Disclaimer: this post contains items gifted to me from Blush Atelier, who helped me in my journey to body positivity.
Three girls are standing in front of a mirror; one exclaims “god my hips are huge!”, another says “oh god please I hate my calves”, and the third scoffs “you guys can wear halters, check out man shoulders”. They all turn to the fourth girl, Cady Heron (played by Lindsay Lohan) and she hurriedly blurts out, “I have really bad breath…?”
We’ve all been brought up like those girls in Mean Girls; no matter how perfect our parents tell us we are, we are slowly taught that this is not the case. Society bullies us to believe that there’s always a “flaw” and that we should do all that we can to correct them. Things like having man shoulders, huge hips, or in my case, small breasts.
Yeeeeeep, small breasts. Bee stings. Buds. Itty-bitty-titties. Whatever you call them – I’ve got them, and I’m proud of my small titties. I used to hate them (lol soz) but we’re alright now. Best buds, in fact. It took me a long time to accept them and embrace body positivity, though; memories flash by of when I used to stuff tissue down my bra in Secondary School (High School), or wearing padding so thick that it could stop bullets. It wasn’t until I went on holiday with Malta with my girl Amy a few weeks ago (yeeep, only a few weeks ago!) that I was finally okay with these little bee stings of mine. I took the leap into the ocean and flaunted my tiny chest with the help of a cute little non-padded bikini.
related post: my love/hate relationship with myself
It didn’t stop there – wearing a non-padded bra was the next giant leap I made. Padding always gave me the extra boost – quite literally – that I needed to feel good, so bralets didn’t even cross my mind. Me? With my boobs wild and free? Yeah but no. The thought of showing the world that I was, in fact, “flat-chested” terrified me, but I had major heart eyes when I spotted these from Blush Atelier* that I bit the bullet and just did it. And you know what? It felt AMAZING. Kinda sexy but cute at the same time. The detailing on Ella is just so delicate and reminded me of the soft patterns on Liz Lisa dresses. And Ebony? It was the softest thing I ever tried on. I felt, strangely, confident despite the lack of padding.
Shoutout to my girl Amy for the photos!
I’m kind of kicking myself that I didn’t accept this little “flaw” of mine sooner. How different would my teenage life have been if only I had accepted a body positive image? Would I have grown up as a stronger woman? I thought of all of the times I felt crestfallen because I couldn’t buy so-and-so because I didn’t feel good enough wearing that sort of thing as. Of when I stood in my bedroom with a tape measure, desperately trying to tell myself I was a cup larger when in fact I barely reached over an A. But, as cheesy as it sounds, I’m doing all that I can to change that with a little help of body positivity. To embrace my little buds in order for me to become my more confident and happier self.
Because body positivity is the new black.
P.S. These were gifted items but obvs 100% my own opinion (because I’m a terrible liar)
P.P.S I also have a discount code for you to get 15% discount (ooh yeah) with LIZZIE15 so you can bag your own here
P.P.P.S I did, however, blur out my nipple slightly in the last pic as the bralette was VERY sheer and I dread to think what would happen if my close friends and family stumbled upon that pic.