Breaking Fashion Rules And Accepting Yourself The Way You Are - OOTD

Like most people I have pretty much a love / hate relationship with Facebook, at times it irritates the hell out of me so I probably don't spend as much time on it as I used but it's still a valuable tool for helping me keep in touch with my friends and family, and every now and then, in between the memes and the cat videos, I do see the odd article that really makes me think.

I recently say something on Facebook, about a plus size, curvy lady who was posting pictures of her outfits online. Nothing unusual about that I hear you say, well no but in this case this women was told that she shouldn't wear a bikini because of her size, so to get back at the haters and prove that women can wear whatever the hell they want, she posted pictures of herself on social media breaking every plus size, fashion taboo out there and wearing everything from bikinis, to leggings and cropped tops,

My immediate reaction was that she was brave, but when I sat and thought about it, I came to the realisation that she's not brave at all, she's not doing anything scary she's just living her best life and accepting every inch of her beautiful and functional body for what it is. If she's happy in herself and with what she's wearing then good for her, what business is it of anybody else's what she wears and what she looks like!

The only opinion that matters when you look in the mirror should be your own, but thanks to the images of the perfect face and body that we faced with everyday, more and more people are suffering from a distorted view of themselves. Instead of looking at the positives when they look in the mirror, some people can only see their faults.

Whilst I would safely say that I'm more comfortable in my own skin now then I have been in a long time, some days I look in the mirror and I hate the girl that's staring back at me. I'm not even sure most of the time why I feel that way - I know my facial palsy can play a part but I also know that I've felt the same at times when I've been a size 8 and a size 20 so although my weight is playing a part at the moment it's not the only thing that causes me to feel so down on myself.

Quote Found On Facebook No Source Given

What can I do about it? well at the moment I'm focusing on self care, like I said in my last post I'm trying to find the positives in life, and I'm looking in the mirror everyday and trying to find something about myself that I like, today is a bad day so it's just my ears, hopefully tomorrow I'll be feeling more positive and it will be something larger and a bit more noticeable.

In what seems like a contradiction I'm also spending a bit of time on social media, I'm spending my time looking at a lot of plus sized fashion bloggers, and I've also been watching this fabulous BBC Three piece from one of my favourite, fellow North East bloggers Katie Meehan. All of these lovely ladies just ooze confidence and self belief and I'm hoping that a little bit of that might rub off on me.

As the saying goes if you can't beat them join and that's exactly what i intend to do. Despite my current curvier, silhouette I still love clothes and fashion as much as I ever did, and although you seem to see a lot of clothes that I buy you never seem to see me wearing them. From now on though that is going to change I can't guarantee it's going to be a weekly thing but I'm going to bring the outfit of the day posts back to LouLouLand. Even if I don't always like what I see in the mirror, I'm going to be getting myself out there and trying to accept myself for what I am.

I thought I'd start off with one of those breaking plus size, fashion rules posts. Apparently if your curvy horizontal stripes are a big no no. Guess what though? I love them and I always have, from when I was a child, to when I was a size 8 I've always loved wearing horizontal stripes, and even though it's supposedly a fashion no, no for curvy girls, I'm going to carry on wearing them regardless of what anyone else thinks.

I wore this outfit to the recent Intu Metrocentre Spring / Summer Fashion VIP Event and I loved it. The dress is made of a super soft, comfortable, stretchy jersey, and I love the way the up and down, shark bite hem swished around my legs. The weather on the night wasn't very spring like so I teamed it with tights and chunky ankle boots, but I also think that this dress would look great with bare legs and sandals or short white or black converse. I finished the look with a long line statement necklace, and a faux leather black biker style, bomber jacket also from Simply Be that isn't pictured.

What I Wore

Black / Ivory Stripe Asymmetric Hanky Hem Dress - Simply Be 

Black Opaque Tights - Primark

Black Chunky Heel Chelsea Boots - Studio

Heart Charm Necklace - Ebay Seller - mandymax1971

Mummy Lou's photography skills are definitely improving, I just need to work out on my posing skills. I like the idea of shooting outside but you can tell I'm dealing with the elements it was windy, and thanks to the glare on my lenses I'm squinting slightly! So you've got a squinting grimace, and a resting bitch face. I'm never happy but the fact that I'm actually putting the pictures out there speaks volumes. I've got things to work but this is all about positivity and accepting myself the way I am, it's a work in progress and hopefully it will be one that I will share with you, with more outfit posts in the future x