OOTD & Toddler and Tiaras

Warehouse UK Coat (similar, steal) :: Old Navy Chambray Top (nice option here) :: Old Navy Rockstar in Campfire (on sale now) :: Clarks Charlie Boots (black) :: Forever 21 Necklace (similar, similar) :: Marc Jacobs Classic Q Hillier Bag in Burgundy

School dropoff outfit on what feels like the coldest & windiest day of the year. I unfortunately sprained a neck muscle, so this was as elaborate as I got with my outfit this a.m., and I won't mention again my aversion to morning in general. If any of you are curious about Warehouse, I ordered this coat last winter from their website. Shipping is from England so it takes a while, but I find the coat to be of fairly good quality (Gap, Topshop), and the clothes look quite pretty online.

So, tired of channel flipping, my remote landed on TLC a couple of nights ago, and I actually viewed my first full episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. I know, I'm a bit behind. What fascinated me wasn't the pageant process itself, as I grew up with many a pageant drama queen in the South, but the parents themselves. The sheer will and ambition of these moms (and dads) were startling to observe and absorb for an hour. It seemed to include a mix between those who wanted to recapture their own pageant glory days, and those who wanted to vicariously gain affirmation and validation of beauty that never happened for themselves during their own childhoods.

The obvious ridiculousness of it all aside - tanning! makeup! jazz hands! - I felt overwhelmingly sad that these little girls, some as young as 18 months, are being taught that their beauty should be judged by others, and that losing is tantamount to not being as beautiful or worthy as the child who does receive the coveted crown. I reckon that we are all judged for our outer skins by the world anyway, but this volunteerism of being served up in makeup and frills at so young an age isn't really comparable.

All this has obviously been covered already in pop culture philosophy, but I felt moved enough to comment on it today, as it was quite eye opening for me to peek into the world of child pageantry. My thoughts? Little girls should be constantly reminded that the most important judge of their beauty and self worth is themselves, that a pretty face and self worth are not mutually exclusive, and that physical attributes, or lack thereof, certainly shouldn't be categorized into "winning and losing." "She's having fun, that's the most important thing" was a repeated phrase throughout the show and call me crazy, but I'm fairly confident that a four year old would much rather be doing other things than spending hours and hours preening for a few minutes on stage.


Sorry if any of you are ex-pageant ladies. There are many monetary opportunities to be gained from winning these pageants, and had these girls been a bit older, with a strong sense of self esteem already fostered, I wouldn't be as judgmental. All I walked away from watching it was that there are a lot of parents out there who I hope are also nurturing the other things mentioned above while participating in these events. The seeming contradiction to my spiel may be that I am the one who posts outfits of herself
on a semi-daily basis, and there is admittedly a vein of vanity that runs through me (that I try to work on tempering), but I also firmly understand that my self worth as a human being and contributing member of society are not based on my looks. At. All. I suppose that's what I've been chewing on in this whole post, self worth and how we relay its true meaning, significance, and value to girls today.

A serious post, oh my! One of my blog resolutions is to maybe pen more of the thoughts that zip through my noggin in addition to my mundane daily happenings; to be a bit braver in sharing my perspective, instead of saying everything but nothing at all. Which means that Christian Bale, hoarders, and my extensive plan for the zombie apocalypse will be showcased sooner than later. Wait for it.