Why is there a ‘body war’?

Last week, like many members of the public I tuned in to channel four to watch ‘Plus Sized Wars’. Channel 4 documentaries are my favourite, but this one felt of particular importance to me as it featured not only a topic that’s pretty close to my heart, but also a lady.

I haven’t known Georgina Horne (Fuller Figure Fuller Bust) for very long but she’s the kind of person you automatically want to be friends with. She appears energetic with a dirty sense of humour. Two things I strive for in a person. George along with gorgeous plus size fashion model Evie Wolfe modelled for my Wild Rose ‘Plus’ Collection last year when I decided that extending from standard sizes just made sense. I want to see beauty represented in the industry in many forms. I want to see women looking and feeling beautiful. End of.

I myself am ‘plus size’. It’s a grey area to fall in. I’m a plus size that can still shop in Topshop and buying clothes has never been an issue for me. But it is a relevant modern issue for many people that we need to take note of. The more weight we gain the more our body shape changes. One size 16 looks very different to another, so we can’t simply keep scaling clothes up to fit everyone. The market is now becoming aware of this and we are seeing shops selling gorgeous on-trend clothes for larger ladies. In my opinion, it’s about time.

Body love is something I feel so strongly about because we all function so much better when our mental health is on pointe. Being kind to others literally attracts more kindness; it’s a perpetual cycle that can’t go wrong. This includes being kind to ourselves. It doesn’t seem necessary to have any kind of ‘war on bodies’.

But some people find that kindness is just too much of a challenge for them. I finished the documentary feeling that it was superb, a representation showing women happy and fashionable going about their day-to-day lives and making a career out of looking fabulous. It also highlighted other bloggers who I hadn’t been as aware of and now I can follow their stories too. But then I checked social media. The backlash was immense. I found myself yet again wondering who these people were hiding behind keyboards. Can we please all stop feigning that we are only full of concern for others when we insult and intimidate. And can we also please remember that being fat isn’t the only on-going health concern the NHS is paying for. To pick another out of a hat, how about smoking? Can you imagine for one moment if smokers were heckled and cat-called every time they lit up…

And Jamelia, you are wrong. All bodies: the big, the fat, the small, the skinny, the in-between, the full busted, flat chested, and the bodies left changed after surgery, all deserve to feel beautiful. And shopping should not be a hard task full of despair and without enjoyment. The programme covered some fab high street brands for larger ladies, but what about luxury fashion and couture for all figures? We have yet to see women really represented in this way, and I want to change that.

I want to cause a riot, one piece of tulle and Swarovski crystal at a time <3