Birthday Dress

Back in January I was participating in the "Just Another Blogging Challenge" and I was talking about a floral dress that I had managed to grab from +Very.co.uk for the bargain price of £17.00.

Sadly this dress is no longer available so this post is a little like "here's what you could have won".  Sorry about that!

Anyhow, this is the picture of the dress as shown by Very at the time:

This is the dress that I chose to wear for my birthday last Saturday and I can honestly say that I have not felt as good in something for ages.  I absolutely adored it.  I am wearing with purple tights from +Yours Clothing and shoes from +schuh.  I'm not sure where the black shrug is from as I have had it forever.

Win a VIP Experience at Marisota This Weekend

In line with the launch of their Shapeology range and the new Ava collection with Mark Heyes, Marisota have set up a series of pop up shops across the country.  Here's what they have to say about it:

 

The stores have been designed to give existing and new customers the opportunity to learn more about Marisota’s Shapeology concept and see it in action. TV super-stylist Mark Heyes and his team of specially trained Shapeologists will be on hand at each location offering one to one ‘Shapeovers’. With ‘magic mirrors’ enabling them to capture their new look and share it instantly with their friends via Facebook, Twitter and Email. They will also be able to print out a copy to take away with them.

 

Each of the pop ups will feature a selection of fashions in sizes 12-32 as well as key accessories, swimwear and shapewear. Customers will be able to order items featured at the events in-store and will be given a special 20% discount AND free home delivery.

 

 

I already love this one!

 

The Shapeology Pop Up Shop tour launches in London (56 Wells Street, W1T 3PT) 13-16 March, before going on to Glasgow (Buchanan Galleries, 220 Buchanan Street, G1 2FF) 20-23 March, Bristol (23 Penn Street, Cabot Circus, BS1 3AU) 25-30 March and Manchester (Arndale Centre) 3-6 April.

Marisota have kindly allowed me to run a competition to coincide with the launch of the Central London pop up shop, offering 5 lucky winners a VIP Marisota experience.

The winners would need to be available to attend the event in central London on either Friday 14th, Saturday 15th or Sunday 16th March. They will be booked in for a Shapeover from our team of Shapology experts (led by TV stylist Mark Heyes). The sessions are: 10am-12pm, 12pm-2pm, 2pm-4pm or 4pm-6pm.

As an added bonus, the 5 VIP winners will also go into a prize draw to win a fantastic £500 worth of vouchers to spend at Marisota.

All you have to do to enter is email marisotaukpopupshop@gmail.com quoting my blog title www.TheCurvedOpinion.com and a contact telephone number to be entered.

Good luck!

 

Confident Women

I heard someone say the other day that women were (and I quote verbatim) “Harping on about confidence and sexism all the time because they want something to moan about”.

For some it seems that because we got the right to vote, moved into the workplace and started to voice our own opinions, that we should somehow be content with our lot.  What I see however is a society that still seeks to control women, just in different ways.

We can vote, but the right to our own bodies is in question.  We can be confident, but that also makes us a bitch.  We can wear what we want, but that we also mean that we are “asking for it”.  We can have a career, but are judged for not staying home with the children. 

One thing we cannot do is be whatever size we want, and dress how we want without the media, trolls on the internet, even total strangers telling us that this is not how we are meant to look.  The ideal must be conformed too.

Society in one form or another is constantly telling us how to be, how to look, how to dress, how to behave.  The quest to look perfect has never been more prevalent then it is now.   It isn’t just men telling us how to look either, the pursuit of the right way to look has gotten so huge that women are doing it to each other.  That’s before you even get into the subject of trolls.

What I have noticed however, over the past year especially, is women pushing back against these constrictions and fighting against them.  Everything from the celebrities who speak out against being airbrushed in magazines, to the #notbuyingit campaign against the objectification of women in advertising, to bloggers of all sizes and shapes sharing their images online and being confident in who they are and what they look like.

I have seen the start of so many confidence journeys in the past year and to watch as their confidence grows is awe inspiring.  Seeing somebody who was previously insecure and under confident blossoming into someone who is sure of herself and happy is a privilege to watch.  There is a message that women are sending out which is gathering speed and is getting louder and louder.  You cannot tell me how I should look.

The 20^th century saw women gain the right to vote and step out from the kitchen.  Maybe the 21^st century will be remembered for women gaining the right to be able to look how they want and be themselves, not the image of what they are told they should be.