I gave a talk last week to a group of teen girls on modesty. My blog entry before this one was about modesty since I feel it applies to all of us and has a place in our lives regardless of our age. In my talk to the girls, I felt it was important to emphasize an acceptance of one’s body and to point out the wide spectrum of beauty from slim to curvy. Yet again, I find myself compelled to share this message with you, also.
Great style has nothing to do with your size, your wallet or your education level. People with great style know how to dress their body shape and they are respectful of their body as it is. I encourage you to pursue a healthy lifestyle; however, I also strongly encourage you to carry a healthy image of yourself with you at all times.
A survey of 600 women on Glamour.com revealed 48% thought they were hourglass shaped. North Carolina State University researchers measured 6,000 women and discovered only 8% had hourglass shapes. If hourglass is the supposed “perfect” body shape and only 8% of the female population is hourglass, one could rightly surmise hourglass is not a mold we should be trying to fit ourselves into. The majority of the women measured, 46% to be exact, were rectangle shaped (meaning almost equal shoulder and hip measurements and less than 10 inches difference from shoulders or hip to waist measurement). Even models aren’t the “perfect” shape. Most are rectangles!
You were carefully crafted with a certain nose, a particular skin tone, a specific hair texture, etc. This crafting included your body shape. Nature intended you to have curves in certain places and perhaps for some of you very little curve in other places. Don’t aspire to a shape that the media tells you is perfect. What you see on TV, in magazines and in movies is manufactured, illusions crafted by special makeup, lighting and airbrushing.
The sooner you accept your shape as nature intended, the closer you are to attaining great style! Accentuate the positives and hold your head high. YOU are the perfect shape.
