Beyond the Gap: Celebrate Your Imperfections
Lara Stone, Vogue
As we watch the runways and magazine ads most of the images we see morph into one standard of what is hot, stylish, sexy and ultimately beautiful-with not much room left for individuality. It leaves us desiring the latest product or fashions that will give us “that look.” Most of us have something unique about us. Something that isn’t consistent with the trends and what’s considered “in” at the moment. It’s something we can’t so easily change with a single swipe of a credit card: a high forehead, lanky limbs, naturally full lips.
For me it’s always been my gap. That slim space between my two front teeth is my trademark. It’s my Alfalfa cowlick. My personality. It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I realized that what I loved about my smile, was viewed by many as a flaw. A problem a dentist could easily solve. I wasn’t so easily persuaded. After all, my gap was part of my DNA handed down from my father’s side.
From time to time I thought of what it would be like to have a gapless smile, or wondered what would happen if that sliver of space widened with age. Then one day I was perusing a magazine and saw a model with the most beautiful gap-toothed smile. Her name was Laura Hutton and there she was on the glossy pages of a high fashion magazine, smiling wide and proud.
Lauren Hutton empowered so many women to embrace their gap-toothed smile and widen their perception of what is beautiful. No longer omitted from beauty history, they are included and even celebrated for a trait that in the past was erased. Today, Lara Stone (above) is giving us that same confident, sexy, gap-toothed smile.
In fact, many women with “unique” traits have made it cool to have unique features or even started trends. Tyra Banks has never been shy about her forehead and has given countless women license to pull back those bangs. Twiggy made thin the “in” look in the ’60′s. Brooke Shields started the full brow craze of the eighties. And most notably, Angelina Jolie has probably been a driving factor in the popularity of lip injections. And the reality is, you don’t have to be famous to play up your uniqueness. Celebrate all that makes you, you. After all, that’s what makes you beautiful!
Denise is the creative force behind the beauty blog, Rainy Day Diva. The online destination for beauty, style and inspiration-no matter what! Twitter: @RainyDayDiva!
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