Welcome to my little corner of the Internet, The Belle of the Budget! I thought now would be the appropriate time to share my journey with y’all, and how “Belle” came to be.
In the spring of 2018 I was in a bad place. At surface level, everything looked fine: I was recently engaged, living with my fiancé and our adorable puppy, and had a work-from-home job that allowed me the flexibility to sleep in, take long lunch breaks, and work out every morning. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Below the surface I was drowning. My relationship was incredible (and truly the only thing that kept me afloat those days) but my job was suffocating me. I had moved from my home in Southern California to Dallas to try something new: new city, new adventures, new career. But my job was awful (that’ll be a whole other post some day) and it was sucking the life out of me. I needed to find something – anything – to pour my soul into and relight my creative fire so-to-speak.
That’s when The Belle of the Budget was born. In previous jobs I had held Social Media Manager positions, so creating content and connecting with people online was my bread and butter, but more importantly, it was something I really enjoyed. I had noticed in the months prior that Instagram really lacked a presence of midsize fashion bloggers whom I could relate to. I loved (and still enjoy) following some of the bigger names out there, but most of the fashion bloggers I followed were a size 0, XS, and 5’3″ on a good day. Uhh…that’s NOT me. I’d find myself buying clothing from them but time and time again the garments failed to fit me correctly. Ladies, if you’re new here and haven’t heard, ya girl’s got HIPS! With a little encouragement from a dear friend, I decided to create that space myself. If I felt the need to find a blogger that was tall and curvy-ish like me, maybe others out there were looking for her too.
I started by solely focusing on Instagram, and until now, that’s where “Belle” has lived. I stand by my decision to test the waters, fail a little, and succeed a bit, before deciding to build a website (these things take so much time!) But alas, here we are. A little piece of my heart tied together with a pretty .org and I’m so excited to share more of myself with you here. I promise this will be a SAFE place where all shapes, sizes, insecurities, and stories are welcome. I’m so proud of the community we’ve already built on Instagram together, and now I’m looking forward to expanding on that love and support here – our place where encouragement and friendship can thrive.
THANK YOU for being here. For supporting me (and every lump, dimple, bruise, and scar) and for allowing me to help guide you through your closet, an online boutique, or life itself. Whatever your reason, I’m SO happy you’re here.
And because this is my intro post, and I expect it to be a place many people begin their journey with The Belle of the Budget, let me share my sizing info with you so that you know what I’m referring to when I say “tts” (true to size) in my posts! Dress size: 10, Pant size: 10 (although I’m leaning more towards a 12 these days…I feel like my real size is an 11, how convenient LOL), Top size: L, Shoe size: 9.
I hope everyone has enjoyed this post so far, please drop a comment below and introduce yourself (maybe name, age, location??) I can’t wait to connect with you further.
Have ideas or requests for future blog posts? Drop those in the comments too!
All is fair in love, war, and a really good sale,
Shop the post
