Dress Your Best Week - Day 5 - The Collarbone

Black dress: Target
Black cami: Target (not seen)
Pearl chandelier earrings: Target
Fuchsia suede flower flats: Target
"Pearl" necklace worn as a bracelet: borrowed from my mom in December - Sorry mom!

It's the final official day of Dress Your Best Week and I'm highlighting my collarbone. This is kind of a funny outfit for highlighting the collar bone, since the neckline is relatively high, but I like the way it really frames my clavicle. I slipped it on this morning and thought, yes.


Also, I want to give a shout out to Target for clothing me today and many other days. Y'all should pay me. (I swear the All Target outfit was unintentional.)


Anyway, one of the things I liked about this look was that it's pretty covered up, but my collarbone peeking out just above the neckline is so subtly sexy.

And the detail on the bodice? It really just draws the eye to the clavicle, doesn't it?


I don't know that I ever had a real revelation about my collarbone, not like my legs or my booty or my hair or even my eyes. This is one area I've always found pretty, and dressing it up has never been a real problem.



But here's the thing, one of the reasons I started this blog was to help me love my body just a bit more. I'm generally secure about my body, but I go through these phases - and I'm sure I'm not alone in this - where nothing looks right, I have nothing to wear, and oh. my. gosh. when did I gain this weight?! And then I'm all gloom and doom about my tummy or my upper thighs or my weirdo pinky toe that never touches the ground.
The blog has been helping me to see my beauty every day. I'm going to go ahead and say that without offering a qualifier or apologizing for sounding conceited, because this week I am owning this body and love, love, loving it for all the things it does. I will not lie, finding five body parts to highlight was a bit of a challenge, but as this week has gone on, I've been noticing other things I like.


There're my strong fingernails which grow long even though I rarely do anything to them. My triceps seem to miraculously hold on to a bit of definition, even when I slack on my workouts. I have a pretty nice rack. My cheekbones are enviable. I have lips that some women would pay money to have. My wrists are delicate and slim. I love my ability to tan (yeah, yeah, I know).
This body is beautiful. It's a testament to form and function, to nature and nurture. I'm often amazed thinking about everything - all those processes that allow me to move, to think, to breathe. This body works beautifully. I'm constantly relearning to be grateful for it. This week I have not pinched my midsection in shame. I have not once thought about the parts I often try to camouflage. This week has been about appreciation for the practical things my body does and the ways in which it's just plain pretty. And my gosh, how wonderful is it when those two things combine.


I try not to talk smack about other women. Not that I never do, just that when I catch myself doing it, I stop immediately. I don't want to bring down my sisters - is that weird? Is it weirder to blame it on the fact that I went to a women's college (which is now coed)? The whole idea of sisterhood is one that I take pretty seriously. But I have struggled much more with applying that to myself. It's been okay to bash my own body. And in a way, I think it's one of those things we, as women, are almost trained to do. After all, if we don't talk badly about ourselves, people will think we're conceited; no one likes girls who brag.
So this is my challenge to myself: be a woman no one likes. I'm going to brag a bit about myself. There's more to me that I want to bring out and appreciate. Yes, I love my mind and my wit and my empathy, but those are the parts of me that I am used to celebrating. It's okay to celebrate those things, because they mean I'm a good girl, a smart girl.
I'm gonna go ahead and be a little bit bad; I'm going to celebrate my body. This woman's body that is beautiful and functional - a work of art.