I Never Loved Fashion-Until I Went Blind

On styling myself for a whole new life and the hope that came with it.

- BY NATALIE TREVONNE | AS TOLD TO BELLE BAKST

When I was around 11 years old, I started to notice what felt like clouds blocking my vision. Even though I'd been diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis as a baby-and I knew the condition could impact my eyes as well as my joints-I still struggled to understand what was happening.

Especially as the clouds got thicker and thicker.

The years went on, and my vision had ups and downs. I’d get a corrective surgery and my sight would return, only to start to disappear again soon after. It was exhausting. Then, when! was 17, my doctors put me on an intravenous drug that was supposed to help but ended up making me really sick—dizzy, nauseated, fatigued. By the time I turned 18, I’'d decided to stop trying to fix” my eyes— I knew I would get so much more out of life if 1 began my journey as a legally blind woman. The decision made me feel both relieved and anxious. I desperately needed a break from being in the hospital, but I was also overwhelmed by the prospect of learning how to live without much sight.