Lingerie and I, by Curvy Girl Thin
Lingerie and I have been in a long love affair. Unfortunately, it has often been one sided!
With F cup boobs by the time I was 14, I lived for years in sports bras and soft cup beige monstrosities with an excess of material that was more suited to my great grandmother than a hyperactive teenager. I lusted after the scanty, frilly things my friends flaunted in the swimming pool changing rooms but finding them in my size was a near impossibility.
Then a friend took me to a lingerie shop, that shall remain nameless, to get fitted – standing topless in a red velvet clad changing room with a middle aged woman tutting loudly at my badly fitted sports bra shamed me. It also awakened me as she forced me into a black lace balcony bra and matching panty set. I was 18 and it cost me all my manure shovelling wages (I worked with horses) to afford the set but I never looked back.
I walked out of the shop with my head held high and my chest thrust forward. For the first time in my life I wasn’t embarrassed of my figure, I wanted to flaunt it! And that, to me, is the power of good lingerie.
From that moment, my confidence soared. I may not have, what is considered by society to be, a perfect body – I have lumps, bumps, curves, scars and stretch marks – but I am beautiful and I have beautiful lingerie, something that I’m not scared to show off. I honestly believe that by putting on that first set of fantastically sensual and sexy underwear, I started to believe that I was sexy and sensual, if not conventional.
In the past few years I’ve seen the plus size and DD plus lingerie market really take off. Beautiful bras in my size are becoming more adventurous, more fun and playful, and more sensual. They are also becoming more attainable – mostly because the rise of online shopping means that I’m no longer limited to what major department stores decide to stock (so few go above a G cup) – and more affordable.
What we wear underneath is quickly becoming as important as what we wear on the outside. Of course, fit is important – a good bra that fits properly preserves the breast tissues and stops it from slipping-out or disappearing downwards. But what is also infinitely important to me is that lingerie is becoming a means of expression for many girls that beautiful but perhaps aren’t in the runway model pigeon hole.
It warms my heart to see so many fellow bloggers, of all shapes and sizes, stripping off and baring their pants to the world – whether on instagram, facebook, twitter, or their blogs. They are showing young girls who are scared of their bodies, scared of their difference, scared because they do not look like Adrianna Lima or Lily Aldridge, that it’s okay and that they are beautiful as they are.
This is what lingerie means to me and I hope others can feel the same!
Thank you for being our guest blogger Charli! You can read all about Charli and even find a fabulous review of our Sculptresse range over on her blog!
