Bloglovin' x Nadia Aboulhosn
A few weeks ago, the lovely people at Bloglovin' came to my house and interviewed and photographed me for a feature. We originally got on skype together and discussed how we could collaborate with one another. I wanted to involve all of my followers because I always think about how I wouldn't be where I am today if you guys didn't support me. We came up with the idea of you guys basically conducting the interview so every question below was asked by one of you. Bloglovin' was actually one of the first platforms I used when I began blogging so it was pretty cool to team up with them. The interview had so many questions that we had to break it up in to two part. You can see the first part of it over at Bloglovin' HERE!
Who do you look up to in the fashion world?
I like Kanye West. Cause you know what? He was the underdog at one point and he proved himself.
How do you feel about his latest collection?
I want all of everything from the collection. Kanye...call me. If you don’t have my number, email me and I’ll wear all of Yeezy season 1. *laughs*
Did you expect to become such an inspiration and basically start a “Nadia Revolution”?
I don’t really think it’s a “Nadia Revolution.” I really didn’t think I was going to be an inspiration; I just took pictures and hoped people would be inspired by my outfits. But then people started saying I was curvy and brave. I remember being like, “I’m just looking cute today!” I didn’t think I was brave or anything for being half naked and my size, which is normal for me. I’m from Florida! Everyone does the half naked thing there; it’s too hot.
Do you give any past experiences credit for shaping you into who you are now?
Yes, there are huge turning points. When I was 15 and in school, I would get in a lot of fights, but I finally pulled myself out of my high school. I had one more fight before I got expelled and they were going to place me in one of those fake bad schools. I told my mom to take me out and put me in the community college so I can get my high school diploma there before I had no other option. I ended up graduating a year early. I had a friend who was shot and killed when I was 19, and that was the biggest turnaround. That’s when I started blogging. I had to switch it up and get a new lifestyle before it got worse for me.
Did you go college? What did you study? Yes, I went to college for two years; I got my Associate’s Degree at a community college. I applied to FIT to do fashion design and they denied me! I remember sitting in my room and I opened the letter, and I cried for two minutes. Then, I was like, “Fuck it. I’m going to make it in the fashion world another way.” And four years later, I didn't need FIT. I have two capsule collections coming out, and I’m not in $80,000 debt. You can never be over educated though. So if school is available to you and possible, take it.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Stop messing around. Get it together.
What advice would you give to someone who struggles with self love and their weight?
I’d say don’t be bothered by other people’s opinions of who you are. I always say that what other people say about me is not my business because it’s really not. Because I don’t care--life goes on. I’m not going to know you five days from now. Focus on the positive things about yourself; focus on what you love about yourself rather than what you don’t like about yourself. I like my eyebrows so I stare at them a lot in the mirror, and I like my butt cheeks so I stare at those a lot also! Haha! I take good butt selfies that I don’t upload to social media because I don’t want to get in trouble...by my mom.
Do you appreciate getting questioned about your size and confidence or do you get annoyed that that aspect of your life is constantly defining the conversation?
I didn’t used to get annoyed before but now it’s just so frustrating. There are so many other good qualities about me, so many things about my personality and my career that the conversation shouldn’t be based around my size only. There’s so much more I offer. It’s like okay, is this the only thing we're gonna talk about? And for how long are we going to talk about this? People are confident because of their experiences and how they handle things.
If you had two minutes to convince Drake to marry you, what would you say?
I feel like I don’t need to convince Drake of anything. He should already know. Haha! I don’t know, Drake you should already know that I don’t have to convince your ass.
You’ve mentioned that you didn’t always follow your parents’ lessons and examples growing up and that you’ve grown a lot since. As you continue to grow and change, what is one area of your life in your 20s that you hope to look back on and realize how far you’ve come?
Sometimes I’m really hard on myself because I feel like I wasted a lot of time in my teenage years. I didn’t listen to my parents, and I acted recklessly. I’m still in my 20s though, I’m mid 20s. To focus fully on myself and be selfish. I’ve always been so selfless. I do so much for everyone else that I don't take care of myself sometimes.
If you had a 9-5 job what would it be? I can just see you starting this revolution and this ice cream truck comes and a bunch of females are twerking and the guys like, “I just want to sell some popsicles.”
He’ll probably sell more stuff! See, helping the ice cream man out. If I had a 9-5 job, that’s what I would want to be. An ice cream truck dancer. Haha!
Do you self identify as a feminist? If yes, how do you try to incorporate your feminist beliefs in your work?
I absolutely identity as a feminist. A feminist is just somebody who thinks that there should be equality for women, and I incorporate it in everything I do. When I dress half naked and you say a comment that I shouldn’t be wearing that because it makes me a slut, your ass is getting blocked and deleted. Slut shaming is just not okay, whether you’re a female or a male. Women everywhere should be able to dress how they want to without being ridiculed for it or slut shamed or cat called or raped. It’s ridiculous. I had one girl ask me how can I be a feminist and agree with Islamic women covering themselves. But that’s the whole point--you should be able to be a woman and wear whatever you want to wear, whether it’s little clothing or a lot of clothing and not be looked down for wearing it. It’s up to the woman to decide.
How is having a big bum perceived in your ethnic community?
In the Middle East, everyone loves big asses. When I’m over here I’m so exotic like look at my eyebrows. I go to Lebanon and I’m a basic bitch. I’m like looking around, everyone looks good there. Especially the women. I’m just saying that big butts over there are popular. That’s probably where I got mine from. The other is butt shots. I’m just kidding! I had to make a joke because last year I saw an article that says I have butt shots so I had to throw that in there.
What’s your advice for women struggling with envy, comparison, and insecurity?
Just focus on yourself; you can’t be anyone but yourself.
What do your tattoos mean, by the way?
It says Dax Benitez, it was the friend I was telling you about who got shot and killed when I was 19. So that was a wakeup call for me and that’s when I started blogging.
Thank you to the entire team at Bloglovin'. You guys are real life baby angels. Johan, you are the best interviewer ever. Brandon Osorio with his amazing photography for this feature. xx