This is the story of Tina Marie (not her real name) an Erzulliesta that just survived 4 maxed out credit card bills. She emailed us her story asking if we can share it, in hopes that her other sisters in fashion can learn from her mistakes and avoid the whole situation. Below is her story. It is good to note that it was edited for brevity and photos are all mere representation of the interview.
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It started when I pretended to earn Php 80,000 per month because I was envious of my friends’ online life, I met “X” who introduced herself as an heiress, and I fell in love with fashion bloggers. I tried to imitate them and used my credit cards to do so.
One day, I can’t keep up with my bills anymore. Collection companies are starting to call. I had no one to turn to because I have lied to everyone. I have stopped using my cards and started selling my stuff. Majority of my salary and the monthly allowance that my family sent me went to those bills.
It took me 9 months to have a clean slate but I went to relapse when I met X again because I would rather die than for her to know that I was a fraud. All of the savings that I was able to put up from last time went to that bill.
In the end, I have realized that the reason this happened was because I felt that everyone is ‘making it’ but me. I forgot that online posts may or may not be true. Just like how X did. Turns out she was never an heiress and she is now hiding from her debts here in Manila.
So, what lesson can I give other Erzulliestas?
True luxury is the life that you live without the fear of tomorrow. It’s definitely more luxurious to be able to sleep soundly knowing you don’t owe money, than having a life that makes you worry by the end of the month. I hope that you girls learn from my mistakes. Erzulliestas after all, as Aries would say, are innately glamorous. So no need to pretend or anything else we cannot really afford.
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Erzullie is a fierce plus size fashion brand from the Philippines dedicated to designing and producing styles for the empowered Erzulliesta. Shop online: http://erzullie.wix.com/shop
