Curvy Confidential

Hey everyone!

Go pick up the July 27th issue of Woman’s World Magazine to see Hips and Curves panty styles featured in “The best bra and panty for your body” article!

Oh the beauty of dance. The exhilarating, floating feeling. Moving the body, at times close to another and touching. Bending, feeling…oh the feeling.

Dance excludes no one. Dance expresses and moves our souls. No matter the beat, no matter the body…dance.

Ahhhh…

There. I just wanted to positively express myself for one glorious moment before I begin the barrage. This attitude is usually not my style of speaking or writing for that matter. However, another television show has emerged, which on the surface appeared to be lovely. I believe I must sound off.

Plus-sized bodies, moving to the music. Dressed in fabulous attire. Sexy even. Laughing and having so much fun. Oxygen’s new show, “Dance Your Ass Off”, has begun. At first blush, I was excited. And then I discovered the premise.

Fat bodies. (And I use the term Fat with love, please see my previous article titled: Fat…the F Word) Moving. Great dancing with some amazing dancers. (Insert the sound of the record screeching.) Great…now change. Beautiful…now change. Big people…now change.

This is the message that we, as a society, are sent so often. This is the message that I personally would love to help silence. If even to turn it down a notch or two.

“Dancing With The Stars” or “So You Think You Can Dance”, these shows don’t come with an agenda of any sort. Smaller, thinner people are not expected to dance AND change. There is no outward expectation other than to compete and the best dancer wins. Period.

The message currently being sent to society is this: Fat people can dance, but the contest is in the losing of weight.  Not just be GREAT as you are…because apparently, this is not good enough.

I was so excited to see some great costuming on this show.Many pieces come from our beloved Hips and Curves. Gorgeous pieces. Sexy. Finally, an outward representation of how great my plus sisters can look in an eye-popping piece of lingerie. And it is on TV!!! But the reason these dancers are on this show is to show us, the viewing public, that you can be fat as long as the intent is to “fit in”, be acceptable.I am not going to buy into it. Below is my credo:

I honor these dancers for the talents that they are.

I am applauding “Hips and Curves” and any other lingerie, clothing, sexy-as-hell clothing retailers for continuing to bring us quality and fun on a regular basis.

I will not “hate” my thin friends or colleagues, but appreciate ALL body types and sizes.

I will continue to look at people as “humans” not simply “bodies”.

I refuse to think of myself as “less-than” and will keep looking lovingly at myself in the mirror.

I ask you, to join me. Please join me. Talk to me here and tell me what you think.

Thanks Hips and Curves. Not only for the great products, but also for a place for ALL to come and read some great content and speak out and just BE.

With love from a Fat Dancer….xoxo Wendy

I just came home from my absolute favorite indulgence that I must share with you.  It’s called a Korean Spa.  I live down the street from one and treat myself once a week. The Korean spa is an absolute delight for the senses.  It is a wonderful bonding experience – all the ladies are so friendly – and it is nice to be around bodies of all shapes, sizes, and ages.  It always comforts me that in all the time I’ve been going to the spa, I have never seen a ‘perfect’ body.  They’re all perfect in their imperfection.

Back to the spa.. first a shower and you must put your hair up.   You then transition between soaking in Jacuzzi’s, hot tea baths, ice baths, wet sauna, dry sauna, oxygen sauna and culminated with a nap on a jade tile floor wrapped up like a burrito. That is just the tip of the iceberg though.  What I just described is my typical weekly visit to the spa which takes about 2-3 hours and puts me back a measly $15 dollars.

What I really want to share with you is the monthly spa treatment that I indulge in.  It’s called the Milk and Honey Body Smoothie.   First, I go for a quick soak, from there my therapist retrieves me and lays me down on her table.  She drenches me with warm milk containing citrus oil and then the fun begins.    I get scrubbed from head to toe with silk mitts that exfoliate every inch of my body and leave me slippery smooth. What follows next is a pineapple body shampoo, another exfoliation, and then a scalp massage with essential oil before a shampoo and conditioning treatment.   It’s usually by this point the stress that has built up over the past month has been released and I’ve become one with the experience. Continue Reading »

There are days when I feel comfortable in my own skin and other days…not so much.   I thought by this time in my life I would have found a happy medium, but as wise person keeps telling me, “it’s a journey, enjoy it”.

Sometimes I get signals that I am doing the right thing – accepting my body just as it is.  One of those signals was an article in the Los Angeles Times I came across on Sunday morning entitled “She Is Who She Is”.  The “she” is singer/song writer, Adele.   With an angelic, seductive face, curvy figure and a soulful voice far beyond her young age of 21, Adele is making history in more ways than one.

I am a huge fan of Adele’s music, but I’m an even bigger fan of her confidence.   It’s amazing to me that some one almost half my age has the ability to be true to herself, and stand strong in an industry that prefers thin, cookie cutter pop stars who do exactly what they are told.  Not Adele, she is her own girl.  As she says,

I’ve gotten this far without looking like Britney Spears. I think I can go a bit further.

But what I like most about the article is that Adele is confident about her size and feels there is room for everyone and every size.  Adele says,

The most important thing is the way that someone carries themselves.  If they feel comfortable, they carry themselves differently.

That is so true, there is nothing sexier or more fashionable than a confident woman.  A woman can be successful no matter what her size.  And there are many others Etta James, Jennifer Hudson, Beth Ditto and Jill Scott,  all successful and all true to themselves.

Adele, just like the others, followed her dreams and carved out her own path.   Girls, we cannot let anything hold us back!  Let’s embrace who we are and never apologize for it.  Let’s celebrate all woman, all shapes, all sizes.

Lets keep the confidence going like Adele.   Check out the entire article here.