Style Influencers and Body Confidence

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING CONFIDENT AND STYLISH ON YOUR TERMS

Being a Tall Woman I have had battles with clothing and body image ever since I can remember. However that's all in the past.  I am not afraid to talk about this and share my experiences with people. Take body image - 5ft 12inches without heels. I've never been a skinny minny but a woman with curves. Yep, being tall is something that I have always been and very proud of it. Infant and Junior School class pictures I was the tallest and as I  progressed through schooling I remained the tallest of my class, and now as with colleagues and friends. It gets very boring when people come up to you and say ‘oooh how tall are you?’, ‘do you play basketball/netball?’ 

 I am a Height Goddess and the Goddess of Glamour

Tall has it's advantages, I have had men stop in their tracks and stare with an open mouth as I have walked past and once a woman witnessed this encounter said who ‘oooh I wish I had that reaction when men see me and what you have to make men stop and stare’. I just laughed and smiled at the lady. I wish I knew what I had.  I had to check that my skirt wasn’t tucked into my knickers or any other part of my body was exposed that shouldn’t be on display. 

I am used to both men and women openly staring. Once when I was out shopping with my mother she noticed and said ‘Viv, all these people are staring at you, why?’ I had to explain that it was my height (perhaps my beauty too).  She just couldn’t understand why they would have an issue with a tall person.  Body confidence is what I do have – confidence not arrogance, the only thing I don’t like is my size 9 feet.  No, my feet are not ugly and full of corns, it’s just their size.  Limited shoe shopping (in the UK) for a woman who love shoes, however I have discovered where to buy stylish fashionable beautiful shoes when I travel the world.

We all have role models who we look up to for whatever reason. As someone who lives and breathes fabric and sewing I used to look through fashion magazines her in the UK and just couldn’t see anyone that reflected me. Fashion magazines did not represent me. Until I stumbled across an American magazine called Essence, that became my must have monthly magazine. Not only did they did they feature curvy women in fashionable clothes but clothes that I would love to wear. I would spend hours hunting around the shops in London trying to buy similar styles but in the end gave up and turned to my sewing machine making similar styles. Essence was an influence giving me valuable innovative ideas for my own sewing creations.  Also influenced me to go the America and explore the shops buying clothes and shoes that were not only stylish but had a great fit too. Being Tall in America isn’t a stumbling block when buying clothes, especially fashionable stylish clothes and shoes. It is very limited here in the UK. I love colour, and fed up with the usual black, navy and grey dull clothing available here in the UK for Tall women.

Colour, cut and fabric are my weakness. I have always loved clothes, fashion shows, fashion TV programmes and Hollywood glamour. Discovering the sewing machine and sewing from the age of 8 and 20+years on I have never looked back.  Never letting my height and curvy body hold me back.  No, I don’t make clothes for other people, even though I have been asked many times. I can create an outfit over the weekend and wear it to work on Monday. Also have been known to make and outfit within hours to wear out Saturday night. I see items which I want to buy but cannot by because they are not made to fit my height, clothes are modelled on standard height women and I am not standard by any chance. So my answer is to make something similar and that’s when my creative juices runneth over. 

Stylish clothes make a woman feel sexy. Sexiness means you don’t have to have everything on show to be sexy.  Sexiness is feminine not trashy or flashy.

My fashion Style Influencers include Diane von Furstenberg (DVF), Donna Karan, Joise Natori because their clothes encapsulate a woman’s body and they use colour and great fabrics. I love emerging and young designers such as label Youmewe by South African designer Chantel Koning whose brand specialises in multi-functional clothing; the designs, cut and prints used are stunning. I have a few pieces from the brand made Bespoke for me. I also surround myself with great people who have their own individual style which sets them apart from the ‘crowd’, style is about individuality.  My two ‘sisters’ Theo  Omambala Top Model for 15 years walked for top Designers, Vogue, Marie Claire Elle Model Coach/ 5 years GMTV London, Model Behaviour Channel 4 and Creative Director for the TVLHC brand. Clara Delord, whose French fashion influence makes her one hot foxy mama, confident and stylish. Both have their own individual style which suits their personalities. Being true to themselves is what sets them apart and makes them my true Style Influencers.

Are you confident with your body? What do your clothes say about you? What you wear is an expression of who you are.  Your personality should be reflected in your own individual style. Now what sets you apart from the crowd? Time to break free from being a clone and dress for your body shape, lifestyle and of course personality.

Dressing for your body shape, playing to your best features. Get your free  Consultation and exclusive eBook  “The Secrets To Looking And Feeling More Confident Without Dieting: 30 Top tips To a Better ‘YOU’!” contact Viv@clothes4realwomen.com

Bespoke Personal Styling Concierge Services helps busy people who need help and cannot afford to make mistakes, see how I can help you improve your image www.clothes4realwomen.com

Love Your Body

There is only one you - Love yourself.

Billions are invested in making us feel bad about our bodies. We are constantly being shown images of stick thin women and being told that they are beautiful and we must have a body like theirs to be beautiful. With red carpet season now over we were heard commentators say 'how gorgeous does she look' and 'you wouldn't know that she had a baby two months ago and look at her now, absolutely stunning'. We must not forget that Celebs have a ‘glam team’ to help them look perfect with someone on hand to retouch their make-up and hair every second.  Do you have access to your own team every day? I didn’t think so.  A reality check is needed. Off the red carpet and away from the cameras many look ordinary just like you and me. 

What you are not told  is what many of these women in the spotlight put their bodies through to be stick thin and be the ideal desired size that we are constantly told is beautiful and what we should be like. If they gain a pound or two, three, four or more the magazines rip them apart. This tells me and the world that that is their normal size! They are then forced to go on crazy diets, release DVD’s and the ‘ordinary woman’ buys into all of it.

The media puts pressure on women to look good. We are bombarded with ‘perfect images’ and so many different diets, 'loose 10lb for your holiday' but as soon as you get on holiday you eat and eat and drink, the weight you lost comes straight back.  The media will allege a Celebrity was on named diet like the Maple Syrup diet and lost lbs., but we rarely hear it from the ‘horses mouth’ – the celebrity that they actually did that diet! Yet many women rush out to try it.  Diets are short-term solutions that do what’s on the tin. For long-term solutions a healthy eating plan and regular exercise is what is needed to shred the weight and maintain it.

Often I over hear conversations with women complaining about parts of their bodies they dislike, very rarely I hear them say ‘I love my body’.  We put some much time and effort into hating out bodies, it’s about time we started to accept what we have, learn to appreciate it and dress for your shape. How would you describe the perfect body? Lips from this person, a bottom belonging to another, a catwalk models long legs put them all together makes one perfect body. By the way what is perfect? Magazines pictures are airbrushed pictures and use techniques so the clothes fit. Make-up can be used to alter/enhance body parts.
Many women run to the cosmetic surgeon to make them look better externally, bigger boobs, liposuction here and there and everything  possible to give them that ‘perfect body’ they hunger for. In reality once women start they will want other procedures. Does the knife really make them feel better within themselves? Probably for a short time until another part they feel needs to be ‘fixed’.


We need to learn to admire great women not for their waistlines.
We are so caught up admiring other women’s bodies but not their brains, what happened to admiring women with brains?  I admire Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Hilary Clinton for their brains and what they bring to the world. We need to accept that looking perfect won’t make us happy. To be truly happy we need to accept who we are, what we have and start loving you and stop trying to look magazine perfect. Eating healthy, might even involve changing your lifestyle to include regular exercise and a healthy eating plan, however you are allowed on day of naughtiness. Binge drinking and eating is not healthy eating! Yo-yo dieting will eventually damage your immune system! Osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) is a massive problem for women as they get older and crash dieting doesn’t help.

My body is not perfect according to the magazines but my body is perfect for me. When I look at my body I see I am in good shape, nice and firm in the right places. I am tall and love my height. My body is more than my hips, thighs and stomach.  I am unique and love it. I may not have a six pack but I do have curves in the right places. Breast implants (augmentation) are the number one popular cosmetic surgery procedure carried out around in the world, something I don’t need or want.  

They are few women who are naturally slender. We come in different shapes and sizes. You can be fit and shapely as a size 14 and as a size 10. We need to make our health our priority and stop wasting our times wanting to be something else we are not. Love yourself and focus on being health, not skinny. Be conscious of what you are eating and drinking.  We all have the power to create the life we choose.

Focus on being healthy, not yo-yo dieting to be skinny.

Dressing for your body shape, playing to your best features. Get your free 30 minute Consultation and exclusive eBook  “The Secrets To Looking And Feeling More Confident Without Dieting: 30 Top tips To a Better ‘YOU’!” contact Viv@clothes4realwomen.com

For more information on the Bespoke Personal Styling Concierge Services and see how I can help you improve your image www.clothes4realwomen.com