Today’s episode is all about finding comfort in our own skins and embracing the things that make us uniquely beautiful. Here to inspire us are the mother-daughter duo behind StyleLikeU, Elisa Goodkind and Lily Mandelbaum.
StyleLikeU was born when Elisa — a former fashion stylist frustrated with the industry — noticed Lily, her teenage daughter, struggling with her body image.
Together they decided to create an alternative to the unattainable status quo, launching StyleLikeU in 2009 with their “Closet” series, and “The What’s Underneath Project” in 2014, both aimed at demonstrating that true beauty and style are the unique result of loving the skins we’re in.
In this episode, we get a peek at Elisa and Lily’s emotional journey with StyleLikeU, and dig deep into some of the big issues surrounding our relationship with fashion, and ultimately with ourselves.
Their ultimate dream? To see people accept themselves and have fun with clothing, to awaken each of us to our own potential for creativity and self-expression.
From the transformation of style over the last 30 years to the insidious efforts of the fashion industry, the pros and cons of social media as a platform to the transformational power of an interview, this is one conversation you won’t want to miss.
More Radical Lessons in this episode:
— In the 80s and 90s people felt freer to stand out from the crowd; now, corporations and marketing preys on our lowest common denominator, feeding our fears of being othered.
— We need to awaken to the fact that our slow “forgetting” of self-expression is not superficial, it’s deep; creativity demands uniqueness and authenticity.
— People don’t even realize that they don’t love themselves as much as they could.
— Social media has a lot of problems, but it also gives a voice to niche and marginalized communities who would have been shutout in the era when magazines dictated everything.
— The journey is very important. You need time to feel someone’s transformation and catharsis and have a meaningful experience with it.
— The interview process can be cathartic; it’s a sacred time and space to share yourself, and fall in love with each other.
— Capitalism on steroids has created a standard of beauty that really literally almost no one can fit into. It’s an avatar.
— The most beautiful and inspiring people are the ones who embrace the thing about themselves that culture at large tells them to reject.
— Dressing yourself is about wanting to be conscious. It’s a very instinctual thing, but we’re so distanced from our instincts, people hardly know what they are anymore.
Links!
Website: http://stylelikeu.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/stylelikeu/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stylelikeu/
Share Elisa and Lily’s Wisdom on Social Media!
