Splendid long ribbed dress | size medium
Splendid circle top | size m/l
Charlotte Stone Alice sandals
Margot Wolf necklace
Alexander Wang Rockie satchel
Did you see the article recently on fashion bloggers who photoshop (or a fashion blogger, specifically, rather)? I’m not going to judge, but…wait, no. No judging. But what? Why photoshop? I don’t know, I’m here because I want to share all of myself with you. I’ve put it all out there, hips, no makeup, and all, for you to see, why would I want this reflection of me to be anything less than, well, me?
Besides, I’m inept at Photoshop. I use it to tweak exposure, curves, sharpness and brightness. That’s pretty much it. I couldn’t photoshop out a body part if I tried. Or blur my face, or whatever. I have no idea how, nor have I wanted to learn.
BUT. I do pick and choose which pictures to show you, depending on the angle, and how wide my hips look. And I’ve shown them to you before (the pictures I don’t want you to see), but here is one again. In case you’ve forgotten that I have THE DREADED saddlebags. THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE. And why I don’t wear this dress, or skirts, or anything much, really, without a long top or sweater over. And I’m Spanx-ed in here! Not even they will hold my saddlebags in LOL.
I mean, I’ve come to terms with my body, and love it quite a lot, actually. There are just certain parts that are confounding. My ass has shrunk and gotten “perkier” than ever with Pure Barre. My hips are smaller than ever, and my shoulders are CUT. But then I have these weird balls of FAT hanging off my lower hips, a.k.a saddlebags, that I CANNOT GET RID OF. So I try very hard to hide them. Because I don’t like to see them. Not because I care what anyone else thinks of them. They frustrate me and taunt me every time I see them. And they feel all jiggly.
But then, perhaps my saddlebags pale in comparison to the fact that I’m not wearing makeup (I just curled my eyelashes). And that my hair is crazy (because it has that kink in it you get when you keep it behind your ears to stay out of your coffee…) and I couldn’t be bothered to straighten it or pull it back. Because this is what I looked like today.
There are arguments here and there, that if you’re a full-time blogger then you should DAMN well wear makeup, interesting outfits, have perfect pictures, straighten your hair, iron your shirts, etc., etc., because, you know, THAT IS YOUR JOB. And I feel that pull sometimes; that I should wear lipstick every once in a while.
I thought about hiring a local photographer to follow me around, pose me in front of interesting landmarks, and snap outfit pictures, but then I was like, what? Then everyone would miss my garage door 🙂 and the remote control peeking out from my hands every once in a while. And ultimately, that wouldn’t be ME, either. For ten years I’ve taken my own photos, in front of flat backgrounds, and you’re still here. So why change?
That’s too simplistic, for sure, but I think about it. I do want to take better pictures, but I can’t really figure out how to do that for my real life. Traipsing around Dallas posing for photos is NOT my real life. Running outside to snap a photo of my outfit in front of my garage door IS. And sorry, not sorry, that’s what you’re getting.
I love you guys, and as always, thank you for reading, and being here. With me.
Please keep keeping it real! Love the outfit too!
And everything you just said here? That is precisely why you have become my favorite fashion blogger 🙂
I wouldn’t want to read a fashion blog that is mainstream. I find them quite empty and I wouldn’t wear 95% of what they wear, even with the professional photos of fantastical backgrounds and lifestyle. Blogs like fashiontoast, Elin Kling, blonde salad, you know, the uber popular ones that all share the same mainstream content I find very boring. The photos are ultra pro like a glossy fashion mag but to me they are no different from ads on the streets or on TV, which I avoid like the plague. Man repeller sometimes has funny commentary but I also find hers boring for the most part. I stopped looking at those blogs and started looking into more interesting ones, like yours, for more content and less advertisement. I actually expect photos to be photoshoped. I am actually shocked that people don’t think they are! The comments people made about that article were so mean and naive that I couldn’t even read them.
Thank goodness I found your blog!
i’m glad you found it too!
i didn’t read the comments on that article, but i can imagine. people are SO NASTY online. luckily i’m not popular enough to get noticed by most of them, so i’ve not had any negative comments or forum posts about me. yet. *knock wood*
and i stopped reading the uber popular bloggers years ago. they weren’t interesting to me, and i got sort of prone to jealousy back then. like why can’t marc jacobs name a bag after ME? 😉 now, all the bloggers are the same. which makes me sad, but i guess they have appeal to some people. and i have appeal to others…and that’s the beauty of the internet…
This is why your style is so approachable. Exactly. <3
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Hi Grechen.
I found your blog through the Wall Street journal article that mentioned your Minimal Closet series. Keep “keeping it real”, I enjoy your posts and looked into your archive as well. Your aesthetics (simple streamline cuts and neutral colors) and aspirations (Minimal closet) are very close to my own. Also, like you, I found pilates/barre classes couple years ago and it transformed my body. Spiking about the garage door – it makes for simple unfussy background. Saddlebags keep it real :)- I don’t follow the fashion blogs that are too commercial/edited/photo shopped. Looking forward to your posts!
I’m too inept to figure out photo shop or I would use it .. lol. I am sometimes guilty of softening photo’s or adjusting lighting. Sometimes I can take 50 photo’s and zero come out good and it can be disappointing that I’m not a natural at this whole photo blogging ordeal.
That said .. I do gravitate toward the ‘normal people’ blogs vs. the gals make their photo’s look like a magazine spread. I do appreciate those self imposed flaws 🙂
Monica.
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oh, i do that too…and sometime i never get a “good” picture, but i post one anyway 😉 i guess i’ve been doing this too long to care if i don’t look “perfect.” obviously…!!
i guess what bothers me the most is that we expect things to be photoshoped, or these bloggers think they HAVE to photoshop out their perceived imperfections. then again, it’s more what we think of ourselves (as in my case) than what others think of us, which is even more troubling. i just wish we could all be okay with how we look.
thank you natasha. and welcome 🙂
yay for fellow barre addicts!
I don’t even mess with Photoshop (I got Elements years ago, but even that was too complicated for me), but I do use a free online editing program, mostly for lighting. That said, I’m not going to pretend I’ve never done a slight airbrush of my face when my naturally red cheeks are looking particularly uneven. But, I think that’s a far cry from what a lot of bloggers are out there doing. I also have no illusions about having a big enough audience for anyone to care all that much about my love handles (my personal version of your saddlebag issue) or my laugh lines.
While I don’t take outfit pics nearly as often as you do, I definitely have struggled on and off throughout the years with wanting to make them better, but not really having the time or resources to do so. But, that’s life.
Jessica @ Beautify My Life´s last blog post ..Five lip products that never leave my bag
i just started using photoshop recently (since i started using a dslr) and it’s really complicated! i do want to take a class on it though, so i can learn how to use it better – for lighting and stuff…. but i have no idea how to actually photoshop away that saddlebag, or even airbrush my face…i guess on instagram i use filters for that. are there filters for photoshop? is that photoshopping?? ha…none of it really matters, and i’m really not judging anyone for doing what they do – it’s everyone’s right to make themselves as presentable as possible when they’re posting online. i mean…we do it in real life with makeup and clothing, right?
at this point, with me, i’m like…why mess with a good thing? and i think things are pretty good right now…
I think there are filters, which is basically like Photoshop for Dummies — probably the only thing I’d be able to figure out 🙂
You’re right, though — you clearly have dedicated readers (myself included!) who have no problem with your non-Photoshopped pictures in front of your garage.
My claim to Photoshopping fame is when I photoshopped a party hat on my sister’s picture for her birthday. That’s it. That’s as far as my skills extend. Part of what makes you awesome is that it’s actual real, everyday style. It’s the stuff you wear in real life, not what you styled to make you and your life look Instagram perfect #nofilter. When I see super professional pictures and typical fashion blogger poses, I usually leave pretty quickly because it’s obvious that the production and the protrayal of the “fashion blogger lifestyle” is more important than the actual style. You freaking rock 🙂
Cathy Benavides´s last blog post ..Plus Size Shopping – New Stuff and Things
Grechen, you are so down-to-earth and beautiful…you don’t NEED any editing or photoshopping! All those so called “flaws” you listed about today’s picture–I didn’t even notice a single one. All I saw was a lovely young woman with a great sense of style, looking so cool and put-together. You are the best fashion blog out there, in my opinion!
Everyone here has said it all, so I’ll just second the complimentary comments. You’re real, lovely, and a pleasure to read. I appreciate all of your efforts and hard work. Thanks!
I think trying to mask your insecurities is a totally natural thing to do, and we all know magazines photoshop all the time, so I guess I don’t really care if bloggers do it too. That being said, as all the previous comments reiterate, most of your readers are here because you have a distinct and achievable style, and you seem like a normal person who works out religiously to get a flat stomach rather than taking the easy way out. Plus, the thing I like best, you actually WRITE posts, rather than post 14 pictures of yourself coyly flirting with the camera in some ridiculously staged location.
Wow! You’re not kidding about mean and nasty! I had to log off or I would’ve had nightmares tonight. I guess that’s one of the reason these bloggers feel it necessary to photoshop themselves. When you’re in the public eye, and all you get is criticism and not compassion ( Is it really so hard to be NICE, people?), I can understand why one might resort to photoshop.
But then again, you don’t do fake, just “flattering”….and the real you is why I love your blog. To paraphrase “The Godfather”: “Leave the photoshop. Take the cannolis.”
I can’t even imagine how much time it must take them to get ready each day! No way could I live that way, not even for a million bucks (as some of them are hauling in, apparently. )
Haha! You are the queen of witty comebacks!! Yes. People are really nasty online. Thank goodness I’ve not seen that here yet. I think it’s mostly because I fly under the radar 🙂
“Then everyone would miss my garage door 🙂 and the remote control peeking out from my hands…”
LOL! Actually, I like how you pose in front of your garage door. It feels like you’re the girl next door who happens to be a fashion blogger. Besides which, it adds architectural interest. You don’t need somebody following you around, snapping pics.
no, i don’t 😉
thank you!
I suspect I might need more than photoshop to edit out my stomach lol! Fashion blogs are a dime a dozen and while they certainly have their audience, I want to read blogs an look at outfit pictures that our interesting, creative, reflective of the wearer and work for my real life. Love your garage door photos 🙂
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