You Can Wear a Wiggle Dress

    Wiggle dresses are so called because they are so form fitting one must wiggle to get into them.  And as innocent and almost silly as a wiggle dress sounds, it causes a lot of distress for many women.  I think it's fair to say that most women do not like their bodies at some point in their lives if not for the entirety of them.  As a woman our bodies are constantly changing and usually in extremes.  I certainly never thought I could or would ever wear a wiggle dress let alone actually love them and the way they look on my shape.  

    There have been times in my life where I've been very heavy and times when I've been very thin.  My chest has run the gambit from A to DD and now is somewhere in between.  I'm small where I'd like to be curvaceous and jiggly where I'd like to be toned and like everyone I have times when I look in the mirror and am discouraged by what I see if not down right depressed. 

Fashion often gets dismissed by people from all walks of life as being unnecessary or vanity, but there is a lot of power in fashion. 

    When we talk about the power of fashion and in particular the well chosen pieces of clothing that  accentuate an individual's best body features and downplay problem areas, it is very much a self-empowerment.  There is a change—mental, emotional, and even physical that occurs when we look in the mirror and like what we see.  The mood is lifted, confidence bolstered, and we walk a little taller, maybe even feeling encouraged to do more with our lives, careers, and relationships.  Vanity comes when empowerment becomes excessive self-love.  Too much of anything can be detrimental, but that doesn't mean it's all bad to feel good about yourself.

    I once read a book on the psychology of weight loss.  The name of the book is gone from my memory, but if I remember it, I'll come back and update this post.  I was struggling with about 30 extra pounds and wanting to do more than just try another fad diet.  Thirty pounds may not sound like a lot, but for someone with my height and small frame, that 30 pounds was significant.  The counselor said that before prescribing an exercise regimen or diet, the first thing she did was ask her patient to get up everyday at a regular time (in other words start a routine and stick to it instead of lying in bed and getting depressed), shower, put on something nice and do her hair and make-up for one month.  Then the patient would return having shored up her self esteem with a little self care and she found that in doing so the patient was mentally more ready to take care of themselves physically with diet and exercise.  It all began with changing her feelings by dressing her best.

    Flash forward to just a few years ago when I tried on a wiggle dress for the first time and to be perfectly honest, I didn't have very high hopes for how it would look on me, but in spite of my initial hesistation, I loved the way it looked on me.  I loved the way I looked in it, and I felt more confidence in that dress than I ever had before.  Now I never shy away from a wiggle dress, even one in bombshell red like this Ruched Maria Dress from FemmeLuxe's Mesh Dress Collection.  FemmeLuxe has tons of sexy dresses, but this dress in particular caught my eye because it has several of really great features that I want to point out.

    I've already mentioned the I'm-not-afraid-to-be-noticed color, but it also is made of a great stretchy fabric which cuts way down on the wiggle factor and makes it more breathable and better conforms to your shape.  Another great thing is the ruching at the sides.  Ruching is the ripple effect created by gathering and stitching fabric at a center point.  In this case the ruching runs along either side of the dress.  If you are a little insecure about your shape, that ripple is wonderful at camouflaging trouble spots particularly in the midsection.  This dress is quite sheer, so I added a slip that has some body shaping stiffness to it which can give that little extra bit of smoothing to the overall look.

    There are so many wonderful types of clothing out there that we tell ourselves for one reason or another we just can't wear, but I really encourage you to try and keep trying.  It's usually less about your inability to wear something and more a matter of finding the right thing for your shape.

Shopping Info: Red Slinky Ruched Split Leg Mesh Maxi Dress - Mariah from: FemmeLuxe