Blog promotes fiery fashion

It didn’t take long for the drill sergeant to notice Tinita Fuller’s short and crazy haircut, rings and lipstick on her first day in the U.S. Army. The dolled-up look resulted in her superior cursing and ordering her to do pushups.

"He said, ‘This ain’t lipstick and guns, it’s just guns, Fuller. It’s just guns,’" she recalled.

The nickname "Lipstick and Guns" stuck with Fuller her two years in the military, but it didn’t end there.

The tough and girly sides of her personality are strong, and they helped form her recently launched fashion blog, LipstickzNGunz.

The lifestyle blog has been in the works for three years and started as a jewelry boutique, but over time it’s evolved.

"LipstickzNGunz, it’s just about the way you carry yourself," Fuller said.

Fuller offers tips, trends, words of encouragement and alerts about sales at stores on her blog and Facebook page.

photo: red carpet dresses

Her mission is to show people they don’t have to spend a lot of money or be stick thin to look good.

Fuller wants women, no matter their age or size, to know they’re beautiful and can wear whatever they want. As an adult, she’s never been smaller than a size 10 and she wants to target curvy women with her blog.

"I feel like I can wear anything that a size 5 wears," she said. "It’s just how you carry yourself and look in it."

Fuller reaches out to her followers to participate in photo shoots, but oftentimes they’re too shy. So she ends up modeling a lot of the clothes herself.

Mark DeYoung sometimes photographed her until his recent move to Texas. His two years shooting Fuller opened his eyes to the fashion world.

"I think I just love people who have their own individual voice and how they can express that through their body and fashion," DeYoung said. "And she totally has that."

The two would find fun places to try different looks, including the rooftop of a downtown parking lot and spots at Anderson University.

DeYoung said Fuller knows how to pose and is proud to wear her styles, making it easier to photograph her.

"She’s just a walking picture," he said.

Fuller works at an Anderson nursing home and doesn’t have any formal fashion education, but her love of clothes is ingrained in her.

She grew up watching her grandmother get gussied up for church three times a week, and her mother always coordinated her and her siblings’ outfits.

She’s often hired as a stylist for events, including the Indiana Black Expo.

She jokes that she has two looks: runway or bum, but her clothes are a way to express herself.

"They make me feel a certain way," Fuller said. "They give me more of a confidence in myself that I might not have (otherwise)."

She’s picked up tricks of the trade from photographers and stylists she’s worked with. She absorbs it all like a sponge.

Fuller’s constantly thinking about her blog and social media pages. If she gets a spare minute, she spends it working online.

She plans on introducing more DIY posts and starting a YouTube channel for how-to videos.

Part of looking good is feeling confident, which most women struggle with at least occasionally. Whether a woman is changing her look, struggling to find the right clothes or her weight is fluctuating, Fuller wants to help her find the right clothes and attitude.

"If you’re not comfortable in your body," she said, "it’s a thousand times harder."

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