Posts tagged fashion
StopHatingYourBody
On a mission to live a body positive life
Trigger Warning: Self Harm and Eating Disorders
My name’s Dana, and I am fifteen years old.
For a long time I’ve been insecure about my looks. Even as a young kid I would stand in front of the mirror and analyze every bit of my body. I just didn’t think I was beautiful. My eyes were too far apart, my nose too big, etc etc.
Then came high school. Along with the other pressures of high school life, like grades and friends, puberty brought along it’s own struggles. The former self esteem issues became magnified to the extreme. The self hatred started. I attempted suicide three times.
What you can’t see in this picture are the scars. The marks up and down my wrist, and zig-zagging over my hips. You also can’t see the tears over the number on the scale as I struggled with my weight. I’m 5’8”, and I was nearly down to 100 pounds. I’ve been fighting my self harm for two years now, and my anorexia for about the same time. It’s hard for me to eat what I want to eat, to try to recover, to think that maybe
I am worth recovering.
It’s hard. Anyone who’s ever had an eating disorder, or has gone through depression and self harm will tell you that it’s hard trying to change your thought process, trying to tell yourself that you’re worth it, you’re better than this, you’re beautiful. But I’m trying. I’m trying my hardest to recover, and I’m trying to live my life as well as I can.
Today is 4/26/13, I am 5’8”, and I currently weigh 133 pounds.
And I am happy with myself the way I am.
TW: fatphobia, sizeism, classism, and just straight up bullying:
I recently filmed a response to @abercrombieandfitch about their CEO’s comments about not carrying any sizes higher than a size ten and his reasons for doing so.
Perpetuating hate and sizeism and this elitist attitude is really hurtful.
Let me know what your thoughts are on the whole shabang and feel free to comment on the video and let me know!
The blogpost I mention in the video can be found HERE, I share many stores for those in need of plus size fashion, as well as some amazing fashion inspirations for plus size beauty!
- Katie (youtube.com/katiescarlettspeaks)
This is my body, and it is beautiful. I will put whatever accessories or clothing on my body because I’m worth it, and because I can rock it. I’m done feeling like my body is a cage, I’m done taking ridicule from society, and I’m done thinking that I’m too “fat” for cute clothes and showing off my skin. So now I will, because it’s my beautiful skin. They are my beautiful thighs, they are my beautiful stretch marks. I have spent countless hours crying over them and thinking that they’re “ugly,” but I matured beyond that when I found the problem wasn’t me, it was the image I had in my head of “beautiful.” I know some of my decisions are unhealthy, I know that sometimes I put toxic things in my body, but those are my choices, I know what i’m doing with my body, and I can deal with the consequences. I believe that I am a beautiful, worthy human being and so are all of you lovelies. I spent way too long thinking that I wasn’t good enough because of my weight, because people didn’t think I was beautiful because I’m not society’s image of flawless beauty. But you know what? Now I wouldn’t even want to be that, sure they may look good in magazines, but those people aren’t real. I’m real, and I’m a brilliant, kind person (not to toot my own horn) and I deserve love and respect. If you don’t like me because I’m not supermodel thin or magazine flawless, then tough titty because I am amazing and you will never have the opportunity to see that. Sometimes I still feel insecure, and sometimes words do hurt. But I realize now that that’s what got me down in the first place, and I’ll be damned if I’m ever gonna let that happen again. Love your body. Love yourself. I know I will.
I feel the need to address this complex that is more than apparent when it comes to issues regarding women and: makeup, clothing and weight.
The “MEN PREFER WOMEN …” complex (not the official title).
Some how in a discussion people bring everything back round to a male perspective - “Why is she trying to lose weight? Everyone knows MEN PREFER WOMEN with curves!” Which can be as easily transferred to ‘Why is she wearing that much makeup…” “That little clothing…” And so on. It is a common belief that the only factor that dictates what decisions a woman makes to or with her body are based on a man’s opinion.
I’m more than certain that at some point I’ve implied that, if not thought it. I’m sure everyone has. It’s one of the things you don’t usually think twice about. But, once you realise the error in what you’re implying and the effect it has you are half way to bettering your attitudes to others as well as yourself.
You need to realise that you are not a preference. You are the only person who dictates how you look, what you wear and how much you weigh.
I’m getting used to the fact that I will probably always be fat - and that’s perfectly fine with me. I’m accepting that I’m still gorgeous, and that my beauty is enhanced by the jiggling of my thighs and the rolls on my back. I’M A BODY LOVING WARRIOR.
I’m Emmanuelle from Brazil,this is my second subimission I think…
I’m generally very afraid of taking photos of me,but yesterday I woke up feeling good about my tummy after going to sleep very sad and without eating dinner,I will not lie that still is very distressful for me looking at the first photo where i’m relaxed even if I lost a lot of weight doing spinning and dieting… but in the second I feel like a model,but i’m sucking my tummy in,is not really me and I need to think that the models on the magazines arent real too,they may be sucking their tummies too and they’re so photoshoped…
I feel like a ridiculous large and too tall thing a lot of times on my life,but I used to feel really worse,I thought on killing myself too many times and I thought that everything a woman had to offer to the world was her beauty… and my insecurities never ended on my body,I made a submit here months ago talking about how I hate my face… stophatingyourbody.tumblr.com/post/35633566397/tw-self-hate-psychiatric-issues-stupid and I hated the way I look like I “woman” even if i’m still almost 15,I know a lot of girls hate themselves because they’re too skinny and dont have that much of body yet but things dont worked for me like this,I wished I was super skinny and without that much of arms,boobs,butt and thighs
But I’m way better now… feminism helped me a lot,I made a lot friends on internet and on my new school and now I have a boyfriend that loves me and says i’m beautiful every day,even he’s on the other side of Brazil we will meet in june and I’m so anxious for it
the other two photos I took after a day of shopping,I was so happy and feeling so good about myself that I dont even cared about how sweaty,tired and disheveled I was… and I received a lot of likes of facebook and friends telling me I’m beautiful,I felt like I never felt before
so everything I have to say is that the important is doing friends and being happy about yourself,because the haters gonna hate but your friends are always going to say you’re beautiful and important to them
My biggest dream is working with fashion (one day you all are going to see me working at a fashion magazine like Emmanuelle Alt or being a fashion designer lol,and I will change everything,I will end with this stupid beauty standards that are taking off the life of a lot of girls every day) but this is going to take a lot of time… my nearest goal is feeling good enough to take a photo of my thighs and one with a bikini! I wish you all reach your goals on life,if you’re feeling down think how you’re very important to a lot of people,and even for me… even your likes on facebook and tumblr are important to someone,this world is so big,you’re not alone!
This is me. I am 5 ft tall and weigh a little over 90 pounds. I cannot gain weight, no matter how hard I try, people are constantly telling me that I’m lucky, even more so because I hate sweets so I wouldn’t get fat anyway. For me, I have to spend 40-60 dollars just on jeans because it’s hard to find ones that fit me without modifications or without them looking awkward, but also ones that fit me, like my personality. I have been called a slut, I have been called anorexic, I have been called an attentionwhore, I have even been called fat in total contrast to the other things I’ve been called. Because of these, I am constantly in turmoil about my weight, or was anyway until I figured out I don’t care what people think about me. Cheesy, cliche, overdone, I know, but….I did. I stopped caring, I realized just because I’d die to save someone else shouldn’t mean I have to live for them. I’m not going to make this long to save you from a TL;DR but I will tell you, just because I stopped caring, that doesn’t keep me from being insecure, that doesn’t stop me from seeing my flaws or disliking my body or the way I look, I cannot easily brush things off, it just helped me to realize, if something bothers me, then I can fix it, but if something bothers someone else, that’s their problem. I am not confident in myself, I don’t think I’m pretty, but I can’t see a thing wrong with me either, can you? Yes, maybe I want to gain weight, yes maybe I wish the little fat I do have wouldn’t jiggle, yes I wish I was taller, but these things, the only thing I can say I like about myself is my hair(which I take brilliant care of.) they are not things that are wrong with me. None of it is wrong with me, these are my insecurities, not my deformities. Nothing should bring you down from being you, I am happiest when I am me, and therefore I will leave you with this, to show you can make yourself comfortable without changing your body-
TRIGGER WARNING: OCD, FEARS PERTAINING TO STDS, INCEST AND INTRUSIVE THOUGHTs. TRIGGER WARNING ALSO FOR DEPRESSION, SELF-HARM AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS
Hi my name is Kat and Im currently a college student in New York. I’m not so sure how to begin so I guess I’ll just jump right in: I struggle with OCD, depression and self harm and on top of all that I have a disability. My walker can be seen in the above picture (with my awesome cup holder of course). I’ve always been insecure about my disability and from a young age I always felt I was ugly because of it. I thought I would never find a boyfriend and that no one could ever love me (even my mother gave me up). Time went by and I decided to just accept it because it’s who I am. At age 14-15 I started cutting and skipping meals. The stress of high school became to much for me and I wanted out: I wanted to die. My suicidal thoughts also began at this age.
At 16 I began experience, what I know now to be, my first OCD symptoms. I began obsessively memorizing dates and times of things, obsessively trying to remember all details of things and always trying to make new “memories.” I was obsessed with time and memories because I was so scared of passing my teenage years by …. I needed control of my life and I felt that memories made up my life. I simply thought this was a really really really bad “quarter life crisis” so to speak and didn’t get diagnosed with OCD till I was 18
My OCD symptoms got out of control by then and I wasn’t coping to well with my depression either. I was overly afraid of STDS (i.e. from touching /hugging people etc.) and I couldn’t function because of it. I also had nasty intrusive thoughts about incest and other disgusting things that made me cringe.( sorry I thought I’d be able to go into more detail but I can’t :/ )
I am now currently on medication for my OCD and depression and I’m coping SO MUCH BETTER because of it . I still have my ups and downs but all in life has gotten so much better. As for my disability I have grown to not just accept it but EMBRACE IT and do disability modeling to show how beautiful my body is
Follow my personal blog to here more about me: InternetR0yalty.tumblr.com
So I chopped sososo much of my hair off. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. I love it. I lovelovelove it. Couldn’t be happier. I didn’t cut it for years because of a guy. He loved my long hair and I wanted to make him happy. That should never matter. He should’ve been happy with me no matter what I wanted to do with my hair. I learned that and I moved on. And I couldn’t be happier.
(TW: brief mention of disordered eating and depression)
I am thin and I have always been thin. I remember seeing this blog a while back but being too self-conscious to submit anything in fear of getting criticism because of my weight. I often do receive critical remarks about my body because I am thin. Sometimes people who say those kinds of things to me don’t realize that they are hurtful because they think that commenting on my weight, or lack of, is a compliment when I see it entirely differently. And when I get defensive, they respond in ways that make me feel like my opinions about my body are invalid because I am on the lower end of the weight spectrum.
I have struggled with anxiety in different forms and major depression for most of my life. My anxiety recently manifests itself in a way that it restricts my appetite. There are days when I am not as hungry as I should be and I am always paranoid that someone is going to comment on how I have not eaten a lot by accusing me of having a disordered eating because I am already thin. Most doctors I have seen always ask me if I have an eating disorder… not because my weight is dangerously low, but simply because I am visibly thin. And when I tell them it isn’t a conscious weight loss effort, they have a difficult time believing me.
Once I read two posts on this blog from girls with experiences similar to mine, I felt comfortable enough to submit. There was one girl’s post in which she mentioned having a mental breakdown in a Forever 21 because the smallest size was too big on her. This experience is all too familiar to me.
I remember when I was too self-conscious to wear a bikini to the beach and people criticized my choice by saying that I shouldn’t be wearing a one-piece if I was thin. Society makes me feel like my feelings about my body are invalid because of my weight. Why would I want to show off my body if all I get in return are comments about how prominent my ribs and spine are? While people are under the impression that being thin is welcome in society, I have difficult time finding clothing that fits well, I worry about being labeled as sick and as a result, I often feel as if my body type is unacceptable. These ideas associated with a lower weight perpetuate the inaccurate stereotype that all people who are thin have disordered eating and have some kind of perfect and happy life when there are people who are thin for many different reasons and may not be confident with themselves despite their weight. The number on the scale should not correlate to a level of happiness in a person. A lower number also does not mean that your quality of life is close to perfect. I am a living testament to this falsity as I have been at/under 100 lbs and have struggled with depression. And if you think it is easier to date if you are thin, I never had a boyfriend for the first 21 years of my life.
What frustrates me a lot is that while this whole body positive revolution is going on, there are people who believe that they can further their cause by putting down people who are thinner. Saying that someone shouldn’t want to be thin because it is “gross” is not kind to to anyone with that body type. I have been a fan of musician Amanda Palmer’s for years and her confidence has inspired confidence within myself to stop being so self-conscious about my weight. People can say what they will about my body, but at the end of the day, it’s what I think that matters the most. The best way to spread the idea of being body positive is by treating every single person’s body with respect, both your own and those of others. Everyone’s body is theirs and theirs alone and they have a right to be healthily critical about it regardless of their weight.
Please do not forget that the number on the scale does not determine your beauty and happiness.
Everything about it I hated: the noodle arms, the awkward gap in-between my legs ( not even my knees touched), no muscle, everything. It took me 21 years to finally be happy with this body, the body that I was given. People think I love it, I’m thin; I can wear whatever I want.
No.
My lowest point was when I wanted to try on a super cute dress at Forever 21 and I got the smallest size possible. It was a red dress, skin tight, one armed sleeve; it looked so beautiful. I remember going into that dressing room, changing and soon I heard a thud on the floor.
It didn’t fit me.
I couldn’t stop crying, that everything I thought was cute only looked good on curvy people. Looking at curvy models and people around me, it made me jealous because I will never be like that. Being told over and over:
“You’re so thin!”
“You are too thin!”
“Skinny people are not attractive.”
It hurts. It’s bullying but people don’t think that because well, I’m not big so it can’t be. I am always a size 0 to a 00. I look in the mirror and see my collarbone sticking out, my shoulders all boney. My hip bones pop out when I am lying on the beach. It makes me ashamed on who I am to a point.
Senior year, I lost 15 pounds without trying; to this day I still do not know what happened. I went from my highest 105 pounds to 90 pounds. I told my mother I wanted to go see a doctor and she was happy that I was worried for my health. When I went, he made my mother leave the room. He kept asking me if I was depressed, my feelings about weight, if I was stressed. He would reword each question to make sure I had my story straight. He would check my hands to make sure I wasn’t throwing up.
At the end of it all, he pulled my mother aside and asked her if she seemed anything weird coming from me. She told him no, I ate like I had a bottomless pit. We just wanted to know what was wrong with me.
They were no help.
After looking at my grandmother, we found out that I had what is called a hyperthyroidism. My metabolism will never die. I always felt that people will always look at me, thinking I have an eating disorder; which I never had in my life.
I got comments on many things which just destroyed my confidence and still do this day. I can never donate blood, something that I really want to do but since I am so underweight; I will never get to do that.
Entering college, I was finally accepting my body. I was wearing better clothes that fit my body, I was making an effort to look good. That was until a photographer student asked me to pose in a picture for their class. I was up for it until I learned they wanted me to binge eat in the photo because my body fit perfectly in the photo. That in my underwear you can see my ribs, my collarbone, my awkward shoulder.
I refused.
People think that I am unhealthy all the time. It bothered me until I went to see a doctor, of the same gender. She told me that I was healthy, actually really healthy. Everything was excellent and she told me that this maybe my ideal weight for my body because if it wasn’t, it was going to show but it didn’t.
When I learned that I was actually very healthy; I didn’t care what people thought of me. If I knew I was healthy, that my body wasn’t shutting down: I was happy and still am. I wear all the cute clothes I want, I am showing more skin. I am finally happy with this awkward body.
I never wanted this body but seeing that my grandmother who was 125 pounds with her fifth child was thin like me. I saw in pictures that she was happy with it, why not me? I know I am thin, I am accepting it. Not everyone has the same body shape, so not everyone is meant to be: curvy or thin. We need everything or the world would be filled with the same person.
Do we want that? I know I don’t. I love seeing different sizes, honestly.
People shouldn’t comment on one another’s body, they need to accept their own. You need to make sure that you are healthy, make sure that you have that smile on your face because you know, “That’s right, I am fucking beautiful.”
Because you are. Never forget that.
Two of my insecurity’s are my smile and my hair.
I’ve had trouble lasting even a few hours with my hair down, and I’ve never posted a picture online, of my genuine, fully smiling face.
Given that these are only two of my many many insecurity’s, posting these pictures are small progress. But small progress is better than no progress at all, right? :)
I’m proud to say that my hair hasn’t been up for a whopping 120 hours- 5 days :D
I feel great. I feel beautiful.
Now that I feel like I’ve tackled my problems with my hair and smile, its on to the rest of my body… My shape, my height, width, my overall size, and my scars.
I have a low image of myself, and people- including myself! don’t understand why. The so called “mental illnesses” I have may play a roll in my insecurity’s, but I KNOW I can overcome them, still.
I want to help teach the world that everyone is beautiful, and EVERYONE is perfect just the way they are. If they want to change how they look, that’s their choice and it’s perfectly fine, and if they don’t want to change, they do not have to!!
This page has helped me a lot, so far, and I know its helping others too. So please, please, PLEASEtake this advice:
TRIGGER WARNING: SCARS, SELF INJURY, DEPRESSION, SUICIDE ATTEMPT
Hello beautiful people, my name is Rebecca Hillary.
I chose this image for a very specific reason. One, it shows my scars. A little over three months ago, I attempted suicide. No one knew if I’d wake up or, with my stroke, if I’d be able to walk or talk or anything. But I survived and I’m thankful every day that I did. At first, I hid my scars, which are very noticeable all over my left arm and required over 150 stitches. But now, if its not cold, I don’t wear a jacket. I AM NOT ASHAMED OF MY BATTLE SCARS BECAUSE THEY SHOW THAT I SURVIVED AND IF YOU HAVE THEM TOO, I SAY WEAR THEM PROUDLY.
The second reason I chose this picture is because you can see a little of my belly. I’ve always been very thin and to this day I still am. I struggled for some time in high school with my body because despite being thin I always had big hips. So I ran cross country and got down to 87 pounds. People worried about me, but I was proud. It took me a while to realize that being unhealthy, having your hair fall out, being so sickly looking that other people stared was NOT CUTE. STARVING YOURSELF IS NOT BEAUTIFUL. What is beautiful? Being you. Being your size. Being confident. Not letting little imperfections control your life. After my hospitalization three months ago, I could hardly eat and was again down to 80 some odd pounds despite having been around 92 for a while (I gained back weight after high school but have medication that affects my appetite). However, in the last few months I have gone up to my highest weight ever! 103 pounds and proud. There are some days where I get a little insecure but my sister and my best friend Alexis support me to no end. So yes, I have a tiny belly and sometimes my hips bubble over my jeans, but I also now have a great booty! The point is that WITH EVERY TINY THING YOU MAY SEE AS AN IMPERFECTION THERE IS ALSO A POSITIVE. SOMETHING THAT YOU SHOULD LOVE AND FEEL PROUD OF. With me, my weight gain showed me that being healthy and allowing myself to indulge since I was given the gift of life back means that while I may have a bigger belly than I may want but I also have a rockin’ ass that makes me feel confident, even sexy, for the first time ever.
Lastly, I chose this picture because I’m wearing a hat and a black jean skirt and a cut off shirt. I used to be so afraid to wear things in case other people thought I looked odd but it’s true YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL WEAR WHAT YOU DAMN PLEASE AND WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. For the first time ever, I wear what I like and what makes me feel good and I do it with confidence. In fact, on my 20th birthday I wore a sparkly tube top because WHY NOT? I guess I just realize now that life is too short to care about what others think and to not love yourself and have fun in whatever way you see fit. For me, expressing my style gives me so much pleasure and other people compliment me. I don’t even think its the clothes most of the time, I think it’s the confidence I have to wear what I want.
In the end, I had to reach a point where I almost lost my life to realize how to truly live. I HOPE PEOPLE READING THIS CAN LEARN TO LOVE THEMSELVES AND TO TREAT THEMSELVES WITH THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE BY LOVING THEIR BODIES AND BY DOING WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.
If anyone ever needs to talk, my blog is my-vicesandvirtues.tumblr.com and I’m also running a RECOVERY BLOG THAT I WOULD LOVE FOR ANYONE STRUGGLING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS TO SEE AND LEARN FROM at mentalillnesssurvivors.tumblr.com. Feel free to follow me on both or talk to me because I’m always here to love and help.
LOVE YOURSELF AND BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE!!!!
Hi, I’ve posted on here 2 times before, but I really wanted to update how I’ve been really doing. Well, here it goes.
I’ve been doing really well. I just had my Winterball dance yesterday and I wore a tight dress..for first time ever..in public in front of my peers. It was nerve racking…because I was picturing every bad scenario in my head. Like, “what if they thought I looked fat” “what if they thought I was trying too hard”…there were so many “what ifs” that I had to shut up my brain and anxiety and just let it be. Let it go. It wasn’t easy because I still thought those thoughts at the dance, but I had a choice. To be happy or to be miserable. And during the dance? I chose to be happy.
I’m finally at a good place right now. I got into 3 colleges so far and still waiting for 4 more. I have amazing friends whom are always there for me. I’m graduating in less than 4 months and everything is just finally starting to fall into place.
There are days however that I’m still skeptical. I’m superstitious of good things happening for no reason at all without it having a consequence later. But I’m learning that good things do happen to good people and sometimes bad things happen to good people. It comes and goes and I can’t control it. I can’t control the situation and I can’t control what comes and goes.
I’m feeling really confident in myself and I’m also proud of myself for wearing such a tight dress. It was completely out of my comfort zone but I’m so happy that I got to do it because by making that bold move, I feel like I can do anything I put my mind to.
I’m always here for anyone who wants to talk. Or, just for me to listen.
Always been big and still am. I can never see myself a different way. <3
