Top: Ann Taylor (gift from my mom)
Bolero: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Target
Booties: Aldo
Bracelets: gift from my uncle
Earrings: gift from my sister-in-law
Crazy face: not sure...
I feel like I'm pulling out the big guns with Dress Your Best Week this year. It's been harder to make my list, but I feel like it's given me a new and improved appreciation for my body. For today? My chest, and trust me when I say that this post might be the hardest (most awkward?) one for me to write.
I got my first training bra in third grade. Third. Grade. And it was not a "let's make you feel all grown up" kind of training bra experience. It was like a "Hey, mom, people at school are asking if I wear a bra" experience. Next thing I knew, we were at JC Penney's picking out 32AAs. In fifth grade, I was the only girl who had to wear a bra every day (and my mom told me it had to be EVERY DAY) which meant I got "plinkied" every time we had a bathroom break. Plinkies were when the other kids snapped the back strap. It was awesome.
By "awesome", I mean "mortifying", of course. Naturally, I was self-conscious because I was a kid who didn't know what to make of her body. As I got older, there were all kinds of rules about what I could and couldn't wear thanks to all I had going on in the front. No tank tops, definitely no spaghetti straps, cardigans or jackets to cover me up, no scoop necks, few v-necks, nothing with an empire waist, no tops with writing across the front, avoid embellishment across the bust, no woven button-up shirts...
That's a lot of rules, especially for a high school kid, which is what I was at the time. Some of those were my parents' rules and some were my own, but it pretty much guaranteed that I had no idea what to do with my top half. I'll readily admit that these days, I'm much more comfortable covering up, but at the time, I felt awkward and ashamed. I mean, I didn't ask for what I had, right?
But I feel like these days I finally have perspective on my chest. For one, I'm just below the national average, which makes me feel way better about my options. For another, I've stopped fighting it. This is the body I have, the only one I have, and I've got a chest that women will literally pay money for. So I thank the sweet Lord for what I've got and move on.
And I'll just go ahead and put some ruffles on 'em to make up for lost time.
Your last line and reading the title after reading the post makes me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI was the same way. I have a horrible memory so I can't remember how old I was when I got my first bra, but I was always the one with the big boobs. Not fun for me. I feel your pain and also your gratefulness now, knowing other women WILL pay big bucks for what I have! :)
Come take a look inside A Working Mom's Closet
i love your shoes
ReplyDeleteI've had many conversations with people fruitlessly trying to explain that girls when they are going through puberty often don't know how to deal with their blossoming/monstrous body...and this post captures that. Incredible amount of rules...which I'd never really thought about before.
ReplyDeleteI understand completely. I was that same girl in third grade, except I had to get glasses and a bra in the same weekend. It was very traumatizing, especially because kids can be so cruel. Luckily, like you, I've learned to embrace them. Now that I'm an adult, I understand that I have what everyone wants (even if I didn't ask for it).
ReplyDeletethe ruffle blouse is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYou have NO IDEA how much i related to this post !
ReplyDeleteIt was almost as I if I had written it :)
I have a Kiku sighting... and cat ?!
You are looking lovely and I am totally INLOVE with those purple hybiscus ! they are hybiscus right?
I've been enjoying the punny titles myself - glad to know they're appreciated. ;)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I can't even say how encouraging it is that I'm not the only one that's been down this road.
Thanks! They are my absolute favorites.
ReplyDeleteYes! I feel like my mom did a really good job of preparing me intellectually, but when it happened, I was just lost.
ReplyDeleteOh, I feel your pain. I had glasses, too, but mine had come along much earlier, so it wasn't a double whammy by any means.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it might be! I've had NO IDEA what that flower is, but I do know I'm in love with it. Hybiscus sounds good to me...
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, that's Kiku and the kitten in the picture is Elefante. I figured if we live in the country, a couple cats would be helpful.
Thanks! I was skeptical at first, but it's grown on me.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand the pains of dressing a larger chest. Even though I've been bustin' out since 5th grade, I was never teased, nor given rules.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest embarrassment over my chest happened a few years ago. Struggling to find a bra that fit, I went to a lingerie shop for a fitting. The woman measured me, I tried on some bras, and eventually she informed me that I was a 30F.
Not that anyone makes that size. I left feeling stressed out and met a friend for coffee at starbucks.
I told the friend what had just gone down.
Moments later a woman across the starbucks stands up, and says very loudly to me, that "The whole Starbucks doesn't want to know your bra size."
(Now, I have no idea how loudly I was speaking, but that shouldn't matter.) I was MORTIFIED. Part of me wanted to lash out, part of me wanted to run out the door, but instead I just froze, and turned beat red.
I was not bragging. Anyone who has to shop and live with annoyingly big breasts knows I would never brag. They are a pain, and often times bras can be downright painful.
Eventually I found ONE style at VS that works for me, but there are so many things I wont and can't wear because of my chest.
Blogging has definitely helped me get past those mental blocks - now I wear horizontal stripes, ruffles, bows, all of it.
If nothing else, big boobs make my waist look smaller.
Also, you look gorgeous in this outfit.
It might be.... i have just never seen them in this color!
ReplyDeleteOkay I don't think anyone of you is as big chested as I am. The style section of My blog is dedicated to dressing and balancing my heavy top
ReplyDeletehttp://beautystyleandgrowth.blogspot.com/2011/06/style-post-how-to-dress-if-youre-top.html