Teenagers, Fashion and True Beauty

Dressing teenagers. It can be eye-opening, to say the least. A subject to be approached carefully. One look around the shopping mall in the teeny-bopper stores is enough to send most moms running for Amish country! Let's face it. Teen mags are telling our daughters to raise their hemlines and crop their shirts. More skin. More cleavage. More tighter. More see-through. (more tighter? excuse the grammar faux pas! You get the idea.)

And yet, here I have two teenage girls I AM determined to bypass the norm. Hopefully they will not only understand my concerns, but embrace my ideas as well! And most importantly understand the "why" behind it all.

This past weekend was my Isabel's 14th birthday. We decided to do a photo shoot with her friends as part of her birthday celebration. I'll be honest, I was nervous at what I might see. But can I just say how proud I am of these girls! They were breath taking. They were tasteful. They were natural. Everything about them just glowed.

And the way they interacted with each other...and with me? That. That was a true inner beauty these girls exuded.Better than tell you...let me show you.... This is my girl. What I love about this look is that the color sells it. This dress was tasteful and beautiful (Nordstroms Rack). It is very hard to find a hemline that is not too short for a long legged girl (can't imagine where she gets THAT from). And even this is a tad bit too short for me, but acceptable due to the full skirt. Thankfully we have our spandex underneath! I love the high neckline...and the simple brown belt at the waist. Hair is natural...make-up simple. Yup. Proud mama. Here is the crew. Love the colors and textures. My hope and prayer for these beautiful young ladies is that they know...they truly know...that their real beauty comes from the inside. They don't need to show more skin...or cover up their faces with heavy make-up. What makes them attractive is this...THIS joy and laughter that they are sharing. A love for others. A love for themselves. And nothing can ever take that kind of beauty away. Not at ANY age. (a message to myself) They reminded me of that this past weekend. Thank you girls. You ARE beautiful. xooxo lisa - aka mom