A while back I had the privilige of talking to the wonderful Franca of Oranges and Apples about her views on body image - here's what she has to say!
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your blog!
I love colours and creativity in all its guises. I would describe my blog as a personal style/craft blog: I post about my outfits, my knitting, charity shop finds, art, design and photography inspiration and I try to do a bit of thinking about the ethics of fashion too.
You must be pretty confident in your body to post as many outfit shots as you do - have you ever felt insecure about this?
I don't think I've ever felt insecure when I was posting. I was quite old by the time I started posting (to the wardrobe remix group on flickr initially) and by then I had worked through the body insecurities I had when I was younger. Although saying that, iIm not actually that confident in my body, I have the same worries about the size of my thighs or whatever as anyone, but I am pretty confident in my style and ability to choose clothes that make me look good and are right for my body. Also, when you post outfit pictures, you can choose the best pictures, and if I really thought an outfit made my body look terrible, I just wouldn't post. Or take pictures in the first place, since I only post what I love and am proud of - my blog isn't a place for daily outfit pics.
...or recieved negative comments about it?
To be honest, I don't think I have. On my blog, everyone is really positive. I've very occassionally got negative comments about my clothes on flickr, but not my body.
How do you find so many different outfits every day?
Like I said above, I don't post every day. I typically post only one or two outfits a week, usually from the weekend. I want to make sure that whatever I do post is something that I am proud of and that is interesting and different from what I have worn before. I do put a fair amount of thought into those outfits, I just enjoy thinking of new combinations, it's the little daydreams I have while sitting on the bus or climbing stairs. During the week I usually wear nice, but not particularly interesting office clothes, and I repeat outfits all the time. I just don't post them.
What advice would you have to anyone who is feelign insecure about their body?
I think it really helps to focus on all the things your body does for you every day, like hold you upright, let you walk places, pick things up etc., that have nothing to do with how it looks. We take them for granted, but just imagine how much harder life would be if you couldn't do all these things! I'm not at all one of those people that says 'love your belly' or anything, but I do think we need to appreciate the functional mechanics of it much more. Our bodies are awe-inspiring machines, really! I've found that thinking about it this way puts in perspective the worries about our bodies' appearance.
The other advice is to find a form of exercise that you love. I hated PE at school because I can't hit a ball to save my life, and all throughout my late teens and early twenties, the exercise I did was all going to the gym type stuff, which I did to control my weight, but didn't really enjoy, so it became just another thing to worry about. Now I do lots of yoga and swing dancing, and its so different! I enjoy that for itself, and the calorie-burning thing is secondary. The right kind of exercise makes such a big difference, because it makes you feel great, you become more in control of your body, so it stops being this thing to love or hate and starts being a part of yourself. And you discover all these things it can do! Which kind of links back to my other point about bodies being practical tools - my thights might not look very nice at all, but they are strong!
Do you have any advice about confidence and body image to offer?
I've struggled with disordered eating and over-exercising as a teenager and in my very early twenties, and my personal experience has been that body issues have been a result of an underlying issue in other parts of my life. It has been much better for me to put the effort into sorting out these other areas rather than trying to overcome my issues by working on my body through changing my diet exercise etc. As I've become more confident and in control in my relationships, education, career etc, I've naturally become more confident in my body, without ever directly doing anything about that specifically. That's been my experience anyway.
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