confidence is owning and celebrating your body by shyla hassan When you are comfortable your confidence shows in how you carry yourself and the energy you put out to the world. So spending time learning about what suits your body and the styles, or clothes, that make you feel confident is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself. One of the things I encourage my clients to do is to go out and try on clothes that they feel comfortable, and look great, in. It’s really important to take the time to learn what key colours and silhouettes work best for you and are effective in making a statement for your personal style. This will give you the confidence and self-assurance to step out and feel great about how you look, because when you have no self-doubt or self-consciousness others will notice that energy. There has been a long-standing view in many high fashion magazines like Vogue as to what the perfect woman’s shape is; usually very tall, lean and with minimal curves. However, the real fact is that our bodies are all different shapes and sizes and they also change throughout our lives. To be proud of what you have it’s important to understand that different body shapes were in ‘fashion’ at one time or another and even culturally, and in other countries, the view of what makes a woman’s shape appealing can be very different.
Don’t allow trends to create wardrobe anxiety! Let's look at the history of fashion and I will explain why you do not have to adhere to those latest must-buys. A glance at artist Rubens’ paintings shows that having a voluptuous body was an ideal of beauty in the Baroque period. In the Victorian period it was an ‘hourglass’ figure, and then in the 1920s women taped up their breasts in favour of the boyish and rectangular shape. Skin tones too have had their fashionable periods and signified different things. Being pale and white was a sign of being wealthy enough to not have to work outdoors, but today having a tan suggests you’re wealthy enough to afford travelling away to an exotic location and is a sign of healthy glowing skin.
Throughout history women have seen different body types come in and out of style and fashion. Fortunately today we are going through a vast change and now it’s all about inclusion, gender and race. Every woman has her own recognisable beauty.
Be confident in your individuality You are what you tell yourself and today since the growth of selfies, the lack of body confidence in our younger generation is evident and one of the most googled questions comes from teenagers asking, ‘am I ugly?’ Confidence means that you don’t need to compare yourself to others but rather compare yourself to yourself. So if you are going to tell yourself something, why not tell yourself you are completely and perfectly who you are meant to be? Think of a time when you liked your body and felt at that moment that you appreciated it. We have all, at one point or another, felt amazing wearing clothes that made us feel confident. Whether you are the same shape or size now or not, focus on the fact that the way to build your confidence in your personal style and reignite those feelings is simply by knowing what suits you and your current body shape. When you embrace what you have, you are being the best version of yourself. The people who love and care about you never see you the way you see yourself. I say celebrate your body no matter what the era. We can’t look to a very narrow-minded media viewpoint for our stamp of approval on how we should look. So, remember to make the most of what complements your unique body shape and what makes you feel great. Then you will exude confidence from within and not because you think you need approval or to follow a fashion trend. Everyone deserves to love themselves and this is the healthy way of showing self-confidence.
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BrandMe! Magazine: Issue 3 May 2019
