The body con challenge

Well I did it...I went shopping yesterday with my family and encouraged by my husband and daughter I not only tried on several bodycon dresses I purchased one.  I suspect my husband was extremely pleased to see me in a figure hugging dress having gotten so used to me in floaty tents...

It was a bit scary...I was expecting to either burst into laughter at how ridiculous I looked or burst into tears at the lumps and bumps the dress would show...

Actually it was quite comfortable and I have to admit to going one dress size up...my actual dress size was VERY figure hugging and I felt a bit like a hooker...no disrespect to ladies of the night but it is not my chosen profession (I would hate to work nights for a start) so I went up a dress size and it fitted very well.

I did have that age old problem of the waist line ridge where your pants/tights end giving the otherwise smooth exterior of the dress a kind of dip but other than going without underwear (yes my husband did suggest it but we are back to the lady of the night scenario again) I don't think there is much I can do about that.

The dress is not my usual style and the question is will I ever wear it out? Apart from the fact I looked like I was going for a job interview at a bank... Actually this wasn't about fashion it was a personal quest/challenge for me to a. try one on b. purchase one and c. put the photos up for people to see...

Now my wibbly wobbly ego worried that people would think I was being vain or attention seeking...maybe there was a bit of the attention seeker in there but for the right reasons.  This is part of my personal journey to accept myself and my body but in sharing my experiences publically I hope to at least in some way help others that are perhaps feeling the same way that I do.

My mind was pondering on this last night and I realised that there was a lot of connection to the stages of womanhood in this.

Maiden - you are young, carefree, healthy and your body is slim, trim and firm and perky in the right places, you have confidence but perhaps not experience.

Mother - your body goes into sudden shock mode at becoming a baby making machine, it is stretched, pushed and pulled in all manner of ways throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding.  It also changes your life completely.  I think you sometimes lose a part of yourself, a bit of your personality and confidence disappears and the children (quite rightly so) become the main priority in your life.  You are no longer just a carefree couple you are parents with responsibilities...and very little privacy!

Matriarch - I think this is the stage I am entering.  The children are growing up and you can claim back a bit of your own inner being and start to focus on yourself a bit more and your relationship. Your body will probably never be the same because by now not only has motherhood taken its toll but age is also doing its bit to send all your body parts towards the ground.  But you have a bit more life experience now and can hopefully take back control...

Crone - these are your years of wisdom and now the ability to be in total control of your own life and what you want to do, basically you can do what you like and if people disapprove you can claim senility...

Being a working mum with two children, a house to run, a job, book writing, Kitchen Witch and all the other stuff that life brings (all of which I love by the way) it is about finding time to discover what and who you want to be and claiming back some 'me' time and some partner time too.

It is not an easy path, it has as many lumps and bumps as my body has but I think I am making headway...