Style it out

Last Friday night I got to hang out with some fabulous ladies at an event that my church Latimer Minster runs. Ladies from all walks of life gather to enjoy a night off, being taken care of by a handful of generous men dressed to the nines, serving us home-cooked food across beautifully decorated candlelit tables. It was a real treat. 

As part of the evening I was invited to share a few words about my business adventures, and I was delighted to do another give-away; this time the incredible prize of a personal style consultation.

Personal style is about expressing your who you are in a way that fits your lifestyle and celebrates your body. I asked all the ladies in the room what their favourite physical feature was, and I really enjoyed reading all the responses. The most common features by far were eyes and legs. Others included hair, hands, lips, smile, cheekbones, skin, height, feet, and my personal favourite, ‘my butt’. There were a couple of entries that caught my eye, and my heart. They said ‘I’m not sure’. 

Earlier on in the week I watched some of the striking docu-film Miss Representation, which looks at how and why women are under represented in positions of power within America. “In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message we receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality”

The ramifications of this are stark. No woman can succeed on these scales for long, and nor should she. 

In a society that mis-values beauty, it can be tempting to react by disowning our connection to how we look, to decide that indifference is the safest route through life. Or we join the ranks of the walking wounded, who carry a sense of shame or loss around with them, that they aren’t quite what they should be.  

I am convinced that there is a better way to stand up to the image obsessed media storm which we call daily life. We can take time to really see ourselves as we are, to let go of what we think we ‘should’ be, and to begin to play again. We can play with colour and style, not to gain power, but to express joy. Our bodies don’t define us, but neither should they be our enemy. 

So, what’s your favourite physical feature? When was the last time you looked in the mirror and enjoyed what you saw?