During a large portion of my "maturing" years, I struggled with the fact that many jeans simply refused to fit my frame without “gaping” in the back – they basically did not fit the way they did when I was young girl, or the way they did on the department store mannequins. In other words - I "curved" out (not quite like J-Lo but close enough) - and eventually had to deal with the inevitable "gap" at the back of my favorite pairs of jeans and always had to wear a belt to make sure the jeans fit properly and comfortably. Of course, exercising (particularly dancing, running or doing Tae-Bo) only made it more "apple-esque," which at the time confused and frustrated me because I mistakenly assumed exercising would minimize the curve and help me fit better into the jeans at the mall. Fortunately, fashion trends have evolved and began appreciating "the curve," even going so far as to create jeans that make one's derriere much more "chunky" looking (thanks to J-Lo, Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious" song, and Sir Mix-A-Lot's classic as well). So, ironically enough - when a woman today asks, "Does my butt look big?," she may no longer be hoping for "no" as a response. I can speak for myself and tell you that if you respond to me with a “no,” it is not only an insult – it is basically a smack in the face of my Jamaican genetics.
I will honestly tell you that I increasingly accepted my “apple curve” over time, eventually realizing how many celebrities were honored for having the "apple" (Halle Berry, Tyra Banks, J-Lo, Beyonce, etc.), and becoming increasingly aware of the extent to which people were willing to create an apple of their own (either through intense exercising, implants, or the lovely cushion pads that you put in the back of your jeans to give it a “lift,” as “discretely” advertised at the back of many fashion magazines). Should I have accepted the "apple" from the beginning? Sure. But I didn’t quite understand it or really appreciate how it looked in clothing until I saw it reflected back at me as a coveted physical asset. Looking back, I know that I should have accepted the curve before the media told me it was acceptable and desirable. Today, I embrace it but I try to be as modest as possible with it while simultaneously appreciating/acknowledging the curve. For example, jeans that are way too tight are a “no-no” for me, and I always stay away from low-riders. That’s just a personal preference though.
So, in my renewed search for better-fitting jeans within a relatively decent price range, I have narrowed my top three jeans choices down to: DKNY Skinny Jeans (fit ok), Applebottom Jeans (fit well) and PZI Jeans (fit really well). If you know of any other jeans that really work well with curves, please let me (and my other readers) know by commenting underneath this blog post. I am in love with both collections, but I am not a fan of the more intense and fluorescent color options on Applebottom's website (I am a basic blue, gray or black jean color girl). Also, some of the PZI Jeans at the Macy's in Times Square looked a bit cheap (probably just a bad sample in that Macy's store) - but I bought a classic skinny black pair on sale yesterday that looked well-made, and fit like a glove.
Although the Macy's Time Square mall did not carry them, I'm really thinking about buying the Classic Skinny Jean by PZI, as seen below:
At the age of 26, I can honestly say I have found a nice pair of jeans that does not require a belt to minimize "jeans gaping," and felt like it was made just for my body - and that was quite a relieving thing. Better late than never, right?
My Appreciation for Jeans that Don't "Gap in the Back"
The Beauty of Today's Voluptuous Woman (Of All Sizes)
There is something to be said for the beauty of voluptuous women. I’m very much impressed by the curvy beauties of today. Beyonce, Monica Bellucci, Tyra Banks, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Simpson, and Jennifer Love Hewitt are just a few examples of beauties in the media today who "own" their curves and wear them well. However, I did find it strange that people attacked Jennifer Love Hewitt for being too fat based on her photos in a bikini with a bit of cellulite on her size 2 frame:
Leave it to the media to categorize this picture as the epitomy of "sexy gone wrong".
Check out this supposedly "not-so-flattering" picture of Tyra Banks in her suit:
Now, I have to wonder: What is it about “curvy” celebrities that sends the media into a crazy tailspin? It is almost as if these women didn’t have a right to gain some weight because they, as celebrities, have a contractual duty to the public to remain as slim as possible in order to perpetuate the social consciousness of “thin is in.” How dare these women rebel against the skinny ideal by eating food! Who ever heard of such a thing?
Puh-lease.
Both of these women handled the criticism well and in a very mature fashion, helping “real” women to feel comfortable in their own skin. Tyra Banks discussed the above swimsuit photo on the Tyra Banks Show and said that the picture was “so outrageous” as she stood in the same swimsuit next to the tabloid photo on a screen, stating that the photo was “taken three weeks ago,” she only weighed 150 pounds, and she just happened to gain 10 – not 40 – pounds around the holidays. She thought the photo was “curvy,” “sexy,” and “beautiful”, but noted that it was not her real figure at the moment. Furthermore, she noted that even if she did look like that, it would be fine. She noted that the tabloids are obsessed with weight, waiting for a not-so-flattering angle in order to sell magazines. She even showed other photos from the same day that were not retouched with angles that were very flattering and very "curvy slim". Because of the not-so-slender photo, she was labeled by the media as “Tyra Porkchops” and “America’s Next Top Waddle.” When she checked out people’s comments about her online, she noted that someone had circled a little love handle that was visible during her last Victoria’s Secret fashion show in a photo. She found that to be so ridiculous, noting that if she had lower self-esteem, she would be starving herself right now. She tearfully exclaimed a message to those women who criticize those who are naturally curvy: “Kiss my fat a**!”. (See a portion of it here on a YouTube video):
Jennifer Love Hewitt had a similar message. When the tabloids freaked about the bikini "cellulite photos", Jennifer, on November 29, 2007, posted this message:
“I've sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women's bodies are constantly scrutinized. To set the record straight, I'm not upset for me, but for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image. A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size 0 doesn't make you beautiful. What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles. I know what I look like, and so do my friends and family. And like all women out there should, I love my body. To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini -- put it on and stay strong.”
My response? I agree 100%. I honestly think the tabloids are obsessed with Tyra and Jennifer’s curve - not because it is necessarily “bad looking” - but because it stands contrary to the “thin standard” that they used to fit into and helped them gain fame several years ago. Now, I am a fan of “healthy curve” – curve that is natural and not brought on by unhealthy lifestyles. However, these tabloids and the media in general don't really care if the curve comes in unhealthy or healthy form – if you have curve, you are automatically fat, and therefore unattractive. According to society's illogical logic today, it is completely unrealistic to be “curvy” and not be fat (and therefore unattractive) on some level.
Today, Jessica Simpson seems to be the newest tabloid obsession.
Her latest "curvy" pictures have been broadcast across every single visual medium, and bloggers and newspapers have been tearing into her weight gain like wolves on prey. Her photos even prompted AskMen.com to ask its readers, "Fast Jessica Simpson: Still Hot?," encouraging a whole slew of readers to positively and negatively opine on her weight gain. In a US Magazine article, Jessica Simpson stated, "Do you think the guys . . . are all really looking at all those skinny girls and thinking, 'Wow, I want to get with her?' Or are they looking at the girls with the curves and thinking, 'Yeah, I want to get with her'!" Simpson said. Simpson added, "I don't get the whole rail thing. It's not good for your heart, it's not good for your mind; it's emotionally destructive, it really is." My thoughts on Jessica's weight gain: As long as she maintains a healthy diet and exercise regimen, she should embrace her curviness and show it off without hesitation.
Meghan McCain (Senator John McCain's daughter) has also faced some very recent criticism about her weight from Laura Ingraham, who clearly dislikes (or is perhaps jealous of) Meghan's latest claim to Republican pundit fame.
A recent photo of Meghan:
Laura stated, "Do you think that anyone would be talking to you if you weren't kind of cute and you weren’t the daughter of John McCain?" Ingraham continued, imitating McCain using a "valley girl" impersonation: "OK, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in 'The Real World,' but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models. They only like the women who look a certain way." Meghan's response? A reincarnation of Tyra's "Kiss My Fat A**!":
If you are a woman with curves and occasionally doubt the beauty of your natural size, I encourage you to consider the confidence and beauty of more than a handful of curvy celebrity beauties out there, including:
And the curvy and celebrated European beauty, Monica Bellucci:
“Monica Bellucci is proud of her sexy curves. The sultry 'Matrix Reloaded' actress takes great care of her voluptuous figure and refuses to feel guilty about her body. She told Esquire magazine: "My body is so important to me. My face, my arms, my legs, my hands, my eyes, everything. I use everything I have. Today, if women look or feel voluptuous they feel guilty but beauty has no law and there is no way to be beautiful . . . She believes playing strong, passionate characters will help women change their body image perceptions . . . "Beauty is like a Ferrari because you have got to know how to drive it. Beauty can serve you if you know how to deal with it. . .”
Wonderfully stated.
Conceptualizing a Voluptuous Woman Within a Thin Standard
Main Entry:
vo·lup·tu·ous
Pronunciation:
\və-ˈləp(t)-shə-wəs, -shəs\
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Middle English, from Latin voluptuosus, irregular from voluptas pleasure, from volup pleasurable; akin to Greek elpesthai to hope, Latin velle to wish — more at will
Date:
14th century
1 a: full of delight or pleasure to the senses : conducive to or arising from sensuous or sensual gratification : luxurious
synonyms see sensuous
— vo·lup·tu·ous·ly adverb
— vo·lup·tu·ous·ness noun
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Somehow, over time, the term "voluptuous" evolved from the above definition that was used as a pleasant description for the female mystique and beautiful curves to just another way of saying “fat.” An example of this transition is a situation in which a girl was talking about one of my friends to a guy and described my friend to him as “voluptuous,” and he immediately responded, “Oh…she’s fat.” Not only did this offend my friend when she heard about the situation, but it also offended my own personal understanding of the term “voluptuous.” How is it that in today’s day and age where women are running to plastic surgeons for breast and butt implants, we still find the term voluptuous to be an offensive and/or negative term?
A few days after my friend told me about this story, I was watching "Good Morning America" and one of the top Victoria’s Secret models, the stunning Marisa Miller, came on to be interviewed and disclosed the fact that she is considered a “curvy model” in the modeling industry – to the astonishment of Diane Sawyer, who could not believe that this model was categorized as “curvy" (she must have also considered the term "curvy" to mean "voluptuous"/"fat").
Her measurements, as listed by Wikipedia, are 34D-23-35 (US), 5 feet, 8 inches tall. I understand that she has a larger-than-the-norm breast size for the modeling industry, but labeling Ms. Miller as "curvy" is quite strange in my opinion - she is incredibly thin, and yet, the modeling industry chooses to call her curvy because she does not fit into the standard of non-breast/non-butt that the modeling industry chooses to promote and blast across magazine pages every month.
The more important question I have now is – do you accept what you see? I hope the answer is yes. And if it is not - I truly do hope that at some point, you will accept your body and your beauty overall.
One of the reasons why I created this blog is because I wanted to encourage women to accept themselves and celebrate their unique beauty. So if you have curves, I say rock them! Be comfortable in your own skin. Dove’s national campaigns about accepting your own natural beauty and the show “Do I Look Good Naked?” are relatively recent nation-wide additions to the subtle yet powerful underground revolution against the “unhealthy skinny” prototype that has been promulgated by the modeling industry down women’s throats, as if to say that curvy women must accept that their bodies are considerably second-class to the thin prototypes found in high fashion magazines.
I disagree. It’s time to stop chastising the curvy female form – no matter what size it comes in – and start celebrating what we have naturally been given – and celebrate the fact that it is a wonderful thing to have curve – and it is a major compliment to be considered “curvy.”
