




It’s the only body you’ll ever have. Treat it with respect. Dress it so it’s comfortable and you are flattering it.
Our bodies change with age. They don’t remain youthful all our lives and many women struggle with this fact as they age. They had learned how to dress the body they once had, but when it changes it can be really hard to have to learn a whole new set of rules (and also to love that body).
Embrace the body you have today. If you’re feeling like you’re short, fat, middle-aged and unattractive, try and change your perspective about your body, it’s keeping you alive and letting you do all the things you do each day! Appreciate it.

Everybody can be dressed in a way the expresses the personality of its owner and enhances it. There is no “one” best shape or size of body that everyone should aspire to.
Take Action:
Write a letter to your body. It’s a great exercise to help you discover all the good things about your body, rather than focusing on what you don’t like (which sadly is what most women do, most of the time).
Go shopping (without planning on buying) and try on clothes that you might not have tried on in the past. See how different shapes and styles look on you.
Do my Body Shape Calculator quiz and download your Body Shape Bible to discover more about how to flatter the figure you have today.
Further Reading:
Here is a great post on Already Pretty discussing just how much energy it takes to constantly berate yourself over your ‘imperfect body’. I bet you’d never thought about it from this angle.
Fake Fabulous has some great tips on how to become more body confident.
Not Dead Yet Style has a brilliant post about how to talk to yourself and love your body.
How to feel confident with your body in an interview on 40+ Style
And to give you some inspiration to be bolder with your dressing choices check out this post by Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb.
What are your tips on embracing the body you have today?






I had high hopes for this post and the blogs you linked to — yet, not one of the women featured has anything but a slender, perfect body that is still easy to dress. Why not show women who are overweight and still manage to feel confident and attractive? That’s the reality, at least in the U.S.!
Hi Bette – all these blog posts were about body image, and nothing to do with the appearance of the person who wrote it. I’m happy to link to anyone who has relevant materials. The interneet is a big place and I don’t know all the resources out there.
Hey Bette, I feel your frustration because I’ve been there. Pop over to my blog if you get a minute and see how my apple-shaped, big-busted, 48 year old body is rockin’ fashion!
Julia
http://www.whenthegirlsrule.com
Hi Imogen and Bette,
Here is a link to a blogger/ stylist who is also plus -sized that illustrates how very body confident she is:
http://www.wardrobeoxygen.com/2016/03/swimsuit-review-large-bust-soft-curves.html
I agree with Bette about the difficulty in relating to some of the bloggers out there, but there are lots to choose from, so if I find that one is not helpful, or causes me to feel inadequate or whatever, I just don’t go there.
Last year, for example, there was some push-back on the blogosphere to dressing according to your body type. I think that in part, this was due to the fashion media’s message: you are flawed, and you need us to tell you what techniques, what clothes, what procedures you need to purchase to achieve true perfection. Well, no, that’s not true, as they say, “It’s not you, it’s the pants.” If the fashion industry made clothes for all women, most of whom don’t have the physique of an adolescent boy who has just gone through his growth spurt (my take on who fashion designers actually design for), then it would be easier to find clothing that looks on us the way they were intended to look by the designer.
Also, these complaints seemed to come from essentially fat-free 20-somethings with standard range proportions. Such women can much more easily find off the rack clothing that looks good on them, and can usually be able to pull off even the most frivolous and costumey of outfits. Older women, in particular, who need to be taken seriously, simply don’t have as much leeway.
However, I still say, true beauty comes in all shapes, and really, we need to tune out (and this continues to be a struggle for me) the messages from the media that that is only one ideal shape, and therefore, all of our efforts must go into torturing ourselves, if necessary, to achieve the unachievable, when really, you look lovely as you are.
Thanks Anne – yes I’ve featured Alison from Wardrobe Oxygen on the blog before in a Stylish Thoughts post!
Love your blog and the video is fantastic…I sure wish I could get brave enough to do one! I am embracing my body ..I am 51 and embracing style more than ever! Thank for the great words!!
Best!
Valerie
I really love this post! It is so easy to get lost in the past or future body of our dreams and forget to just enjoy the one we are living in right now.
Love this post and video!
It’s easy to get discouraged about body changes as we age. But reminding us to focus on what our bodies have done for us, and can still do, is brilliant!
Thanks, Imogen!
A great reminder to us to focus on what we do have rather than what we don’t as this is just wasted energy!
Thank you for this beautiful post. It was much needed today! I really appreciate and love this perspective.
I agree completely! As an apple-shaped woman, 48 yrs old and with a big bust it was hard to find bloggers who looked like me, let alone clothes that worked for my shape. They were either young and plus-size or my age and slim. But, I figured out how to dress flatteringly for my shape and to feel confident in my clothes again and because I saw there was a lack of blogs for my shape I started my own! I’d love for you to pop over!
Julia
http://www.whenthegirlsrule.com
Julia and Anne, thank you! I subscribed to both! And Imogen, thank you again for such a thoughtful blog. I look forward to and enjoy every one of your posts.