“The qualities I most admire in women are confidence and kindness.” Oscar de la Renta

With the passing of one of fashion’s biggest icons, Oscar de la Renta was quoted on the radio this am saying he used color and fashion to make women the most beautiful he could. Ah, the days of when men adored women, cherished them, just simply admire their beauty no matter what size, but just because they were beautiful and confident.

For hundreds of years painters and sculptures have taken the female form and held it up high for all to gaze upon and see how exquisite the shape of her face, the softness of her curves, the delicate falling of hair, a creature so complex yet so breath taking – yes women, this is you!

Unfortunately somewhere along the line in these last 75 years, some uptight women found that being revered equated to being ‘objectified’, and for a man, giving a simple compliment could result in laser beams shooting out of her eyes and setting him aflame only for her to give him the dust-buster and dump him into the trash.

Does a flower close its petals in protest not to stare at its shades, hues, and delicate nature? On the contrary, it seems to embrace its beauty even more, stand a little straighter, flow in the breeze a little easier, hold its dew a little longer… knowing it has made the admirer happy in their heart… for just simply being.