Dress For Who You Are

Morning my loves,

I've got a bit of morning motivation for you today, and it's something that has taken me a long time to learn but not too long to master. 

I think, when you're a more curvy girl, there's a temptation to be a little "aspirational" when shopping,  especially if you're close to the boarder like me. If you're a size 18, there's always the temptation to think "I can fit in normal clothes", "I can shop in places like Primark" or things like that, but by trying to fit in to "normal" clothes you're actually doing yourself a dis service.

You see, when you try to fit in to the clothes in thin people shops, there are several issues. First of all, it's cut for the people who can wolf down a McDonalds and stay a size 6. It's cut for those who don't have so many curves, which means it's going to outline all the wrong places. 

Imagine it this way- you've got quite big boobs, and an hourglass figure to die for, but when you're shopping in the usual places you're buying clothes that are cut for people without the killer curves and it will hide it, clinging to places that you'd rather it didn't.

Secondly, when you try to squeeze into clothes that are smaller than you are, there simply isn't enough fabric and it WILL pull, and you can guarantee it will pull the places you don't want to. Think of it like a vest top - when you sit down it sticks to the outline of your stomach because it's stretching. If you buy clothes that are too small for you, it's effectively doing the same thing.

When you shop in places that cater for ladies with curves, you'll find that clothes have been cut to flatter your figure, and show off the curves rather than trying to pull you in. This goes the same even if you're trying to fit into a smaller size in the same shop. I think mentally it can feel like an achievement to wear a smaller size, but just because it fits, it doesn't mean it fits you. By sizing up, you're letting the clothes fit as they were designed, and you'll feel better when you look in the mirror, rather than feeling better when you look at the tag.

While I don't agree with the way Buzzfeed operates, they did do a really interesting experiment around this topic. They dressed women without actually telling them what size it was. Overall, the women felt a lot more confident wearing what they'd been styled in, even though in most cases it was a larger size than they would have picked.

I think that tiny number on the tag of your clothes carries way more power than it should. Just because you don't fit in the smaller size, it doesn't mean that you're not beautiful. There's actually only two inches between sizes, so try not to let the number affect you too much - you probably wouldn't notice those two inches missing anyway!

Love and Feathers, 

 The Owlet 💜 

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