Ellen Elias, the East African (by way of Sweden) heroine of our new What’s Underneath, won’t submit to dressing for a man.“When I meet a man who accepts my style, that’s the one I’ll actually want to be with,” Ellen told us. Her irrepressible confidence stems from her mom (who told to her ignore the beauty norms she saw on television), as well as the women of Eritrea (the East African country where she’s from) who fought right with the men in their battle for independence against Ethiopia. In the same way that she won’t force herself into the perennial little black dress just to get a dime-a-dozen boyfriend, Ellen also won’t conform to stereotypes of how black women "should be." Way out of the ordinary, no one can peg Ellen to anything based on her looks, including her actual country of origin. She is a woman of the world who is simultaneously at one with who she is, and her story is in our new What’s Underneath episode above!

x,
Elisa + Lily

Follow Ellen on Instagram: @ellenxtellnobody
Her video was edited by Andrea Cruz
What's Underneath is produced by Elisa, Lily, & Mona

Thank you, Glowing Co, for sponsoring Ellen’s episode.

All editorial decisions were made by us (StyleLikeU) and are in keeping with the mission of the What’s Underneath Project.