What Fashion Means to Me: A Usurpation for the Rest of Us

   A More of me to Love Blog Post by Patricia Morgado April 23 2010

Why Wasn’t Fashion For Me?

For a long time I thought fashion wasn’t for me. I always loved it, but I just couldn’t relate to the pictures I saw in fashion magazines.  I loved to adorn myself, but at the same time I believed that my body wasn’t fashionable enough. I couldn’t fit into the sizes of the jeans that were available in the coolest stores, and to be honest, that made me suffer for a long time.  However, at some point I realized that I was entitled to wear nice clothes even if I wasn’t thin enough. I decided that I would look for stores that sold my size, and I would not be depressed about those places that didn’t. It was time to leave behind the idea that I was somehow a fashion outlaw!  I decided that I was entitled to fashion, and that I would make it my own. Maybe you can say that with me? “I’m entitled to good fashion!” Believe it, because you are.

Freedom For Fashion

  I was no longer a slave to fashion standards and rules. I reclaimed the right to fashion, to wear beautiful and comfortable clothes, to wear makeup and jewelry.  And I started to adapt fashion to my body and to my personal taste. I believe that fashion is an important way to express who we are, and that it can make us happy, that it’s a fun experience and that it’s a form of art. Your body is your canvas and you can express yourself through it. I also believe that fashion is for everybody.  That means you don’t need to have a certain body type or size to be fashionable. One of the most important steps to reclaiming the right to fashion is letting go of the rules about what’s “allowed” and “restricted” for your body.

A New Fashion Philosophy

You are your own fashion designer, and you are the one who makes decisions based on what you like and what makes you feel comfortable and beautiful. You are the master of your own style. Part of the process of making peace with fashion is to wear clothes that fit the body you have today, not some imaginary body that you think you “should” have.  After all, it’s very hard to have fun with fashion when the clothes don’t fit. So, accept your size, embrace your curves and show the world how beautiful and unique you are. It’s important to do a little research about stores that sell your size and that treat you with the respect that you deserve.  You don’t need to have a lot of clothes to be fashionable, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Accessories can be great friends, too, and they don’t have to be expensive. Creativity is the key word here. Fashion can be a beautiful expression of self love: when we love ourselves we want to dress in ways that express that we are comfortable with being who we are. Get inspired and believe in this idea: fashion is for everybody!  You can make it work for you, and you can make it your own, and I’m here at More of Me to Love so that we can learn about it all together. I’d love to hear about what fashion means to you (and this applies to men as well!) and to know how you’ve been made to feel about fashion as a result of your body size. Please let me know in the comments. In the meantime, gab it up in the great More of Me to Love forums.