In today’s world with extreme diets, seemingly flawless celebrities plastered on the cover of any magazine, and photoshopping making the “ideal” image even more unattainable, it’s pretty easy to get caught up in it all. Sometimes I find myself looking at these women with perfectly streamlined legs, tight stomaches with no pooch (everyone has a little pooch, come on), a perky chest, and hair thats full of body; I see these pictures and it’s hard not to get down on yourself for not fulfilling these expectations. Even thought it’s a ridiculous concept, I know I’m not alone in the thought, even if it is fleeting.
Fashion and beauty are not going anywhere, but in recent years we have seen the incorporation of “real” women into the industry. Embracing curves, different skin tones, and other areas that you may have tried to hide before but are now learning to show off–and this is great! Besides the addition of more realistic views of the women who are actually wearing these fashions, I’ve found that I need to find my own ways to love myself. It sounds a little cheesy, but a distorted body image is not so rare in our society.
Besides everyday fashions, lingerie is such a powerful thing. Not just for a significant other, or a special occasion (although those are fun as well), but I think that lingerie is more self empowering. When you find something that works on your body, it is the ultimate definition of sexy–something no magazine can take away from you.
Even better, photography combined with lingerie is like two peas in a pod. Like I said, even if it’s just for yourself, don’t underestimate it’s power. Photography can be used in about a million different ways– advertising, conveying a message, overcoming intercultural communication barriers, and of course, art. In this scenario, you are the art, the main event, if you will. Part of the beauty of photography is that it can show people in many different lights, glamourous, powerful, humorous, scary, whatever you want to portray, a photo can capture that out of you.
I know as long as I have a matching, silk, panty and bra set (matching anything really does make the world a better place), I still have my own devices for feeling sexy and confident, and why not capture that moment? Are there any ways that you guys find as an instant confidence boost for yourself?