Lovingcurves: May 2015

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3051359/Fashion-editor-recounts-changing-sizes-journey-body-acceptance.html

Having just read the article above, it makes me think.... what is body acceptance? How do you define it?

In the first place nobody has the right to 'define' body acceptance. Everyone is built differently. I feel what is more important is health. It doesn't matter if you are curvy or thin or overweight, being healthy should be your main priority. Well, for me after my health scare, I decided that I would give my body a total loving care inside out. Yes there are some areas which I would like to work on and work towards a fitter body but I will not try to be something that I am not, which is to be model thin...I'd rather be curvy and healthy than be thin and sickly. Every woman has the right to her own body.

One thing that I cannot understand is why is it in the fashion world it is deadly important to be a sickly size 0 to be successful, be it a fashion model, Hollywood stars, fashion writer or editor, etc? The human body should fit the clothes and not the clothes to fit the body.

I find that in all these recent years, fashion models are getting ridiculously thinner than ever to the extend that the term 'Size O' has been created. I wonder which idiot came up with the term 'SIZE O'? How do you define a size 0? Even super petite Victoria Beckham is a size 4!

Models back in the early years like in the 80's weren't skinny, from what I see at least. Yes they were slim but compare them to the models these days, very anorexic looking - skin and bones!
The difference of models in the 80's and the models now can be clearly seen from some of the examples below :

Fashion Models in the 1980's

Fashion Models in the 21st Century

From the few examples above, I feel very sad for the models being 'exploited' to such a manner. Here's an article I found on what plus size model Robyn Lawley had to say about her body :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3082899/I-pretty-low-opinion-body-Model-Robyn-Lawley-opens-felt-chubby-starting-model-just-16-years-age.html

The media is also partly to be blamed simply because all these exposure of being a 'size o = beauty' has had a negative impact on many women from different age groups :

The teenagers and the pre-teenagers - they are getting all the wrong ideas in their young minds. Those in this category are in their growing and development age and this is where they are most vulnerable and tend to be highly influenced with what is around them. So with all these exposure of being thin is beautiful and women generally are vain by nature, they will tend to follow what is being portrait to them, so that they can be accepted into 'that' group category.

Women in their 20's, 30's & 40's - added stress apart from all the daily stress that they have to endure, women in these categories will tend to fall sick easily if they succumb to deadly sicknesses such as cancer and anorexia or bulimia.

Here's a few articles that I've also found that better illustrates on what I've said above... how shocking indeed...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3071167/Girls-young-SIX-unhappy-bodies-dieting-fears-body-image.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-205285/90-teens-unhappy-body-shape.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-44899/Women-unhappy-bodies-men.html

Even Hollywood stars are deeply affected... hey they are human as well!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2821744/Keira-Knightley-Women-s-bodies-battleground-Actress-speaks-body-image-posing-topless-magazine-shoot.html

When I was in my teens I was crazy over Spice Girls... still am actually! Anyway, what has become of Posh Spice aka Victoria Beckham has not only made me a little sad but the impact she has made on the fashion industry and women in general is absolutely wrong. Don't get me wrong, I love her eye for fashion and I love her designs but what it has done to the women folk is just not healthy.

Victoria Beckham

Many celebrities have battled weight issues and lucky for many of them have managed to discover their ideal body and not to succumb to the pressures of staying stick thin. They either loose weight or gain weight, either way if it makes them happy and feel confident in their own skin is what's more important.

Christina Aguilera

Kelly Clarkson

Jordan Sparks

Mariah Carey

America Ferrera

Jennifer Hudson

Kelly Osborne

Raven Symone

Kirstie Alley

Sarah, Duchess of York

Princess Beatrice

Adele

Jessica Simpson

Tyra Banks

Oprah

Aretha Franklin

Chloe Kardashian

Finally the awareness that beauty isn't defined by being stereotype. The fashion industry has also finally forced to accept that the world has changed and that skinny = beauty isn't healthy and it is doing more damage than good.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2894921/Rise-plus-size-clothing-empire-High-end-labels-larger-women-taking-fashion-industry-storm.html

http://thedailycougar.com/2015/02/19/breaking-boundaries-plus-size-models-evolve-fashion-industry/

Many celebrities are now beginning to speak up about the importance of health and body acceptance should be taken seriously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75lC4b2KSYk

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2527112/Tyra.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/04/10/ashley-judd-slams-media-for-body-shaming-women/

This latest article below is another example that the quest for body acceptance in the fashion industry is fast taking the world by storm. So for those of you who are stereotype about body acceptance...get REAL!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3087420/Plus-size-retailer-Evans-launches-provocative-limited-edition-t-shirt-bag-line.html

My conclusion is that no one can tell you how your body should look like. It is your body - you decide on what you want to do with it. Being healthy is what's more important. Yes outlook is as important as our inner being but people should accept you for what you are and not bow down to the society's expectations, in particularly in the fashion industry. Take it from 2 of the most extraordinary women of today...

Contact : elizaabyrne@gmail.com

If you read my World of The Orient piece a few months back, once again Oriental Fashion Styles has taken centre stage, this time at the famous Met Gala 2015 with its theme - China Through The Looking Glass.

Met Gala is usually hosted by Vogue's Fashion Editor Anna Wintour and it is like the 'Fashion Oscars' so to speak, and it is here where a lot of Hollywood Stars and Fashion Designers gather and celebrate the World of Fashion. It is also known that it's the only time where the most outrages designs are worn and it won't be so much cruelly critised because Fashion here is seen as a form of Art!

What goes on inside I do not know but this year, I am proud to share with you some of the fantastic designs displayed at the Met Gala. I would say that so much creativity is displayed with just a simple Chinese Style theme. There's of course the crazy outrages designs worn by celebs like Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Sarah Jessica Parker, the elegantly designed pieces worn by Kate Beckinsale, Emily Blunt and Amal Clooney, and of course designs which our mothers would never approve of or in this case I would never even think of wearing such as Kim Kardarshian and Beyonce. And there's of course those who don't keep to the theme such as Solange Knowles, Clare Danes and even Donnatella Versace.

So here's this year's Met Gala with all its glory... enjoy!