Wearing Beautiful Women Can Make You Feel More Beautiful

If you have been reading my posts, you probably know by now that I have a daughter. And you might also feel the same as I do – I am completely inspired by raising a girl whom I get to support as she develops into a woman. She is constantly learning about why I am sometimes wearing beautiful women.

It is a huge responsibility, and one that I take quite seriously. I am constantly wondering whether I am sharing enough, but more times than not, I am concerned that I am sharing too much. 

Why I Love Ottilia Dearly

She is inquisitive, silly, tough – and like me, she loves to wear dresses! And at the age of 6, she is still learning what it means to be a girl. She moves from playing with girls to playing with boys without a second thought. And impressive to me, she hates drama. So the moment a petty argument pops up between her girlfriends, she quickly moves on to something else. No big scene; she literally just walks away. 

Ottilia does not mind being by herself, but at the same time loves company and loves to chat. She is extremely loving, but only to those she knows well and trusts. Her hand always finds mine when we are walking together, and her hugs and kisses are many. She is my kind of girl!

In so much of her behavior, she has shown me that she already has a keen understanding of masculine and feminine traits, and she does not impose these on either sex – it is fluid for her. One of the outcomes of this awareness is that she feels no inferiority because of her sex, and this is the part that really makes me proud. I will do anything to keep her safe in this place as long as I can.

Positive Body Image Can Come From Wearing Beautiful Women

Body image has always been a big issue for me – one that females seem to worry more about than males. Most of us know what the media is trying to communicate to us, certain images are impossible to interpret otherwise. Skinny is good. Fat is bad.

And while I agree that obesity is a health issue that we should take seriously, I want my daughter’s self-worth to come from more than being a size 0. I want her to find peace in however she turns out, and I want her to have a healthy body image and love her girl parts. And what better way to do that that wearing beautiful women?

And so began my collection of clothing and accessories that celebrate and appreciate the female body. 

I was in Buenos Aires last New Year’s with my family, including my mom, after spending two weeks traveling through Patagonia. It was our first big city in weeks, but because of the holiday hardly anything was open. But I don’t give up easily and managed  to find one shop open with a must-have scarf in the window. I love pieces that tell a story, and to me, this scarf told a story that highlighted beauty, admiration, confidence and sisterhood.

Laura Caracciolo | Designer of the Laurie Hanky Collection

I have since found that this beautiful Argentinian designer makes a habit of producing prints that speak to me and that speak to the strength in female qualities, including our bodies. She also packages each scarf with a carefully crafted poem that evokes a sense of freedom. For these reasons, and so many others, she is an inspiration to me. And so much of her collection is about celebrating and wearing beautiful women.

Why My Daughter Really Loves This Scarf

When I am away from home, or when Ottilia feels a need to be closer to me than usual, she asks to barrow this scarf to cuddle up and sleep with. I have asked her why this particular scarf, among the many I have, and she replied “It smells like you,” and I suspect that there is a second reason: she knows it is one of my favorite scarves.

What I love more than anything is that the naked bodies don’t bother, or even, phase her (as they do my 10-year-old son). What really got her talking, was not the nakedness but why one of the girls was smoking a cigarette. And why was just one girl spoking?

She discovered this one day when she was lying awake studying the scarf. She remembers what every single woman on this scarf is doing, and I think this has been a kind of storybook for her on the nights when I haven’t been home. 

We haven’t yet talked about why I have a scarf with naked women on it – she doesn’t know that it reminds me of one of my favorite Gustav Klimt paintings, Water Serpents II pictured below, or that I think that having a scarf like this empowers me to celebrates the female body … and this is the statement I am making every time I put it on.

And even if she hasn’t asked, I know she is taking something from this special piece in. Time will tell how she interprets it herself. 

Shop Laurie Hanky collection here: