I’m writing this in anticipation of going wedding dress shopping. Hopefully by the time it is published, I will have already found “the dress.”
For a while now I have believed that my fat body isn’t a bad thing, that I’m allowed to take up space, I’m allowed to live without limitations because of my size. For even longer, I’ve used my personal style to express many things about me: my femininity, creativity, mood, etc. That is why wedding dress shopping hasn’t seemed like such a daunting task too me as I’ve seen it portrayed on that one TLC show more than a few times. The thing that I have feared the most is not being able to have a wide variety of options to choose from, luckily for me, I will be venturing to an all plus size wedding dress boutique in Indianapolis with over 400 sample sizes in stock whereas most other wedding shops have 50 and below plus size options to choose from. I am grateful for the opportunity to have a wide selection of dresses to choose from. I honestly have no idea what style or fabric or color I’ll end up with…that’s why this is part 1.
I was showing someone close to me the dresses that I had seen on the boutique’s website that caught my attention. When we came across one of my favorites they said they thought the style would make me “look bigger than I really am.” Well, I hate to break it to y’all, but I’m big. I know that the person didn’t mean any harm from this comment and if I were a teenager that would have made me upset. Now I know that I can rock a mermaid or trumpet style like that dress in the picture, the same way I rock my pencil skirts at the office. Or I can look and feel stunning in a ball gown with lots of tulle. Basically I am trying to say that I’m not going to let the expectation and stigma of my size rule the mindset I have while wedding dress shopping. I am taking a body positive approach to wedding dress shopping and I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to shop all plus size options at a boutique only a couple of hours away.
As for Part 2 of the Plus Size Bride series, I will be discussing how to reinforce that positive mindset and affirmations that will get me through the process as well as how certain styles and fabrics worked and didn’t work for me and how I narrowed it down to the perfect dress.
Xo,
Shelby
Can you relate? Read more #FleurDeFat w/ Shelby and learn to love your body at every size!