Love is Your Compass Will Help You Love Your Curves

Anna Stassen, a blogger from Love is Your Compass, has recently written a great piece that gives a little bit of insight into how many women with curves feel when they look at their wardrobe and how we should dress to fit, not to hide. Take a look at what she has to say...




Love Yourself...Love Your Shape



I sometimes mull over what complicated, fascinating creatures we human beings are. Take clothing for example, for many of us clothes aren’t just clothes…we attach a myriad of feelings/meanings to them creating situations where we end up with wardrobes full of garments that simply don’t fit properly. I for one found myself in this situation just prior to emigrating from the UK to Australia and to my dismay realized that I’d created a wardrobe full of memories, rather than one full of functional, flattering clothing.

I also realized that, whilst looking at those shorts that last fit me in my teens was delightful in some ways, it also made me feel a sense of pressure to still be the same size I was when I last fit them, which on reflection wasn’t healthy for me (or anyone else I’d imagine)! You see, I believe life isn’t a dress rehearsal…this is it…the main show, so you may as well make the most of it and enjoy it to the max, which you can’t really do if you aren’t comfortable with yourself and that includes your size. For me, step one of accepting myself is banishing all those reminders of who I was and embracing who I am right now and learning to love that me.

Chasing the past can become a vicious circle which I needed to break so I decided, no more holding onto and hoarding clothes that last fit years ago in the vain hope that they will fit again someday. I got several large black sacks and separated my clothing that no longer fit by size and either gave it away to charity shops or put it in the clothing donation bins dotted around. It’s a good feeling to know that someone who actually fits into those clothes will get some good use out of them. I did keep a few really nostalgic pieces of clothing but I mean one or two not a whole wardrobe full.

Then, I made a promise to myself that I would build up a new capsule wardrobe of clothing where every item actually fits me and banish what had become a daily routine of admonishing myself for no longer fitting into the clothing in my wardrobe.

So started the quest for clothing that fits and flatters my current mid-thirties shape, heavy up top (need a size UK 18 / US 14 to fit my bust), bit of a tum, slim hips and skinny legs (average about size UK 14/16 / US 10/12 on my bottom half depending on the label). I think in those body shape categories that fashion advice sites sometimes use I’d be an inverted triangle.

The thing is, when you’re top heavy and short, wearing the wrong clothing can seriously make you look about a million sizes bigger than you actually are. I know for me, the tendency when I’m bigger (less of a problem when I’m nearer my ideal weight) has always been to cover up my bosom, but in the name of turning over a new leaf, along with my new life down under, I am endeavoring to be proud of my endowments whatever my size.

As the wonderful Gok Wan is always saying, having a good foundation makes all the difference with clothing, so underwear really is key. A bra that fits really well can make all the difference and I find this is particularly important if you have a big bust. As with the rest of my clothing, I have tried to find out and accept my real bra size and work from there to find something that isn’t too matronly, is comfortable and also flattering to my clothed figure.

Larger bras can often look unappealing in that the engineering required to hold and support your assets dictate that straps are wider and there’s generally a lot more material involved. So, I’m happy to see that there are some beautiful designs out there these days for larger busts, like the gorgeous collections by Curvy Couture.

I’ve now made some pretty good headway on my quest for a new capsule wardrobe and it definitely makes a HUGE difference to my confidence to have a wardrobe full of clothes that I love and know fit well. I think many of us make the mistake of trying to hide in clothing which is baggy so we don’t stand out and draw attention to ourselves when, in fact, this makes us stand out more! I’ve noticed that wearing well-fitting clothing with confidence means people notice the fashion not your size.

and take a look at the news post also shared from Love is Your Compass on Curvy Couture fashions...


NEWS: Curvy Couture

The folk over at Curvy Couture: beautiful and glamorous garments created to enhance and support a natural woman’s curves, invited me to guest blog! They’ve got a lovely range of lingerie for us ladies with bigger busts \(^o^)/ hurrah….they go up to a 44H!!!

Thank you as always for your words of wisdom Anna and Love is Your Compass!

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