It’s not a “ONE SIZE FITS ALL” approach when it comes to body confidence

BY JORDI WOODS

I have found most people have challenges when it comes to feeling confident in their own skin and dressing their body shape. Sometimes it is the challenge of finding clothes that fit properly, knowing where to shop or learning how to illusion dress in order to enhance or hide certain features on our frame.

13 years of styling and dressing clients, one common denominator I have discovered is that no matter someone’s size, shape or age; their body confidence (or lack of) often comes back to their outlook and mental approach towards themselves.

As a personal stylist I do not take a “one size fits all” approach during a styling session. As everyone has their own concerns when it comes to their body confidence I always start my session listening to my clients concerns, challenges and what they do/don’t feel comfortable wearing.

As a young female in a highly image driven industry it has taken me years (it is still a work in progress) to be confident in my body. However there are three things that have made a huge difference in my life and I want to share them with you!

MY (GENERAL) TIPS TO FEELING CONFIDENT IN YOUR BODY. 1 Focus On You & Only You. The first thing I tell clients at a VC Body Analysis Session is “stop comparing yourself to ANYONE ELSE and focus on you!”. This comparison includes your mum, sister, friends and especially what you see in the media! Did you know, the worse the media makes us feel, the more we buy… let me repeat that… the worse the media makes us feel, the more we buy. Many companies profit from our insecurities. These may include; appearing more youthful, being slimmer or curvier, looking stylish and feeling attractive. By focusing on you and only you, you stop the comparison process and eliminate spending unnecessary money and negative energy. Instead you can start accepting your own natural beauty and discovering ways you can enhance it.

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2 Wear What Is Right For Your

Shape, Not Because It Is “In Fashion” & “What Everyone Is Wearing”. Discovering what your Body Balance is and how to highlight and illusion dress is the second most important thing in achieving body confidence. Don’t wear something because it is “trending” if it is not right for your body balance! When we talk Body Balances here at VC we are talking about a client’s vertical and horizontal measurements – these measurements come from your bone structure, not your size or weight!! We like to start by measuring someone’s head to hipbone and hipbone to floor and continue from there with appropriate styling advice.

3 List What You Like About Your

Physical Appearance. I understand this can be a hard one, but it is of utmost importance! SO allow time, grab a pen and paper, sit down in a place that makes you happy and approach the below exercise with a kind heart.

The Exercise: Write down 5 things you LIKE about your physical appearance. This is an exercise about love and embracing who you are, it is not being vain (in the end we want you to love yourself and be confident). This exercise is something I do on a regular basis and I encourage you to do the same. The reason being, our bodies and minds are constantly shifting, so the more we feed those shifts with positive reinforcement the better we feel.

TIP If listing five things is hard, start with one this week, then next week add another, then another and so on.

I would like to add… being confident is not something you work towards, it is something you constantly work ON! Baby steps and lots of them are the secret to body confidence!! Depending where you are on your “style journey” take a moment to pause and ask yourself “what do you need most at the moment to feel confident?” is it a pep talk to yourself, help understanding your Body Balance or maybe a social media detox of users that no longer uplift you?

Whatever you may be needing right now to help you feel confident and comfortable in your own skin I hope you allow yourself the time and make the investment in yourself and your future self. Hopefully this article has encouraged you to get started and please know that you can feel confident in your body, you just need to put in the ground work and be kind to yourself. Don’t forget, we are always here to help if you need it!

Vibrantly yours, Jordi x

If you start to list negative things, be kind to yourself and start again. If sitting down and writing is too much of a challenge I encourage you to take a step back and try the below:

When you get up in the morning look in the mirror and say something nice to yourself about your body. If you feel a negative thought about your body coming on, pull yourself up, make yourself accountable and apologise to yourself for talking negatively and proceed to say or instead say something positive. For example, if you look in the mirror and think “look at all my cellulite, I wish I had smooth legs” stop yourself, apologise and turn it into a positive comment i.e “Body, I am sorry I spoke negative about you. I may have cellulite on my legs, but my legs are strong and beautiful; they give me the freedom to walk throughout my day, they allow me to dance and enjoy life and for that I am thankful”. Once you have done this practise a few times and broken the negative self talk, go back and give the above exercise another go.