When Telly Mallory started her blog, Telly Loves Fashion, in 2014, the Detroit native was looking for a creative outlet to share her style and embrace her changing body, a year into marriage. Fast forward some years, and the now 32-year-old took a leap of faith, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to turn this passion project of blogging and advocating for plus-size representation in the fashion industry into a full-time job as a content creator.
On Mallory鈥檚 Instagram page 鈥 鈥 you鈥檒l find the Harper Woods resident sporting her many fabulous dresses around metro Detroit, trying on items from various shops and sharing tips for styling them, and showing her nearly 12,000 followers what a day in her life looks like via 鈥淕et Ready with Me鈥 videos. Recently, Mallory was in the fourth cohort of national plus-size retailer Eloquii鈥檚 Black Creatives Project, a year-round initiative the company started in 2020, to provide more paid influencer partnerships for Black creators.
Body positivity and mental health go hand in hand with Mallory鈥檚 fashionable posts. Through her newer hashtag #TellyLovesBodyLanguage, she plans to share more content encouraging dialogue between herself and her followers on accepting yourself at any size and shape. Here, Mallory shares more.
My personal style: [I鈥檓 a] maximalist. I鈥檓 just kind of loud, and I didn鈥檛 know that about me until I started blogging. But I love statement pieces. My closet is full of statement pieces 鈥 so much so that when I just want to go to Walmart, I鈥檓 like, 鈥淯h, where鈥檚 my joggers?鈥
My go-to look: A dress with a pair of fishnet stockings and some gym shoes.
My favorite retailers: Eloquii. I just love them. I love what they鈥檙e doing for the plus-size industry. ASOS, obsessed. H&M 鈥 [but] they need to do better, they really do. You have to dig in caves to find plus-size representation there. [But] I would say those are my top 3 right now. My shoe collection is crazy right now; for shoes, I shop at ASOS, ShoeDazzle, and JustFab.
I can鈥檛 leave the house without 鈥 A red lip. I keep a red [lipstick] in my car, in my purse, in my coat.
A summer鈥檚 day: I鈥檓 always finding ways to go to the water, sit by the water, read a book. If I鈥檓 not going on a trail 鈥 I like to go on hikes and things 鈥 I鈥檓 probably in some flowy sundress with sandals, on some grass, sitting by the water with a snack, and just letting the sun soak [in].
On my playlist: I love that question because my music is so diverse. On my way [to our interview], I was listening to Russian music. But I can go from like Coldplay to Gucci Mane to Garth Brooks to jazz.
On body acceptance: Don鈥檛 believe every thought that comes to your head. Don鈥檛 believe everything that you鈥檝e been told. Sometimes I feel like since birth, we鈥檝e been told what beauty is. Have you ever taken a chance to ask yourself, 鈥淲hat do you find beautiful?鈥 It starts with you. Look at your body and say, 鈥淲hat do I actually like?鈥 And then you can build from there.
This story is from the June 2022 issue of 糖心vlog安卓版 Detroit. Read more our听digital edition.听 And听click here听for more MI Style.听
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