• JahresrückBLOG 2016 •

• JahresrückBLOG 2016 •

2016

This year’s recap looks a little bit different than the others. Since I’ve been doing monthly recaps, I won’t be talking about each month – you just have to click on the month and you’ll find the recap I’ve written. That’s definitely easier because my mind was still fresh and full of memories when I wrote them, while now I’d have to check my calendar and roam through my brain for everything. But don’t worry: I did this. And that’s why I want to show you my highlights of the year in today’s post. Including my favorite outfits and your top 10 blog posts.

So – 2016 was a total “mixed feelings” year. As you know, I thought about quitting, I was pretty unhappy with the whole situation, but everything’s changed, especially after receiving an award for my work as “Best Fashion Blogger 2016” (hell, yes, I’m so proud of that!). Tomorrow, the blog celebrates its 8th birthday and we’ll be heading into year 9. It’s been such an amazing journey and I always can’t believe how much I’m actually doing and achieving, even though there are hard times (and we all tend to give all that negativity way too much space in our hearts!) – but that’s natural. It can’t always be super easy. And that’s okay. In the end, I’m looking back on an adventurous year full of happy moments, a few trips and lovely collabs – but mostly: the pleasure to be someone who makes others feel good about themselves. And that’s what makes my work the most amazing work in the world. Well – for me. :)


• Best Moments of 2016 •

One of the best moments was becoming a brand ambassador for Scarlett & Jo at the end of 2015 and flying to London for a big photo shoot in January (and again for the biggest plus-size photo shoot ever in April!). I had the pleasure to → stay at “Home House” in a stunning suite because it had already been booked for the shoot, and it was absolutely amazing. Of course, I’ll still be providing you with my S&J outfit posts in 2017 – it’s something that I really love to support because the brand is simply amazing and deserves its success.

In February, I bought a dress from Dolce & Gabbana – and yes, this is one of my best moments of the year because I never thought I’d actually wear something from my favorite designer. ;) I can’t wait to wear it again as soon as possible and create even more different looks with it. This year, I did three looks with it: → Poppies & Daisies I, → Poppies & Daisies II and → Poppies & Daisies III.

In March, I → met Beth Ditto – she’s such a lovely person, a true visionary and her first collection definitely got me. I’ve been wearing the jumpsuit a lot and I’m more than happy that I got my favorite pieces of her own clothing line. By the way: the new collection is already online. It’s not as much my thing as the first one, but I think I’ll wait for the sale so I can get one or two pieces. ;)

I did a “Shop my Closet” flea market at home and got to met some of you. I really hope to do it again as soon as possible because my closet is about to burst and of course, I want to meet more of you! :)

In May, I decided to start filming videos of my outfits. So far, it has worked pretty well to do so and you can almost always see me in motion. Sure, this isn’t super professional, as we’re still a two-person team – my husband taking the photos and filming with the iPhone and me, editing everything as good as I can (not a pro, though) – but we’re always trying our best to show you that plus size is no reason to hide and that everyone of you should be wearing whatever you want and like!

My best friend from my childhood married in June and I was so happy that she asked me to be her make-up artist – yes, this actually made me happy and proud, especially because she looked so beautiful! It was such a lovely day and I really enjoyed my first wedding (that wasn’t my own). Made me want to do it again – with an actual bridal dress. ;)

In August, I got the → FreeStyle Libre and even though I don’t write that often about my disease, I like to throw in some posts about my life with diabetes. It’s important to spread awareness and sometimes even let some fellow diabetics know that there are new and amazing devices for us. I can really recommend the Libre, even though it’s not as precise as a manual measuring system or a real-time CGM. But it’s a great thing to have and if you can’t afford a rtCGM, this is something you’re going to love! I’m more than thankful that I got the okay from my health insurance for the Dexcom G5 – I’m a happy cyborg now!

Every second with our friends back home is worth a million. I really miss them so much since we moved to Hamburg and that’s why our regular visits at home are so important to me. I love to spend my birthday with them, playing Laser Tag and going out for dinner afterwards, as well as our yearly meet-up in Grafenwöhr. Quality time at its best! ♥

In September, I went to → Milan for the first time ever with Marina Rinaldi. Working with them was a major pleasure last year and I really hope to continue the collab this year. The brand is definitely one of my favorites and suits the blog so well because I want to show you luxurious high fashion, not only everyday stuff.

October: the Plus Size Fashion Days and the event that absolutely made my year. Not only was it an honor to be walking for so many brands but it was also the best feeling ever to receive an award for my work. Please → read the post about it here, it’s such an important and emotional post for me, you shouldn’t miss it!


• Favorite Outfits •


• My Favorite Posts •

Of course, my favorite posts are the “Private” posts. After all those outfits, they’re the posts I love to write the most. I think it’s important to use my voice and talk about body positivity. But not only about positive stuff, also things that bother me or even make me angry. I want to empower people while the media still try to tell us that we’re not good enough, and that’s why my “Private” posts exist. I’ll definitely try my best to write more of them in 2017. Here are the ones I wrote last year:

Private VIPrivate VII (Diversity)Private VIII (Fat)Private IX (Glorifying Obesity)Private X (My Body is not your Fetish)Private XII ((Don’t) #droptheplus)

I also wrote about → some ideas for New Year’s resolutions and they’re still on – it’s not about “new year – new me” and changing yourself for others. It’s about becoming a person who loves herself and accepts others the way they are. If you’re still thinking about what you could put on your to-do list, you should have a look at this post. ;)

Of course I did my #BeachBodyNotSorry project again – you can find all looks of the year → here in this post. :)

A great little project which I started together with → Jules: #plussizepower – we → shot together for the collab with Anna Scholz for sheego and I really want to continue shooting with other (plus size) bloggers, showing you how (amazing!) one piece looks on different body types. Not really this concept but I also shot with my dear → Claus for Happy Size and it was → one of my most-loved posts (and a great outfit!).


• Your Top 10 (most-clicked) Posts •

Ein offener Brief…

I was absolutely shocked when I read this article in Germany’s best-known magazine for women. Such a disgrace to write an article about how (fat) women over 50 should dress in summer in such a hateful way. I wrote an open letter to the author and the magazine, telling them what I think about this bullshit – and never received an answer. Shame on you, BRIGITTE magazine! Still, this is the most-read post on the blog ever and I’m more than proud about how you guys reacted! Faith in humanity = restored, even though the magazine should actually consider finding a new author for a more body positive column.

Private VII | Fat

About wrong compliments like “You’re not fat, you’re beautiful!” and why we shouldn’t use them. We need to accept “fat” as an adjective that doesn’t make us something disgusting. Let’s claim back words like “fat” and “plus size” and turn them into something we’re proud of! And yes: being healthy is the most important thing. ;)

Sunshine Flowers

Your favorite outfit of the year seems to be this colorful and easy summer look with one of Scarlett & Jo’s most beautiful 2in1 dresses (people always think it’s a skirt – maybe they should read what I write about my outfits? ;)). It’s still available from size 22 to 32 (sorry, the smaller sizes are already sold out), you can get it → here for next summer! ;)

Curvy Supermodel – mein Fazit

The new model casting show on TV went on air in October and I was very disappointed. But not only because of the show itself (it was pretty poorly done) – the viewers made me pretty angry because of their wrong expectations, the “models” made me super angry because of their non-existing self-esteem, the body shaming was horrible, fat girls were portrayed as the classic victim of her bodies, then there was some cheap “sex sells” concept and in the end, all I can say is that we shouldn’t have such shows like “…’s next Topmodel” and we don’t need a plus-size version either. Let’s stop creating ideals and pigeonholing everything we see – let’s finally celebrate diversity and uniqueness!

Private X | My Body is not your Fetish

Even though this post certainly never reached those who would actually need to read them, this was something I really felt like I had to write. So many men online ignore that I’m not posting everything I do for their sexual entertainment. They keep sending me offensive messages and dick pics – and all that just because of my body, because I’m fat. Of course, this isn’t just a topic for fat girls but every woman. And I really hope that these men will finally understand that we’re not sexual objects!

Private VI

Sexual harassment and rape are a horrible topic and it hurt a lot when I read the news from Cologne (and other big cities in Germany) right after last year’s New Year’s Eve. Last year was a bad year for the victims of sexual harassment – not only Cologne, but also the “Stanford rape” case and here in Germany another story with Gina-Lisa Lohfink (and I’m still on her side) are only two legal cases which left me absolutely angry and feeling desperate. NO MEANS NO – and it’s about time everybody understood this!

“You can do better – but you don’t have to!” | An open letter

One of the most annoying stories of the year was the post of a blogger who thought it was cool to give some advice on how to “do better” while taking other bloggers’ pictures and showing what they should change to hide their “defects” (yes, she actually used this word!). I wrote an open letter to her when I saw that she did this with one of my looks (on my birthday!) and I’m glad that so many joined me in my opinion. This is NOT okay. And just another form of body shaming. I’m glad that after removing this “column” from her blog she now seems to have stopped blogging altogether – because this isn’t inspirational, it’s degrading! I removed her link from the post because there’s certainly no need to have a look there anymore.

Vintage Christmas

It’s cool to see one of my last posts of 2016 in your top 10 – this means you actually must have liked it because so many clicked on it to see everything of it! This is also one of my favorite looks of the year – I’m so happy that it actually has that real vintage touch thanks to the beaded collar from my mother. I hope this look showed everyone that you can always turn a basic outfit into your own style by adding special details – you just have to try and play around with them! ;)

Cocoa

Of course there has to be at least one of the #BeachBodyNotSorry posts in your top 10 – this was also one of my favorites (even though I really loved → this one too!). The swimsuit is such a versatile piece and I really hope that the brand – Drip Swimwear – will come back with loads of new styles so everybody can get one. :) I hope you liked last year’s project and I also hope that this year, I’ll be back with even more beach styles to prove again that every body is a beach body!

Yellow Lace

Number 10 is another simple but amazing look – I also loved it a lot (and the day when we shot it was so super hot – the dress was a good choice!). Yellow is such a lovely color and the lace design is beautiful. The dress was also available in white and light pink – and still I think that yellow was the best choice. Can’t wait to wear it again this year (and I hope I’ll find new ways to style it!).

#2016#Jahresrückblick#JahresrückBLOG#JahresrückBLOG 2016#Recap
Written by Luciana
Hello everyone, my name is Luciana, I'm 27, and the creative mind of "Lu zieht an." I was born in Germany but I'm half Brazilian, that's why you can read this blog in German and English - but feel free to write and ask me anything in Portuguese. I love and live fashion, am obsessed with sunglasses and bright lipsticks and the world's biggest sushi and steak lover. Follow me for daily updates on Instagram (@luziehtan). ♥
5 comments
  • Ach liebe Lu,
    dein Jahr auf dem Blog hatte so viele tolle Momente und ich habe all deine Posts sehr gerne gelesen. Ich folge dir mittlerweile auch schon seit ein paar Jahren, aber erst seit ca. 1 bis 2 Jahren habe ich mich ganz aktiv mehr mit Mode beschäftigt. Und da warst und bist mir da immer wieder eine Inspiration. :)
    Ich hätte zwar gerne ein paar Kilo weniger auf den Rippen, da ich mir mittlerweile ein Haufen meiner Sachen nicht mehr passt. :D Aber ich lege auch so einfach großen Wert darauf, coole Sachen zu tragen und mutig zu sein. Ich falle immer ein bisschen auf, bin ziemlich häufig overdressed, aber das macht mir nichts. Wenn mir etwas gefällt, kaufe ich es mir und trage es dann auch.
    Eine Freundin von mir mit einer Knallerfigur (schlank, aber mit Kurven an den richtigen Stellen ;-)) sagt mir immer wieder, dass sie sich solche Outfits wie ich nicht trauen würde. Ich muss sie immer überreden, dass sie sich mal was traut. Das ist zwar etwas traurig für sie, aber mich macht es Stolz. Weil ich zwar ein paar Kilo mehr auf die Waage bringe, das aber weder meinem Stil noch meinem Selbstbewusstsein schadet!
    Mach weiter so, wie du bist, liebe Lu. Das ist genau richtig!

    • Liebe Lu,
      ich bin eigentlich eine stille Mitleserin, seit ungefähr sieben Jahren. Und ich wollte Dir endlich mal sagen, dass es toll ist, was Du hier mit dem Blog machst. Du bist mit ein Grund dafür, dass ich mich nicht mehr in dunkle Säcke hülle, sondern trotz meines dicken Körpers wieder Spaß an Mode habe. Leider klappt das mit dem Body-Positivity-Gedanken bei mir selber noch nicht so richtig; ich hoffe insgeheim immer noch, wieder so schlank wie vor zehn Jahren sein zu können. Aber Du hast mir gezeigt, dass man auch mit einem dicken Körper nicht mit gesenktem Kopf durch die Straßen laufen muss, und dass man sich, egal ob dick oder dünn, auch lieb haben sollte und gut behandeln sollte. Unser Körper trägt uns durch unser Leben, und deshalb sollten wir auch gut zu ihm sein. Liebe Lu, Du bist wirklich inspirierend! Mach weiter, ich freue mich auf Deine neuen Posts. Hab ein schönes, liebevolles und anregendes neues Jahr! Viele Grüße, Ella

        • Ich danke dir, liebe Ella! Und es freut mich riesig, dass du dich nach all der Zeit mal meldest (herrje, dann kennst du ja auch die fiesen Outfits, haha!) – es ist schön, wenn sich auch die stillen Leser blicken lassen! ;) Ich hoffe, du hinterlässt jetzt öfter mal einen kleinen Kommentar! ;)

          Es macht mich glücklich, dass meine Botschaft genau so bei dir angekommen ist. Und keine Sorge: die miesen Tage hab’ ich auch. Schlanker sein könnten wir wohl alle und ab und zu wünschen wir es uns auch mal, aber es ist nicht das Nummer-Eins-Ziel, dünn zu sein, und das sollten wir uns auch vor Augen halten. Viel wichtiger ist ein glückliches und gesundes Leben – und glücklich sein kann man nur, wenn man auch sich selbst liebt. ♥

          Ich wünsche dir auch ein wunderbares neues Jahr! ♥

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