Happy Thursday everyone, I hope you all are having a great week and for my American friends, I hope you had an awesome 4th of July, it certainly was a beautiful day! Today’s post is the next instalment in my series “Soul to Skin – An Exposé on Fat Love”. This entire series is personal for me but this particular post is going to be tough for me to share so I hope you read it and find solace in knowing that you are not alone.
One of the number one questions I get asked is how am I so confident? I always say that it is a constant journey and I have bad days too. The reality is no matter where you are on your self love journey you are never going to feel perfect 100% of the time and that is totally normal. Learning to love yourself is about what you do to move past the moments of self doubt and not dwell on them. It’s about celebrating what you do love. When Lane Bryant launched their latest Cacique Seriously Sexy collection, I immediately fell in love with this black and white set that features this floral tropical print that reminded me of the sunny destinations I have visited over the years. It’s soft and feminine but at the same time bold and sexy.
I knew that when Cacique, available exclusively at Lane Bryant graciously agreed to be a part of my anniversary celebrations that this was the set I was going to feature. The only problem? I was pretty nervous about showing this much skin. The panties only came in a cheeky version with strappy details in the back. I genuinely love my booty but I knew that this style could be pretty revealing for me in that they are low cut and and well cheeky! I was also a little nervous because sometimes a size 26/28 doesn’t quite fit me in bottoms at Lane Bryant. I will be honest I am most comfortable in a high cut leg brief. I know, boring right lol? So when the package arrived I tried them on and thankfully they fit perfectly and I was feeling pretty good. But the real moment of truth came when Katie was done with my hair & make up and I put on the full ensemble. That was because I hadn’t gone there when I first tried it on for fit. I remember standing in the mirror looking at myself and questioning if I could do it. This set emphasized not only my thighs which I have come to accept with time but it also really emphasized something I am still not completely comfortable with and that is my apron belly and the pouch I have above my belly button. Whatever angle I turned there was no hiding it, it was there and it was going to be photographed for the world to see.
But after a few minutes of standing there I had a very clear moment where I knew that I had to take this step forward in my journey. One of the major reasons I decided to do this series was because in my quest to promote body and size diversity and see more representation in the media I realized that not only is there limited imagery of girls above a size 24 period this is particularly true for lingerie. And when you do see imagery of someone my size in lingerie I find it to be very sexualized. I wanted to show that we are beautiful and that we can wear beautiful lingerie and feel sexy and pretty, and have a full arrange of emotions. And damn it you can do it for yourself and/or your partner!
I walked away from that mirror and tackled my fear head on. Sure at first it was scary but after those first initial moments of hearing the click of the camera I became free to be me. Free to enjoy how this lingerie made me feel, free to inhabit my body and love it for what it can do and free to accept my stomach for what it is. Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a world where images like this were the norm? A world where you could go to the website of any plus size retailer and see what the clothes would look like on your body? When I was choosing what photos to have edited of this look I was with my good friend Sarah and while I sat there I admitted that I was uncomfortable with my stomach and certain angles and that it was hard for me to look at. She said something absolutely amazing to me that will stick with me forever. She said Lisa this is exactly why we need images like these, so that women who also struggle with their bodies can see that it is okay to have “flaws”. You don’t have to look like the size o or the size 12 model with the flat stomach to wear sexy lingerie. And you know what? She was absolutely right. If one woman sees an image of me in this and says I can wear that too then I will have achieved my goal. Feeling sexy is definitely a state of mind and I truly believe that feeling needs to come from within.
A couple of fit and detail notes on this set. The robe is light and airy and perfect for the warm weather with its short sleeves. I am wearing the size 26/28 and I can do the robe up. But I could always do with a little more room in the hips. The bra has a front closure with the unique strappy back detail that matches the panties. It is the classic Cacique (available exclusively at Lane Bryant) boost plunge style so it provides great support and cleavage. And it is perfect for low cut necklines. And this bra is available up to an H cup. I am wearing a 44H which let me tell you is a hard size to find! I loved all the details like the lace, the little bows and the gold hardware. I have some great news for you too, this bra is also seriously on a major sale right now since Lane Bryant is having it’s semi annual clearance event. There is also a matching chemise to this set that I also provided the link to below.
I will leave you with a final thought. Imagine a world where we were not taught to compare ourselves to one another, where there wasn’t a “normal” or a specific type of beauty to strive for. Instead we were taught the importance of self love from birth, we were taught to celebrate and embrace our differences and the only person we strived to be was ourselves. Now that would be amazing.
This lingerie set was gifted to me care of Cacique, available exclusively at Lane Bryant but as always all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links from which I may earn a small commission if you choose to buy something. This helps me to keep the blog going and to continue to bring you quality content.
Thank you to Katie of Katiuska Idrovo Photography for the experience of a lifetime. I love that you see the beauty in women of all shapes and sizes.
Robe by LANE BRYANT | Bra by LANE BRYANT | Panties by LANE BRYANT | Chemise by LANE BRYANT | Earrings by H&M |
