The Real Body Con

There's no getting away from it - the bodycon trend is here to to stay.

Now if you live in a fashion wildnerness - that means that things have suddenly got a whole lot tighter. You may remember a post a few months ago about the Robert Palmer girls - well this is THE look. Question is - how do real women wear it?

Now I'll share - I'm no skinny young fashionista, at 33 and a size 16 ish it can be a challenge to pull off certain looks. Sometimes you've got to say 'no, this ones not for me' but I'm going to go out on a limb here - I think bodycon is made for real women - yes with actual curves, bumps boobs and all!

I've never been one to shy away from the reality of being a bigger girl. I wasn't always this size - as a youngster I was the skinny weakling, smaller than everyone else in the playground. At high school I was an early developer, had no self confidence and thought I was huge - at a size 8-10 I wasn't - I was just one of the first to come into my curves. No it was at university that things quite literally went pear shaped and although I started uni at my skinniest ever (size 8) I finished at a size 16. I hated university so partly it was due to comfort snacking to get me through the vast workload but mainly it was because my dynamic and varied social life ground to a halt - yes I got a boyfriend and instead of going out dancing all night I cosied up on the sofa, enjoying meals for two.

So I've always been quite matter of fact about the whole thing. I'd love to be even a size 14 again (at a 12 I'm too pear-shaped) but its just not going to happen without getting more exercise. I lost weight after uni through a regime of weekend clubbing which was great for the figure but not so great for the mind. As soon as I stopped going out (house, boyfriend, business in that order) all the weight came back.

I'd love to be able to fit in some exercise into my working week but the trouble is I loathe it with a passion and I'm so time poor its the last thing I want to do in my very rare hours off! So I make the effort to eat healthily (with so many allergies my diet is positively saintly) and as for the exercise - that's a future goal! So anyway I digress, after a period of mourning for my svelte loveliness and hiding myself in shapeless clothes I found my fashion mojo again and decided to embrace every trend going.

The key is making it work for you - be aware of your crisis (of confidence) areas. If you hate your arms or bum wear long cardigans over everything. If you hate your tum invest in spanx. But yes this bodycon trend is the scariest of all.

I remember I used to have college lecturers who were bigger ladies and I remember studying what they wore. One was probably only a size 14 but dressed in oversize tent like clothes, the other probably a 22 and she wore skin tight velvet dresses - guess who looked better! There's been quite a lot of press about the whole thing recently - Victoria Beckham (love her or hate her) has designed a range of bodycon dresses. She wears them herself and personally I don't think they do a lot for her but put a real curvy woman like Beyonce or even Carol Vorderman in one and they really give you something to talk about!

And that's the real body con - you don't have to be skinny to be fashionable. You can still feel good about yourself and look great if you are over a size 12 and the sooner the fashion mafia realise this the better!

Rather than invest in a new piece I raided the loft and found a forgotten treasure - a Biba dress from the mid nineties. It was from my slimmer days so I really didn't think it would fit but I wiggled into it and teamed it with cardie and vintage boots. I liked it - you'll have to excuse the picture as it was the end of the night and I was a bit drunk.

Now I'm hooked. I'm going to be investing in a longer cardie to co-ordinate but I'm really craving a red bodycon dress with shoulder detailling. I haven't found one yet but this dress from French Connection is nearly there (don't like the long sleeves or the price) so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled or buying red jersey!

And I'm going to end on a positive thought. You only live once - why spend it worrying about your figure - embrace what you are and just enjoy life!