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A Distinctive st48 A Distinctive style . com

Growing up I would watch my mother put her makeup

on and wished one day it would be me in that Revlon

red lipstick. We would head downtown to Macys

down by 34th street, my mother in her Calvin Klein shoes, me

in my wheelchair.

I have been disabled since birth. When I was born, a student

doctor displaced my hip, but my parents didnt realized this

had affected me till the age of three. From then on, I was the

wheelchair girl.

But no matter how I was regarded, I still had a fascination

with fashion and style. At a very young age, I would watch

while my mother made dresses. I studied peoples clothing

choices. It seemed like I always had fashion in my blood. I

remember wanting to see more colors and different styles

instead of the same boring blue jean and tee shirt. Why

couldnt people dress up? They seemed sadtheir choice of

clothing expressed that to me.

I was lucky to grow up in this wonderful island New York.

As a child living in the Upper West Side, I was always fascinated

with the city; full of electricity, energy and style. But I was

afraid that a girl in a wheelchair would not be accepted into a

community where you are judged by your appearance. Littledid I know that I was soon going to change that. I would be

the one woman who looked different at fashion shows. But

that would be years later. First, I needed to learn how to like

myself and understand how I could be beautiful too.

Not that I wasnt obsessed with fashion from that start.

Throughout school I always had some sort of a beauty product

in my bag. Whether it was a those over-the-counter Wet n

Wild lip glosses or black eye liner, I would make sure I was

ready. Most girls my age went for the all-natural look, but

makeup made me feel powerful, and that feeling alone

boosted my self-esteem. Although that feeling would come

with a price. I would get strange looks from people as I rode

around the streets and classroom hallways in my skinny jeans

clothes and my Cover Girl bright pink lipstick, and it took a lot

of self-determination to keep being me. Being that I am in awheelchair, looking or feeling beautiful was something that I

didnt think I could feel.

As I grew older and bolder, I experimented with different

makeup products and clothes. Slowly, I started understanding

what suited me best. Not everything thats trending fits you,

so you pick and choose to what represents you bestfor me

it was print leggings, bold accessories, and button up shirts. I

began styling myself. I graduated high school and enrolled at

Fashion Institute of Technology for Merchandising Manage-

ment. Many girls had completely different looks and ideas of

how to mix and match outfits. I felt as if these people got me,

they didnt look at me funnythey were welcoming, supportive

and impressed at my differences and how I took the time to

dress up. With their daring clothing and experimentation, they

understood my way of looking at the beauty and fashion

world, as a powerful tool.

In the FIT dorms, we would all wake up minutes earlier just

so we would have time to add that perfect eye wing or that

hot pink lip liner with lipstick on top so it wouldnt feather-

proof. We held our heads high as we moved down those

hallways. Having makeup on and dressing as we wanted was

empowering.

Then we graduated, and it became time to leave the birds

nest and enter the sometimes difficult real world of the

fashion industry. Living in New York, there are times when a

door closes just because of your looks. Searching for an

internship, I would sometimes get rejected on the spot, which

was even worse than getting rejected in an email a week later.

One morning, I went for an interview at a well-known fashion

magazine company for a position as a beauty assistant. The

front desk girl saw me and asked if I was in the right building,I told her that I was in for a meeting. Her look said it all. She

took a half hour to tell me that they had to reschedule. Two

days later, I got an email from the editor and she explained

how I wasnt suited for the job but wished me luckjust one

rejection out of many that I experienced when I first started

making my mark in the industry.

During my college days, I interned forAllureMagazine in the

beauty department. I never complained when I was given

mundane tasks like opening products and organizing them in

the closet or filing thousands of Fashion Week photos by the

last name of the designers. At every meeting, we would sit in

and take notes on what trends were going to be a hit next

season, or how a runway photo can turn into a makeup look

this was more for us to get a sense of how each page created

a magazine. I was among some of the best editors and graphic

designers in the city, and that feeling was life-altering in itself.

Everyone came dressed as if Fashion Week was every day.My favorite thing about working there was the sound of heels

walking down the hallways. My skin would crawl with

excitement because everyone was working hard, dedicated

to what they were doing in the most fashionable way. There

was one editor who I loved to watch walk; she had her desk

near mine. I remember she was wearing a high-waisted pencil

skirt with anAlice + Oliviashirt, a Hermes bag, and YSL pumps.

With that walk alone, I felt her power. Thats w

that this is what I wanted to be like in years to co

The experience you get interning for a magazin

huge education on the industry as a whole, but f

more than just a job. I learned that I offered a di

of view that no one had tried before, and I realiz

duty to show the fashion industry that my chair

to do with my passion. From then on, I wou

freedom to express my fashion style without the

someone was going to judge me.So here I am, still living and fashion blogging

City and working for celebrity photographer Patri

as a creative assistant. Being a part of the fashio

taught me a lot of things, but one thing stands

all: people may not accept how you look or wh

but that doesnt matter. Youre not here to plea

Being yourself is all that truly matters.

by JiLLiAn MerCAdo (BautyLsh)

I realized it was my

duty to show the

fashion industry that

my wheelchair had

nothing to do with

my passion.