Today's post is written by the gorgeous Georgina from Fuller Figure Fuller Bust, where she blogs about bra fitting, style and body love. Go check her out!
I have always been a bigger girl. Chubby when I was younger. Fat now I'm older. Occasionally 'curvy' or 'voluptuous'. I'm usually ok with all of that and never felt the pressure to do anything drastic, despite the fact that one of my biggest body woes is how to dress the damn thing. I used to stare at my friends with unbridled jealousy as I saw them look effortless in their strapless backless tiny dresses and know that my breast, thighs and bum would never allow for such a brave fashion choice. I would dress in tank tops and board shorts in the summer, and grungy jeans and huge t shirts in the winter, dresses were out of the question. I tried to squeeze myself into a few high street numbers but usually gave up after one or two.
It was probably my year in Australia that changed me and my sense of style the most. I went there fresh from the misery of trying to fit in fashion wise at college and university and failing miserably and hating myself even more. Fresh off the plane on my own in the land of Oz I felt liberated. No one bar my handful of rellies knew me or anything about me, I had no one to actively impress and it felt amazing. The warm weather meant I could rock my board short tank top look with ease and as I had my first ever full time job I could start looking for some other clothes to suit me. And thus my dress obsession began! I discovered empire line dresses that I could squeeze myself into and they really flattered me as they nipped me in at the waist. I had a tan, I felt free, I felt beautiful and relaxed and it showed. I was starting to learn how to dress my tricky shape and it felt amazing. I was doing it for me, not trying to fit in with the slimmer richer college girls but just trying to work out my own style. Upon returning home I carried on this transformation, broadening my shoe collection, learning how to apply cat's eye liquid eye liner, discovering belts and all the other tricks that can help make a fuller curvier figure look pleasing. Sure I had some fashion faux pas, showed a bit too much cleavage, had the empire line of a few outfits sitting on my breasts rather than under it, but this trial and error method worked for me!
These days I feel I look my sexiest in Pinup style dresses. They hug my curves, are a modest knee length and make me feel like Jessica Rabbit. I know which bits of my body look great and which bits don't and I know how to dress accordingly. I still do look back on outfit photos and cringe but I have mostly fine tuned my wardrobe and love every item in there. My style is not unique, it's not mainstream, it is somewhere comfortably in the middle and I make it work. I will never imitate those college girls again because my figure will never be what there's is and I will never suit the same outfits. I am conscious of myself as a person, not as part of a community who needs to fit in and this is a massive turning point as we should all dress for ourselves, for our comfort and for our shape, not for what is fashionable amongst our peers.