LINK LOVE with a TWIST, May 23, 2011

LINK LOVE with a TWIST, May 23, 2011

This week’s Link Love tackles life lessons, make-up, body shapes and beauty… to name a few.  Grab a nice glass of wine, kick up your heels, and enjoy!

P.S. You may also want to have something huggable close-by.  Maybe a pet.  Or a significant other.  Or a stuffed animal.  If you don’t have any of those handy – virtual hugs all around!

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Arash Mazinani – My Beef With Body Shapes:  Let’s take a moment and think about all the male fashion bloggers out there.  Most are either street style photographers or strictly cover men’s fashion.   Arash is a bit of an anomaly in the blogosphere.  He covers both women’s and men’s fashion equally on his blog and he does it beautifully.  This week he offers a male perspective on labeling and body shapes.

by Anika – The art of not feeling threatened by the beauty of others: There are certain people who touch our lives and inspire us with their beauty, strength, wisdom and kindness.  Anika is one of those people.  Her words leap off the screen and warm the heart.  Allyson of decoding dress was particularly touched by Anika’s post this week:

“[This] is quite simply the most wonderful thing I’ve read on the internet in I-don’t-know-when.  The whole thing just touched my heart… I just want to print off a million copies of this post, fold them into paper airplanes, and drop them over every city and town in the world.  Beauty isn’t a zero sum game, you know?  It’s not a competition.  It’s art and it’s a gift and it’s universal.” – Allyson

The Citizen Rosebud – Momento Mori: Sometimes we get so caught up in the daily grind of our lives that we forget to actually live.  “Bella reminded me to live life to it’s fullest and appreciate those around me,” shared Rocquelle of Consider Me Lovely.  “[Plus, she managed to do this] while looking fabulous in cut-off shorts and mint green sunglasses (that I am now looking for)!” Thank you, Bella, for another beautiful post!

decoding dress – Good Days, Bad Days || Why I Wore It: This is the first of two submissions by Jamillah of made-to-travel.  “I love that Allyson recognizes how her outfits effect her disposition on Decoding Dress,” said Jamillah.  “I think we all go through this and the thoughtfulness Allyson puts into what she wears and the takeaway from her outfits on how she feels is just a great read.”

Divergent Musings – Life Lessons Learned: I was completely blown away by this post.  I found myself nodding my head in agreement (and sometimes wiping away tears) as I read the 5 greatest lessons that Kate has learned in her life.  If Anika’s post above didn’t make you cry, this one might.

The Styling Dutchman – You Can’t Argue With Taste:  This submission comes to us from Mrs. B of Mrs Bossa Does the Do.  “This post is a must-read.  In it, Annebeth rises above an upsetting comment about one of her outfits, and asks the question: does anyone have a monopoly on style?” said Mrs B.  “In these times of body-image issues and styling woes, it’s a much-needed reminder that no-one does… and that we should just enjoy what we wear. Her colour-blocking ain’t bad either!!”

Stylish Thought – Are you a Savage Blogger?:  Scott Schuman’s remarks about personal style bloggers have caused quite a bit of commotion.  decoding dress and a thrify LA life both write rebuttals to the piece and Vahni from Grit & Glamour coined the term “Savage Blogging.”  Eboni Ife’ of The Fashionista Next Door decided to share this insightful post by Fajr of Stylish Thought:

“I don’t know where I’ve been but I hadn’t seen Scott Schuman’s comment about personal style bloggers. It’s maddening, but I love that Fajr didn’t get on the defensive… instead she tried to get to the root of the problem… SAVAGE BLOGGING!  She makes some very good points and offers some great tips for avoiding the “savage blogging” syndrome!”

Stylish Thought – Channeling Your Inner Kanye West: How to Be Your Own Biggest Fan: This is a first in Link Love history – a second post by Stylish Thought was also submitted for inclusion this week!  Jamillah of made-to-travel couldn’t let the week pass without sharing this post with all of you.  “I think women especially have trouble recognizing and acknowledging when they’ve completely rocked the house,” said Jamillah.  “I love how Fajr says to attack this problem by channeling your inner Kanye West.”

Those Graces – Women, Fear and Make-up:  I thought this was a really interesting look at the mental impact of makeup.  Courtney realized that a lot of women downplay what they do/don’t know about make-up and she wondered why.  Here she delves into that topic and explains why women shouldn’t be afraid of it.

Beautifully Invisible – 5 Things Jack Sparrow Taught me About Fashion & Makeup: I have been blown-away by the response to this post. In less than a week it’s become the most clicked article I have ever posted on this blog.  Thank you Tanvi and Stephanie for your kind words and this submission to Link Love!

“I really enjoyed this post for several reasons: a) It was out of the box; b) Thoroughly entertaining; and c) Brought back the ‘lighter’ and ‘fun’ side of blogging back.  Sure, we all enjoy the insightful posts, technical posts, and honest memoirs, but you can’t deny that every once in a while, all you need is a ‘bang’ of a post like this to lift your spirits. B did a fabulous job with this post and hit the nail on ‘out of the box’ literally. This is exactly why I love her and Beautifully Invisible, the blog!” –  Tanvi of The Fabulous Life of Not-So-Rich and Infamous

“Damn, I was going to nominate this too. Can I? Good… I’m nominating this post because she is so incredibly talented and smart with her humor. She explained a true and funny concept in an organized, well-written fashion that only B can bring!” – Stephanie of the-loudmouth

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit their favorite post of the week!

If you would like to submit a post for inclusion in the next edition of Link Love with a TWIST, please do so here.

If you would like to publish this post on your own blog, the code can be found here.