Have you ever felt judged before? Recently I had an eye opening experience happen. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it did open up my perspective on things. Raquel and I were doing a fun creative photoshoot and she had a vision for what we were going to do and was sweet enough to bring something for me to wear for the idea that she had. She knows I prefer to keep things more modest! So I wore a maroon velvet vintage night gown……at a carnival. We chose this outfit because of the color and texture, it just flowed better with the final vision and photo we were hoping to capture. I was also wearing socks because I didn’t want to be walking around a carnival bare foot. As you could imagine, my outfit was super weird to be in publicly at a carnival, but I didn’t mind because I knew the concept behind it. What I wasn’t super prepared for was all of the stares, people would walk up to us and ask “Is that a costume for something?” “Why are you wearing that?” and I explained that it was for a photoshoot and they would say, “Oh okay that makes more sense.” To see a clip from behind the scenes, head to my latest Instagram post.

But here’s what was going through my head the entire time, what if this is how I dressed regularly? What if this was what I had worn to the carnival?

I instantly felt guilt and empathy for those that I have possibly ever stared at in the past. I’m sure we are all guilty of being curious as to why someone would choose to wear such an interesting or ‘out there’ outfit.

I’m used to people watching me model, especially if I’m modeling in a public place, it’s never bothered me because I just keep to myself, but people vocally asking me about my outfit put it onto a whole new level. It changed my perspective, it softened my heart to those that may not dress like I do on a regular basis. It made me stop and think.

It’s funny how walking around a carnival for less than 15 minutes could open my perspective to something so fundamental. Obviously, I do my best not to judge or make assumptions about others, but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never wondered about somebodies outfit or thought ‘why in the world would someone ever wear that.’ But from here on out I can tell you that I’ll be doing a lot less of that. We all have different styles or that ‘ugly lucky t-shirt’ we wear every so often. Wear your style with confidence and worry less about what other people are wearing!

Moral of today’s blog post is this: Let’s be less quick to judge, not only in regards to appearances, but in general as well. Let’s take the time to get to know someone and their situation before passing judgement or making assumptions.

Because what you’re seeing may not be in line with what you are thinking.