Breaking Curvy Fashion Rules with Curvation

I’ve never been a small girl. Even when I was in middle and high school, I was always tall and “thick”. You know what I mean: Hips, thighs, boobs…the whole nine yards. Next to my much smaller and slimmer friends, I grew up feeling like there were some things I just couldn’t wear: Anything form fitted, anything strapless…the list goes on and on.

Even as I went onto college and became an adult, I maintained these ideas about what was and was not acceptable for a woman of my size, which by then was quite a bit larger and firmly in plus-sized territory. It didn’t help that beyond a certain size, finding stylish clothing options was difficult at best, and a complete fail at worst. Designers seemed to buy into all the same messaging delivered to the rest of us: That plus-sized women just shouldn’t wear some things.

It took a long time for me to overcome the mental limitations I had placed on myself and my style over the years. A LONG time. In fact, some of them still plague me to this day, and I have to fight that inner voice when it starts whispering “you can’t wear that.” I’ve finally realized that fashion “rules” mean little, and it’s up to me to decide what makes me feel good. The day I wore the dress above, I was incredibly proud of myself, because I never would’ve considered purchasing it, much less wearing it, a few years ago.

Like my own evolution, plus-sized fashion has come a long way too. More designers are making clothes for the modern curvy woman who wants to flout the rules and dress as she pleases.

Curvation is the type of company that gets this. They make bras for women who understand — or who want to understand — that curvy is not a number, but an attitude. They’ve teamed up with a couple of bloggers who epitomize that concept and whom I really respect, including Tanesha Awasthi of Girl with Curves and Chastity Garner of GarnerStyle.

If you believe fashion rules are made to be broken, no matter your size, join me, Curvation and The Motherhood for the #ShapeofBeauty Twitter party tomorrow, September 18th, at 2 pm ET. Five prizes will be awarded to randomly-selected participants who answer trivia questions correctly. Each prize includes a Walmart gift card and Curvation product.

To win, you must be a resident of the U.S. and over the age of 18.

Party Hosts: @theMotherhood, @CooperMunroe, @EmilyMcKhann, @TheMotherhood25

Co-hosts

• Me! @jennaepetersen on Twitter
• Arianne of Mabel and Riv:  @ariannesegerman
• Beth of Plus Size Mommy: @PlusSizeMommy
• Jennifer of Jenn’s Blah Blah Blog: @SJBlahBlahBlog
• Kelly of Big Curvy Love: @BigCurvyLove
• Lisa of Life with Lisa: @lisasamples
• Mary of Giving Up On Perfect: @MaryCarver
• Piera of Jolly Mom: @JollyMom
• Sherry of Superexhausted: @Babypop
• Ty of Gorgeous in Grey: @gorgeousingrey

In other words, there will be a LOT of women who can share our authentic experiences about embracing our curves and how we’ve learned to ignore the rules the rest of the world would impose on us. Please join us and add to the conversation!

Disclosure: I received compensation from The Motherhood and Curvation for this post and for co-hosting the Twitter party. All opinions and experience shared are completely my own.