. Get to know your body and how it works. Be mindful.
Stop saying that you will wear the thing or do the thing after “you lose the weight” or “get skinny”. Do not deny life and the joys of it to yourself. Get that dress you want in the size you are now and enjoy life already! Go on that vacation now and take that dress with you!
When you look in the mirror or see photos of yourself, no more negative talk. Only positive is allowed. This one is important. This one is also hard. We all seem to be hard wired to be so mean to ourselves. I still fall into this trap from time to time. I have to be mindful and stop myself. It is worth it.
From now on, no article of clothing is off limits to you. Do you like leggings? Wear leggings. There are websites that sell them in your size. Yes, there are! Send me a comment, and I guarantee you I will be able to get you to a site that sells them in your size. Never say, “I wish I could wear _____.” Instead, say, You CAN wear _______.
Take the fashion rule book and throw it away. No white after Labor Day. Whatever! Wear what you want, when you want. No mini-skirts after age 35. Heck with that! I like my legs. I wear a mini skirt whenever I want. Yourself, your body, your rules. You are fabulous!
Take ALL the selfies. Delete the crap ones and keep the good ones. Find articles like this one and use the tips. Post them on Insta and Facebook and Twitter. People say you’re vain. So what? Unfollow them. Delete their comments. Let them go. That is their negativity. They have to own it and figure out how to discard it and live their life. You already have a job. Take care of you.
Never EVER feed the trolls. You are giving them what they want. Don’t do it, kids! Delete and block and move on.
I hope these tips help you get to a place where you feel nice and comfy with yourself, everyday. We all have our “bad hair days”, but loving yourself and being your biggest fan, well, it is worth it.
Send us your selfies and your “rules” in the comments. We love hearing from you!
