Celebrate, Don't Hate: Why I Don't Dress for my Body Type

Celebrate, Don't Hate: Why I Don't Dress for my Body Type

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

An earlier version of me would have never worn an outfit like this. To combine a top that flows out with a skirt that also swings with the wind would have been a mortal sin, for it draws too close the full bottom half is attached to my frame. Cursed (so I have often thought) with a curvy body, I would have shied away from anything that emits the freedom and flow of bohemian fashion. I have tried to stay away before... cautiously choosing items that make my waist look smaller and tuck away my so-called "flaws" under the disguise of a blouse or rise in waistband. The more I have tried to dress for the shape an industry has determined that I have, the more I have been dissatisfied with my wardrobe, and in turn, the little forest that is my own mortal part.

Yes, I have been that girl. The girl standing in front of the full length mirror, hands placed in awkward positions trying to analyze which method of standing makes me look the most minuscule. It's like trying to turn a giant butterfly into an ant. I am not an ant. I have waded through many a stream of fresh saltwater to even be remotely comfortable in this blessed skin.

Besides, who decided what was flattering? I'm rather certain that no one asked my opinion. I think flattering is a very powerful word, but one that should be redefined. You see, when a woman is trying to figure out her personal style, I find it rather offensive that she be boxed into a cage of what is "flattering." What happened to self expression? You see this all the time - at the store, in magazines, on TV... women are looking for something to make any part of them look smaller. They often aren't shopping for clothes that make blood rush to their cheeks and their flutter like the spring wind. Instead, they are wading through a menagerie of unrealistic standards.

But clothing is not a magician's tool. It is a form of art.

I won't lie and say that there are not certain cuts of clothing that may make you feel more confident - of course there are! But I feel the confidence should exude from your joy and your own unique contribution to this planet, not solely from trying to make a leg an inch longer. We all have things that are supposedly considered less than desirable, but that's the common factor for all of us as women - we all have something.

Have I got voluptuous, rotund hips? Yes, indeed I do, and those bones are here to stay. Do I have cellulite? But of course. Have stretch marks created a tiny little road map on parts of my body? Surely it is so.

The fact is, each time you curse the cellulite and the stretch marks, it is a moment wasted. A moment in which you could have wondered at the miracle of blood running underneath your thin layers and a heart pumping, thump, thump, thump. That is life. Knowing that fact, I hope to never again look at anything a person is wearing and think "that makes her look fat." Instead, I shall pray she chose that which makes her happy.

I hope that if I ever have a daughter, she will not know the kinds of horrors women have been put through for generations. I hope that one day we shall laugh at the ancient idea of comparing a woman to a fruit or a household tool. For now, I shall do what I do best: dress for the person I feel like being, not for a food-shape the fashion industry has chosen for me. I am a woman, not an object.

Do you dress strictly for your "body type"? Do you have things you will not wear because you think it is wrong for you? Do you wear whatever you want without a second thought? I would love to hear any and all thoughts on this.


Stay Beautiful,

XOXO Liz

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