Hello Beautiful. There you are.

When it comes to the nostalgia of clothing trends, my first thought is when did I feel most comfortable in my body? Clothes have always been a way for me to cover up the insecurities of not feeling skinny or attractive. A shopping spree of clothes that flatter and fit, always made my worry that this body was too curvy, temporarily disappear.

This only lasted the first couple of times that I wore the new outfits. The magic of new clothing options always faded away and left my naked insecurities glaring.

The trends of fashion could not cover up my body image issues until finally…...the body positive movement!

With fuller women portrayed in trendy clothing, I was inspired to use fashion as a tool to embrace my body. It became increasingly easier to find clothes that actually fit. I experienced each new fashion trend as if it came out for the first time, from crop tops, skinny jeans, to bell bottoms. I felt what it must have been like to love dressing up in the decades when I walked with my arms over my stomach or opted to never wear shorts, even in 100-degree heat to hide my thighs. A two-piece bathing suit used to be out of the question, and now it is all that I prefer. Thankfully, high fashion clothes have become increasingly available in larger sizes to make this possible.

I now think of clothing trends as a fun expression of style and comfort, and eagerly await what styles come next. I can’t express this without addressing that the same fashion images once were detrimental to my mental health and self-worth. With plus-size fashion, I am now a fashion enthusiast and gravitate toward the 70’s peace, love and unity themes as I embrace my newfound self-love, and honor my free spirit. The 90’s styles of electric colors and striped designs feel flattering, a mind shift from believing that stripes made me look fat, or that I could only wear black. As long as the style of covering women’s bodies from the early 1900s doesn’t come back to haunt me of days of female oppression, I eagerly await to see what trends come next.

Even though plus size fashion is becoming more available and marketed, we still have a long way to go. Television, movies, and magazines haven’t fully caught up to the realization that people want to see real people. I wonder how our self-esteem and self-worth would change seeing a variety of shapes and colors identified on tv in all different roles.

Writing this article, I wonder how others picture me in their mind. A 300-pound person? Or maybe a 200-pound person, who finally gets to wear a multitude of styles? The part that makes my heart ache is that I am pretty average in stature and weight, and I have left myself out of the fashion fun for years. I haven’t weighed myself in months, which is a great accomplishment, as I’ve realized it doesn’t reflect my fitness. Looking at my 5”7 height, people used to be shocked when I told them I was 190 lbs, telling me I don’t look it and I look great, but all I could see was fat even though I worked out regularly and ate a healthy diet. Overall, it doesn’t matter what you picture when you read this, and it doesn’t matter what shape and size you are. We are all deserving of whatever style we choose, and all deserving of love.

Lastly, I want to thank all the curvy women that courageously stepped out into the limelight of loving themselves, and made fashion for everyone. Thank you to all shapes of women that post on social media, rock their outfits at events, and show that sexy comes in all sizes. Loving yourself is the best trend of all.