I always say that my job is basically adult dress up. I work with an amazing team to create a look that you love so we can deliver amazing images that fit your vision. If boudoir is in part about fantasy, why not look like a mermaid during your shoot? Natalie (hair stylist extraordinaire) added pieces of crimped hair throughout her loose girls to make S’s look complete magic. Fitting, because S is obsessed with books and recently introduced me to The Night Circus-a completely magical read that I want to erase from my brain so I can read it again with fresh eyes for the first time. Anyone else like this? Anyway, here are some of the beautiful images we created together.
The 2019 Secret Project
There are so many things I could say about this project. My gratitude goes out to each and every person that participated in the project-all the models that put themselves out there for all to see, to David for being a continued phenomenal (and handsome) guest photographer, to Althea’s Fine Lingerie for fitting the models and to Schumann Studio Creative for the amazing prints. But the impact and importance of this project is really summed up by a message that I received the morning after the project reveal party.
As an artist, you put work out there and hope that it resonates, inspires, makes a difference. You are vulnerable, hoping it sends someone strength. This is the type of message that keeps me going, fills me with humility and inspires me to do more, keep growing, keep seeing beauty in everyone (as if I could stop). Thank you, K. You will thrive indeed. And all of us are rooting for you. ❤️❤️❤️
“I wasn’t able to attend your event last night but I just flipped through the images you shared and I couldn’t help myself from wanting to send a message and thanking you for your honest and thoughtful inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds in your projects. I know this is something you work at and I have seen the progress through the years. In a post-Trump world, I have tried to be more conscious of what business and people I support. I believe you take your mission of inclusion and diversity (in ALL the ways) very seriously and that it means something to you. I am proud to support your business and you! And as if it needs to be said – the images are gorgeous and powerful.
On a personal level, I have come in for two sessions with you in the past. The first time, you were still in your first marriage and the second time you had went through your divorce. I was struck by the transformation and growth I saw in you and inspired by it. I had no that idea that several years later I would spend all of 2019 unexpectedly fighting for my marriage and going through some of the most painful and heartbreaking experiences I can imagine. Being in your FB group and watching you be strong, vulnerable, confident, and sincere has given me so much hope that whenever I find the end of this struggle – whether it result in divorce or a saved marriage – I will be ok and I can and will thrive. So thank you for being open about your story and experiences – in case you weren’t sure, they have impact and have helped me.
Sending all my best and with sincere gratitude.”
xoxo
Melissa
“Secret” Project
I am so excited to be working on my “secret” project again. That’s what it was called the first time, because I didn’t reveal the concept until the result was complete.
21 women, sizes 0-20. I’ve done it twice now. Once in 2012 and once in 2016. I’d been hearing women say they needed to lose 10 pounds or they were too old or they had too many babies etc etc, and I wanted to prove them wrong.
As my business grew, I was able to get a more diverse set of volunteers the second time around, including many beautiful skin tones, cancer survivors, women up to 64 years old, and a powerlifter, to name a few. We don’t have to have breasts to be sexy. We don’t have to be 20 to be sexy. We don’t have to lose the baby weight to be sexy. We can be fluid, changing, growing.
I am working to include trans women and gender queer/nonbinary peeps this time around ?️?. I would love to include disabled women. I would love to include a woman in her 70 or even older (my own grandmother continues to refuse me even though she is the cutest almost 80 year old woman you’ve ever seen and full of sass at that) ?.
This project sets me on fire – I am so passionate in my conviction that boudoir is for everyone. We are all so beautiful in our individuality and should be empowered to embrace that beauty and our sexuality-whatever that means to us at the time. I am so excited to see where this project takes me in 2019. Watch out for updates on my work and the project as it progresses!