Times change, lingerie evolves, the ideal body is reinvented
I’ve just been reading an excellent post on Knickers: Why we can all wear lingerie — and feel fabulous. The gist is that all women can wear, and be beautiful in, gorgeous lingerie — and it’s barmy to think that lingerie’s-made-for-skinny-people.
As Knickers says, the assumption that there is a certain body shape that looks good in lingerie may be the result of brainwashing about the physical ideal.
The media re-writes the rule-book constantly: one minute the aspirational look is waif-like, the next it’s hour-glass. There’s no point in denying yourself body confidence if your shape doesn’t match. And, as Knickers says, there’s no reason to believe that, whatever your body type, looking and feeling good in lingerie is not for you.
SBBH agrees with Knickers’ mantra: “We consider ourselves lucky that we’re different shapes and sizes… it reinforces our individuality. That’s not to say we’re never envious of those petite frames who look amazing in skimpy scants, or of enviably curvy ladies. But with the knowledge that the grass is always greener, we embrace what we have.”
This will chime with many SBBH readers too — people who take a cup half-full view to being small-busted, women who love and celebrate their tiny curves. Ladies who make the effort to seek out small-bust lingerie specialists to answer their need for lingerie that’s sophisticated, stylish, fashionable and flirtatious.
Knickers asks the question: “Who is telling us what size we should be in order to look good and why are we listening to them? Is it the media, the designers, the government, or our peers?”
From a personal — and small-busted — perspective, I’d say it is the high-street lingerie retailers who are sending a message to little-breasted women that gorgeous lingerie is “not for you”. I’ve long-ago come to love my shape — and the media and my peers are not my problem. My issue is the lack of lingerie choice in most shops that denies small-busted women the chance to lap up the Wow Factor of standing in front of a fitting-room mirror and loving what they see.
Who can gasp in awe at the way a T-shirt bra makes them look and feel? Or feel anything but deflated at the sight of themselves in a teenage bra. It’s about time lingerie retailers and departments on every high street gave small-busted women all the lace, frills, silk and satin they can handle — so they can wear lingerie and feel fabulous too. What do you reckon?
If you agree with me, check out my Every Body Loves Lingerie campaign.
