I started checking out the world of youtube a little over a year ago. The first thing I noticed, was the similar feeling you have being drawn into a particular beauty or style gurus channel is much the same as you have with a designer dress, product line, or TV series. Leslie Meyer, otherwise known in the youtube community as “TheStyleSupreme” was one of the very first guru style videos I watched. And I was completely enamored by her amazing collection of shoes, designer handbags and I cannot forget her endearing southern accent.
Now, all of the Crème de la Curves readers know that I’m on a quest to seek out the best in luxury, life, and style for curvy women. So it made perfect sense that TheStyleSupreme would be at the top of my list, when beginning to reach out to the various key players in the styling arena. Over our past few weeks of interaction, I’ve found the most refreshing thing about Leslie, is just how incredibly humble and down to earth she is in regards to discussing not only her own personal style but also her feelings on helping others feel more comfortable in their own skin. With her resent incorporation of health and fitness into her channel I asked Leslie, what positive message she was trying to relay to curvy women about staying healthy. She responded, “Well it's really important to understand that you can't tell by looking at a person's weight alone if he or she is healthy or not. There are "thin" people who are unhealthy, and there are "fat" people who live healthy lifestyles and are considered healthy. Being considered overweight definitely does not mean that a person is lazy. Many of us actually have quite active lifestyles. Also, not everyone desires to be considered "skinny." My health and weight loss goals are more related to my family history and getting back to a weight that I felt comfortable at since I did gain weight in the past few years as a result of my fast paced lifestyle and not really taking the time to do what I should have. I will still be considered a "plus size" girl even when I reach my goals, but I will still be very healthy. Not everyone is the same though, and not everyone is at a particular weight for the same reason. Sometimes illnesses, medication, family histories and other things may play a role in a person's weight. Get to know a person before making such judgments. Everyone is beautiful and deserving of love and care."
Throughout Leslie’s videos she is consistently discussing not only her own life of fashion, but also the feelings and emotions that she goes through with her own insecurities with her body. “The first time I filmed myself, I was nervous. It was awkward, and I must have filmed it ten times! It wasn't perfect, but it was a start. It was a journey I was ready to explore." Leslie explains. "I gained a lot of weight after getting married, and I had been feeling really down about it. I had fallen completely out of love with fashion for the moment. Fashion was something I had loved for so long, so I was ready to start a fashion journey, and start a journey back to loving myself at my new size. With each video I made, I gained new friends and those friends were so encouraging and seemed to relate to me so well. It made me feel more comfortable with sharing myself. It was really helpful to me, and at the same time it seemed to be helpful to other plus size women who were interested in fashion and style. This personal fashion journey has really helped me to open up more and slowly try new things and. I was quite conservative when I first started doing videos. I didn't like to show my legs or arms at all.” This is a photo of Leslie in one of her most recent videos, showing just how far she's come in regards to her confidence in front of the camera.
In discussing her plans to stay involved with plus size fashion and style, she explained that she would like to continue reaching out to those who haven't discovered the many amazing online communities and websites. She states, “In hearing from women everyday who are just discovering my videos for the first time. I love watching the community grow, and I plan to stay devoted to it. Personally, I would like to start accepting more clients for personal style services, as I get prepared to do so. I plan to use skype and online messengers to help interact with clients all over the world. I just want to continue on my journey and see where it leads me. I'm always open to new possibilities and opportunities.”
The youtube community is truly its own little world. With everything from tutorials and tags to swaps and OOTD’s (outfits of the day) there seems to be something for everyone. In keeping with the traditions of youtube, I thought a fun way to include her fan base would be to have them create the questions for our interview. It’s been such a fun experience getting to know a little more about the inspiration and style of Leslie and I definitely say she lives up to her name… because she is THE STYLE SUPEREME.
Click here... to Check out the Q&A from TheStyleSupreme's SUBBIES
In addition to youtube, you can check out Leslie’s blog at The Style Supreme, as well as her weekly columns on the subject of local plus size style for The Louisville Examiner. Recently she has created a new blog The Food Supreme, where she talks more about her recent successes with both diet and exercise. Each are all amazing and worth checking out each in their own respect, and I've have listed all the link to them below.
Be sure to "like" her, "follow" her, "tweet" her and of course SUBSCRIBE... and ARIZONA look out because I'm in love with all of Leslie's hats and have decided come derby season, mine are coming out in full force. :)
Find TheStyleSupreme here...
http://www.facebook.com/TheStyleSupreme
http://www.twitter.com/TheStyleSupreme
http://www.chictopia.com/thestylesupreme
http://thestylesupreme.blogspot.com
http://TheFoodSupreme.blogspot.com
http://TheStyleSupreme.tumblr.com
http://TheStyleSupreme.polyvore.com
http://www.examiner.com/plussize-fashion-in-louisville/le...
