Body Confidence- With Zoë T!

Ahhh body confidence… an age old struggle.

I’ve known Zoë for basically my whole life. We grew up in the same environment and witnessed each other’s awkward phases, biggest triumphs and lowest moments emotionally.

For the last few months we have been talking about doing a collaboration, and finally the day has come.

We chose the issue of body confidence as it’s one of the things we’ve both struggled with in recent years, but is also something we’ve managed to build up over time. With everything happening in the media, we figured now would be a better time than ever to get this out there. We also filmed a Winter lookbook on Zoë’s YouTube channel which you can watch here.

Insecurity

Zoe

As of right now, I have days where I’m very insecure about certain things and days where I am not. To name a few, I struggle with the way my ears look, and how small my wrists and ankles are.

I was quite badly bullied for my body type- tall and skinny. I have naturally small bones so that’s not exactly a help when it comes to body shaming. More so primary school and the beginning of high school people would pick on me for it unfortunately.

My self esteem has seen it’s ups and downs, and my confidence has changed over time. But I’ve learned to accept who I am more with the help of my friends and family.

I definitely wouldn’t say I’m confident 24/7. I have days where I just hate and pick on myself. For me, it’s a day to day learning process.

Claire

As a child and in my early teens, I never struggled with confidence. I was mildly bullied for certain physical attributes but I simply ignored it and went about my day without a care.

As I got older, that all came crashing down. Being a year younger than my peers, I felt like I was lagging behind everyone in terms of becoming a woman, but then all of a sudden my body changed completely and I was very insecure about it.

Being curvier, opinions about my body were divided. A select few had negative things to say behind my back which did make me quite upset. But the majority of people either celebrated my shape/took no notice, or made kind comments with an undertone of jealousy.

As of right now, I’m doing pretty well. Comments mostly fly over my head like they did when I was younger but there are certainly days where I hole up in my room and cry it out. I mainly struggle with my broad shoulders and hip area, but like Taylor Swift, I shake it off.

Icons

Zoe

I identify with a few celebrities/characters in terms of body type and style.

In particular, there is a model named Zoe Hoad. She is quite tall and slim. She is a tad slimmer than me but that’s what gives me confidence! She accepts who she is and isn’t afraid to show herself.

Claire

Growing up, there wasn’t a great deal of people with my body type in the media, so that was something I used to struggle with. But now that people with varying body types are celebrated, it’s much easier to find people to identify with.

In particular, I draw inspiration from people like Beyoncé, Tanya Burr, and Khloe Kardashian as even though we’re all different, we do have similar body types. They all rock what they have and don’t care what anyone has to say which really inspires me to wear what I want and feel fierce.

Inspiration

Zoe

I have quite a lot of different style icons that I draw inspiration from when it comes to fashion.

For quite a while it was Joe Sugg and Justin Bieber. Yes, I know they’re both males but who cares!

I draw inspiration from other people all the time but right now I have a look of my own and go with the flow.

Claire

Like Zoë, I do draw inspiration from quite a few different celebrities. Beyoncé, Perrie Edwards, Zoe Sugg, Vanessa Hudgens and Lucy and Lydia Connell just to name a few.

In saying that, I also draw inspiration from random people on the street and the world around me. I don’t necessarily follow trends at all, but I do love a good style steal.

I wear what I like, and what I feel is somewhat flattering. I go for either boho, edgy, or ‘classy’ looks but I always put my personal spin on what I wear.

Fitness?

Zoe

As far as my opinions on using diets/fitness to be confident go, I’ll try and keep this as short as possible.

This is a big issue in today’s world- the whole image of fitness and dieting.

You don’t need to be toned or have abs to be fit and healthy. Just eat fresh and regularly exercise guys! If YOU feel good then great!

You don’t need all these fancy foods, fashion and equipment. But don’t get me wrong, if you want to do that then I’m not stopping you.

Claire

I think there is a very fine line between what I call living before or behind the lens (I’m planning on doing a whole post about this). I don’t believe in all of this ‘fitspiration’ and ‘juice cleanse’ and ‘health challenge’ stuff. I’m no dietician so I honestly don’t know what I’m talking about, but I don’t think being fit and healthy comes from posting before and after photos on social media.

Of course, being healthy is very important, but I think we’re all too caught up in trying to fit this very particular body type which is unattainable for 90% of the human race.

But in saying that, do what you want- it’s not up to me to tell you how to live your life. All I ask is that you ask yourself “am I doing this for me? Or am I doing this to show everyone else?”.

Daily Rituals

Zoe

I find comfort in the little things.

Music makes me feel super confident, and is generally a big part of me.

I also watch my favourite YouTubers almost every day. They put a smile on my face and boost the confidence in me which allows me to be myself.

Claire

Like I said in my ‘How to be Happy’ blog post, I have quite a few daily rituals that help me to feel confident and emotionally centred.

I love writing and photography as it’s a creative outlet that helps me to build myself up, but music is something that provides me with a superb amount of confidence. I love listening to people like Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran and One Direction when I’m down in the dumps as they build my self esteem back up. But when I want to feel super confident and fierce, I listen to Beyonce and Little Mix. They bring out my inner sass!

Makeup

Zoe

Makeup is often used as a tool for generating confidence.

I’m a victim of thinking you need makeup to be pretty, and I still think that about myself sometimes. I rarely go out without putting it on.

It’s to the point where I’m more used to seeing myself with it than without it.

You don’t need it to be pretty… that’s that! But I’m learning.

Claire

Being someone who has struggled with severe acne in the past, I have never worn makeup for more than 3 days consecutively. I was so used to being told not to wear it daily so my skin wouldn’t get worse that it’s kind of just stuck with me.

With that being said I LOVE dramatic makeup as it makes me feel super confident. However I don’t wear any makeup unless I’m going out somewhere other than work or University. It’s all or nothing when it comes to makeup for me.

But I’m not opposed to it at all. If it makes you feel good about yourself, there’s nothing wrong with wearing it. And if you come across any guy who says ‘take a girl swimming on the first date’, sass him on my behalf.

Tips

Zoe

Remember that every person in the world is different. No one is the same. Imagine if everyone looked the same! How boring!

Everyone is unique in their own special way and that’s exactly how you have to look at it. Who cares what haters say?

I’ve had my fair share of bullying over the years because of my body type, and yes it put me down- but you have to take that and rise up from it! I know it’s hard but look at yourself as YOU, not anyone else.

Biggest tip- DO NOT compare yourself to anyone.

Claire

My biggest tip is to be optimistically realistic.

The first step to being confident is accepting yourself as you are- including the way you look.

Be thankful for what you have. I look at girls who are much taller and much slimmer than I am and constantly think “I wish I looked like that!”. But by the same token, some of those girls may look at me and think “I wish I was curvier!”.

We constantly want what we don’t have which is quite unhealthy. So instead of looking at the body you have as a burden, look at it as a blessing.

Everyone is beautiful in their own special way. So stop comparing yourself to others and put your chin up, smile, and shake what your mama gave ya!

Lookbook

The outfits included in this post were strategically chosen by us to challenge traditional clothing conventions and to empower other men and women to wear whatever they want- regardless of the way they look. If you’re happy, confident and comfortable, that’s all that matters.

Zoe

I really don’t like hats so it was a bit hard to wear that and I’m not a dress fan either. They were my two main struggles!

Everyone is scared to mix brands. I mixed Nike and Adidas together. Which, mind you, I really hate doing myself!

You don’t have to dress like you’re a model all the time. Just be your real, true self.

I just wanted to create looks that made me feel happy and confident in myself.

Claire

In terms of finding flattering items, Winter fashion is something I struggle with, being that everything is generally very baggy.

I have quite broad shoulders and hips but my waist and ribcage is quite narrow by comparison so in Winter I feel like I look like a bit of a blob.

I really tried to challenge myself and threw caution to the wind here. I did some double denim, a crop top and a bodycon dress which I generally find very nerve wracking to wear. But it ended up being super liberating. Still look a bit blobby, but quite honestly, I really don’t care!

I dress for me, and if people don’t like the way I look, they can look somewhere else.

Zoe

My current favourite quote:

‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’- Albert Einstein

Remember that!

Claire

And mine:

‘We all have our imperfections. But I’m human. And you know, it’s important to concentrate on other qualities besides outer beauty.’- Beyoncé

 

 

And there we have it!

Be sure to check out the lookbook on Zoë’s channel and follow her on twitter.

My links are below as always, and business enquires to altvogue@outlook.com. You can also now sign up for my newsletter to have my posts emailed to you without having to sign up for a wordpress account if that tickles your fancy.

 

Stay rad x.