I think I’d been writing Diamonds in the Library for about a year before I posted a photo of myself. It was in this post, my recap of a Tacori trunk show. It was my sister’s birthday, so I brought her and a friend along to the show to play with the pretties. They insisted I pose wearing the jewelry instead of just wearing it on my hands.

I had never intended to avoid posting photos of myself. It’s pretty logical that part of writing about a form of art that is worn on the body would be showing it on my own body, but I almost never did. Part of it was the mechanics of the thing: selfies are awkward, and I usually go to shows and appointments alone.

A bigger part was that I often felt….unworthy. Who was I to put photos of myself on the internet like I was some kind of model?

I have a mental image of the kind of woman who is qualified to post photos of herself on the internet and I don’t fit into it. I have Hermione Granger hair, high-maintenance skin, no real talent with eyeliner, and, as Meghan Trainor would put it, I ain’t no size 2.

But by giving into this pressure, I help to perpetuate it.

I passionately believe that the love of jewelry is for everyone, regardless of a person’s financial situation, level of education, social standing, sexual orientation, age, race, gender identity, or degree of resemblance to a supermodel.

I’m just a person, like you, and I look the way I look.

I want to take a moment to clarify that this isn’t an apology. I’m not asking your permission to feel okay about posting photos of myself. I’m just going to do it – I’ve started to do it already. My reasons for not doing so in the past were problematic, so I am smashing through them.

Get ready to see me a little more frequently.

xoxo,
Becky