Ask Haylee!

As I’ve been trawling through Tumblr posts about body image, healthy bodies etc, I’ve come across an inordinate amount of posts where girls are complaining about their weight, and in specific cases, complaining about the way they hips/stomachs/fat hangs over their jeans/bikini bottoms etc.

Now, I understand many women battle with their weight legitimately. What frustrates me about these posts, is that these issues for complaint are mostly circumstantial. If you bought yourself the correct size clothing for your body, instead of trying to fit your body into a too-small size, then you would not feel crappy when you look in the mirror while wearing those clothes.

Many women forget that the size tag is on the inside of the garment. Not to mention the fact that the clothing industry’s sizing standards are all over the place. If you need to go up the extra size, to get that smooth fit in whatever you’re buying, the only person who will know is the shop assistant.

I am an Australian size 8, so yes, I am slim. At any given time, I have also been as small as a size 6 and can go up to a size 10. I don’t have anything to complain about in terms of how I look, and at my biggest was still completely comfortable with my body. In saying that, due to working in fashion retail, I know how to dress for my body, and not to try and make my body fit around an inappropriately sized or awkwardly fitted garment. I carry my weight in my bum, so I know that, even as a size 8, my jeans and most other pants, will often need to be a size 10.

If I were to stubbornly refuse to purchase any garment beyond a size 8, I would end up looking a lot bigger than I am. This is true of any size or shaped woman.

Work out what sizes fit you, and your body, and your proportions. You may still have times when you don’t like what you see in the mirror, we all do. But if you remember that a size is a number invisible to everyone but you, you will have a lot more freedom to play with your wardrobe and highlight the things you like about your body!

H x

Who is this angel? You may ask. Well, I’m so happy to say she is one of the biggest up-and-comers of the modelling world.

Robyn Lawley is the plus-sized model gracing the pages of this month’s Vogue Australia and the cover of last month’s Vogue Italia! This size 14 - 16 beauty is turning heads the world over. At only 22 years of age, Lawley is breaking down the size 6 stereotypes of the industry and paving the way for stunning women of all shapes and sizes to follow in her footsteps.

Kirstie Clements, Editor of Vogue Australia, had this to say about her choice to feature Lawley in this months issue; 

This is the first time VogueAustralia has shot a larger model and, of course, now that we have done it, I ask myself why we didn’t do it sooner. But that’s because Robyn is especially gorgeous. I went to the shoot to meet her and was transfixed by her beauty and poise. She is a truly super-duper model. When a plus-size model first turns up to the studio, she may be an anomaly to a team normally used to working with size-6’s, but once photographer Max Doyle started shooting Robyn, we quickly readjusted our preconceived notions of beauty. ‘She doesn’t actually look plus size to me at all now.’ I said to a colleague on set later that day, ‘And men like curves don’t they?’ He looked at me like I was an idiot. ‘Ah, yes Kirstie, we certainly do’ was his laconic reply. It’s an interesting conversation: the world of high fashion and fuller-figured women. One that needs to be continued.

Lawley is clearly a woman who is passionate about who she is and what she does.

I hope all the girls out there who are a natural size 12 - 16+ can follow Robyn Lawley’s lead and quit punishing themselves with gruelling diet regimes and excessive amount of exercise. Life is here to be enjoyed, so yes, be healthy! But also appreciate the body you have naturally! Beauty means different things to different people, and as a standard size 8 I am purely envious of Lawley’s sex kittenish curves and full-figured beauty.

H x