You Can Look Amazing Whatever Your Shape



Posted: Monday, October 19, 2009

by Helen Venables
House of Colour Ltd

In a recent survey for a major breakfast cereal 65% of British women indicated that their shape was more important to them than their size.  Apparently the perfect hourglass curves are what we aspire to.  Of the women surveyed apparently 35% saw themselves as apple shaped with no defined waist and 25% thought they were pear shaped with bigger bottoms.  Only 13% said they had hourglass figures but 65% of those questioned dreamt of acquiring the curvy shape.  Whatever you may think about her, Nigella Lawson was the woman who's shape we most aspire to have as UK women.  How Sad that so few of us are happy with our bodies! With all the female clients I have seen over the years of being in business as an Image Consultant  in Watford ,one thing's for sure.  We don't see ourselves as others do!  Being objective about our bodies is really hard for British women and this seems to stem from the script that gets written for us in early childhood.  When we‘re little those who bring us up say things about us and we don't know any different, so we call these comments true and they grow with us.  So the little girl whose Mum tells her she's' got a scrummy little round bottom when she's hopping out of the bath as a 2 year old, grows up looking over her shoulder in the shop changing room in her twenties and asking her friend ‘Does my bum look big in this?' 

We all have one of these scripts and most of us are aware of it.  We have had the experience of shopping with a girl friend or sister and at the point when we are despairing at the reflection that stares back at us from the mirror she says 'No you look great in that!'  She's not trying to build you up falsely… that's just what she sees!  And our view is so very different.  That's the problem with the script.  We don't see ourselves as others see us.  We see our reflection with what we think and feel about ourselves superimposed over the top and sadly it often distorts the truth.

The inspiring and very satisfying thing about my job is that I know absolutely EVERYONE, whatever the raw material, can look amazing!  You may be skeptical but I've seen the results time and time again over the years.  I've seen everything I can tell you!! And there is no one who shouldn't feel good in their own skin whether we're curvy or stick thin. And remember it's not about the wobbly bits and which way they do or don't point anymore - We can work with those!  You owe it to yourself to feel great about YOU and the clothes you wear have a huge effect on how you feel.

So go on girls!  Get comfy with yourself.  I'm not talking about letting yourself go but getting serious about understanding your body shape, knowing which bits you want to emphasise and which you'd rather hide and understanding how to do it.  You may well need an objective eye to help get you on track and of course I'd love to help you. 
 
Contact House of Colour for further help with making the most of your body shape with one of our women's image courses.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Susan Living
 2 years 208 days ago.
7 fans. Follow Susan Living on twitter!
Thanks for this article Helen - a good reminder that I'm beautiful no matter what my shape!
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