Most women -- stupidly, I have to add -- fall into a bit of a war with their bodies.
It's cultural, but I also think it's part of female psychology.
It's really clear when you read the weight-loss blogs, but it's also evident from the fashion blogs that everyday women write. My
favorite fashion blogs focus on the store
Anthropologie, which is sort of a twee and high-end store. I discovered the store through Paul; we first went to it as part of a stock-research expedition. I loved their clothes, but I didn't love the prices. I started stalking their "sale room," and I found the blogs when trying to figure out the sale algorithm.
But from reading the blogs of these women, most of whom are younger than me, I see how they evaluate themselves.
This one likes her small waist.
This one thinks her hips are too big. And then, I get to see them in a variety of different clothes.
I'm also discovering that the items many of them don't like -- because of the dreaded "emphasizing the hips" factor -- are the very ones I like. They're the ones that flatter my shape.
When I was in my teens and 20s I used to get frustrated when the popular styles didn't fit or just didn't look right on me. I'd also get upset by the size number on the tag.
My latest shopping focus has made me realize that there are clothes that look right on every body -- but it's so individual. I look for the items with a hips-emphasizing flare that most of the bloggers complain about.
And, ironically, Anthropologie, which has bizarre sizing, has in many ways helped me make peace with my own atypical figure.
I have (sale-purchased) items from Anthropologie in every size but XS. All fit. It's easy to be less focused on a number when it's clear that the number doesn't mean anything.
And it never really did.
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