Every Woman Deserves a Photoshoot

Every Woman Deserves a Photoshoot

by | Apr 19, 2015 | Inspiration, Life

plus size bikiniI have a new theory. If a woman needs to love their body or feel better about themselves, they should do a photo shoot. I am not talking about a tripod in your bedroom or an awkward selfies with outfit changes in the bathroom mirror. I am referring to letting someone else take the reigns and giving up a bit of control. There is something about forcing yourself to let go, putting your image in someone else’s hands and getting comfortable being you in front of a camera that is uber de duper liberating. It forces you to stop thinking about working those angles and allows you the rare opportunity to see yourself through the eyes of someone else. I think it’s a genuine recipe for all kinds of self love and Facebook profile picture updates. plus size swimwear fatkini bikiniThis weekend I had the awesome pleasure of hanging out with my rad friend, Allyson and her adorable nuclear family. I mean look at that little sassafras in the photo. ADORABLE. Look how she works that inflatable dolphin like it’s her job. Anyways, these super amazing friends [read saints] agreed to put up with my insane ideas and help me snap some sassy shots for a little swimsuit company’s competition. Because, Bermuda. Because, vacation. Because, I have sun, beach, and tropical cocktail needs.

plus size swimwear fatkini summerI should mention every single one of the outfits I post daily on instagram, I take myself with my iphone on a tripod. I know my angles, and I must admit look uniformly (damn) good. I am a master at working the hell out of that $15 amazon budget photography investment.  However, most of these shots are not me hanging out in real life. Sure some of my quirk comes through (there’s a little too much sass in this ole body o’ mine to shut it out), but at the end of the day, it’s the manufactured version of me. The me I want you to see.

plus size swimwear 2I love these photos because they show a side of me I rarely see in pictures. I still look rad… I would even venture to say better then I do in my ooh la la, white backgroundy, artsy selfies. They show a quiet confidence, versus a loud in your face “I love who I am for all the internet to see” version of me. I love how they capture both my insatiable curiosity and my uncontrollable silliness. I didn’t manipulate my body into just the perfect pose and she captured beautiful ways I move and exist on film ( err photo card?) for the first time. As a result, I now see myself a bit differently. And, that’s a good thing.

I think all women to deserve to find a special beauty in who they are. Maybe allowing someone else to take the reigns of how we see ourselves is another step in loving ourselves just lil bit more.

(Both bikinis are from swimsuitesforall.com. They didn’t give me anything for this post, I just have a excellent trigger finger when it comes to cute swimwear.)

The Body Positive Swim Suit Guide

The Body Positive Swim Suit Guide

by | Apr 12, 2015 | Fashion, How To

body positive swimsuits plus sizeOver the last few weeks I have seen a lot of bloggers, magazines and gossip sites drop their 2015 “best swimsuits for you body type” guides. Of course I started consuming these like a rabid beast who hasn’t eaten in months. Duh, because I too wanted to write one of these “so you want to look like a sexy as shut-yo-mouth in a swimsuit” posts. I’m soooo trendy.

But the more I read, the more livid I got. All I got from reading these posts was a huge dose of “your body sucks, here’s how to make it less sucky.” Nearly every post focused on aspiring to some sort of ideal beauty standard that a lonely caveman came up with to sell rocks many moons ago. None of them celebrated the differences in our bodies. None of them allowed me to be educated enough to make my own choices on what I accented + hid. None of them were particularly inspiring. Sigh.

So I fixed it. Well I tried to. I spent probably about 10 hours researching and reading all of this bullshit. I boiled down all the oppressive body talk, pulled out those little nuggets of truth, rewrote it to be factual instead of loaded with “opinions” and categorized it. I The result is what I like to call the #bodypositive swimsuit guide.

Pick the body part, and select whether you want to diminish or accentuate. YOU [not some internet fashion a-hole] are in full control. No glossy magazine is standing by to tell you to hide your gorgeous grandiose gluteus maximus, or to cover up your curvacious cantelopes. You just do you girl. Because doing you, that’s where the real sexy is at.

Glitterandlazers_body_Positive_Swimsuit_Guide

Edit: A few feel I am advocating for obesity with this guide. This is a size neutral guide. In reading posts, women with toned and athletic bodies (ie the most fit) were still shamed into feeling their body wasn’t ideal. So were petite women, women with wide shoulders, women with chests, and butts. Basically all women. It’s a shame that because I am plus size and open to showing my body with out shame, that some discredit the value of my ideas and thoughts.

I do believe women should be happy whatever size they are, but have a responsibility to continually improve themselves. That improvement includes optimizing the mind, body and heart. Some people’s challenges are more visible than others. I don’t advocate any “state” because I understand that we are all progressing to our own definition of ideal. I don’t have the right or desire to try and control or comment on what any other person’s goal of perfect is. I am busy enough getting my own shit together. If you want to know what I am striving to improve, read some other posts. Peace.