I wear glitter everyday, here's why.

I am Eliza and I’m not one to shy away from sparking up a conversation but I’ve found getting people talking is often because of the sparkles on my face. Realising eye creams aren’t a miracle cure for tiredness sigh 😮‍💨, I’ve found the best way to get an instant lift inside and out is to splash on some glitter.

*Side note… It also makes you look fab and is the best known preventive measure against the dickhead brigade.

Taking a lesson from our animal friends.

In the animal kingdom colouration is used for both protection and attraction: Some animals use colour as a warning sign to predators that they are dangerous, like wasps 🐝 or poisonous frogs 🐸,others use colour patterns to hide away and obscure themselves like stick insects; some create optical illusions to confuse predators, such as zebras 🦓. Some love nothing more than to strut their stuff and stand the eff-out like the humble peacock or chameleon🦎. 

In a similar way I use glitter to make myself appear more powerful 💪🏽 and dazzling 🌟 in situations where I might feel vulnerable. Hungover after a big night out, family Christmas, a country pub – these are all spaces where my shiny shield made me feel a little more protected.

“I use glitter to make myself appear more powerful and dazzling in situations where I might feel vulnerable. Hungover after a big night out, family Christmas, a country pub – these are all spaces where my shiny shield made me feel a little more protected.”

 

Wearing glit for every occasion. On my way to a party, Christmas with the fam and hotel quarantine (to match my outfit of course).

Getting those dress-up-faaarshun feels 👠.

Growing up I was an anxious child, constantly seeking approval and needing to please others. Clowning was a way I could attract attention and defend myself from the dreaded bad vibes 🙅  from people I assumed didn’t like me. Expressing myself in this way was TBH, inauthentic and tiring – to be constantly performing was to deny myself meaningful connection.

The world beyond the schoolyard offered a chance to shift these negative self-soothing behaviours. I began to grow and work on showing my authentic self in terms of both my politics and my values.

It was also during this time that I realised the power of what you wear. Mostly as being a tool for challenging the status quo. In a short time I transitioned from clowning to collecting outlandish outfits. I found joy in constructing outfits that pivoted from femme to butch and beyond. And dress up I did! Whether it was a Tinkerbell 🧚 tulle dress to a university lecture or a brown suede fringed jacket to a job interview, faaarshunhas been a chance to raid the dress up box and challenge the status quo. When asked why I was dressed a bit like a fairy at uni, I simply replied “because I like it.” What more was there to say, really...

Shattering 💔 expectations with glit.

But I needed more and more is more, so I added glitter into my battle armour. Before the post world war two invention of modern glitter, the shiny substance was made of broken glass – which seems ironic when I usually apply it to shatter expectations of heteronormativity and heterosexuality.

Living your life with exclamation❗❗rather than explanation.

Glitter has a history of being around performance and protest: from its use in drag make up and in glitter bombing homophobic politicians. Wearing glitter on any day feels like going out into the world with a rallying cry: “I am here!” It’s like living life with an exclamation rather than with an explanation. One of my favourite party anecdotes is that I have applied glitter for free to anyone from country people travelling to Sydney Mardi Gras to South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young on the night marriage equality became law because it is for everyone.

Glitter is best when shared 👯.

Sporting sparkles is sure to break some ice. 

Glitter is a way to make instant friends. With anyone. “Sparkalaphobes” aka Glitter-phobes excluded. 

It’s true applying glitter requires vaseline, aloe vera, makeup glue of choice or for beards a little gel (a blitter as we Glitoris folk call em). However, while we worry about how to get glitter to stick, the best bond is actually the moments glitter can build between people.

More than an accessory.