Feeling confident in your body and appearance is a ‘skill’ that takes practice, especially when you’re recovering from illness, injury or are unhappy with your size. These three things can often impact how confident you feel when wearing certain clothes.
Presenter and TV star Emma Willis recently launched her own body-inclusive fashion range with retailer Next. We were given access to the exclusive interview.
The collection is available from sizes 6-22 and has broad appeal not only for different sizes but ages too; indeed, this desire to create something that inspires body confidence was very important to Emma:
“I’ve learned that just because you think something is going to work, doesn’t mean that it will. And if it works on your body, it may not work on anybody else’s so that was really at the forefront of our minds when putting all the pieces together.”
In her desire to help women feel confident in their bodies (something which often goes hand in hand with comfortability, as stated by the TV star in a recent interview*), she has strived to create clothing which is versatile and appealing to a large number of women –independent of their age and size. (*Interview link: https://youtu.be/grWXTMMWQUw)
With so many brands starting to factor in the importance of feeling body confident, it’s easier now more than ever to channel body confidence through fashion as well as in the gym. Here are some tips for feeling more comfortable in your clothing:
Tip 1: Wear clothes that make you feel comfortable. If it’s not in your nature to wear skirts, don’t feel obliged to. As previously mentioned, Emma feels that comfort often goes hand in hand with confidence, so it’s important to work out which clothes make you feel good and then shape your wardrobe accordingly.
If there’s one place people often struggle to feel confident with their bodies, it’s on the beach. Nevertheless, opting for beachwear and swimwear which you’re comfortable wearing (whether that’s swim shorts instead of speedos or a swimming costume instead of a bikini) is vital.
The individual pieces from Emma’s beach collection offer moderate coverage and can be mixed and matched depending on the wearer’s tastes – ensuring comfortability and confidence when soaking up the sun.
Tip 2: Seek advice from others to decide what suits you. If you’re not sure which styles suit you, try on different outfits and ask close friends or family how they look.
Sometimes it helps to get another person’s opinion, since our inner self-talk can sometimes mislead us and make us feel like a certain garment makes us look too “fat” or too “frumpy” when in reality, that’s not what other people see.
Talking to personal shoppers and shop assistants can also be beneficial, since they are experienced in their field and potentially know a lot more about styles and trends than you.
Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to ask for a little help. During the design process of her collection, Emma sought the counsel of her stylist throughout:
“I work really closely with my stylist and have done for a long time and she is like a wizard with clothes. Of course, there were designers too and we had to take a steer from them, as they know exactly what they’re doing and what their customer likes.”
Tip 3: Try power dressing for work. Sometimes dressing up for important meetings, work trips or interviews can, in turn, make you feel more confident. Consequently, you might perform better and be perceived more positively by those around you. Again however, if you don’t feel comfortable wearing a suit or a smart dress, don’t worry too much about this. The most important thing is that you are comfortable.
Tip 4: Try to emulate the style of someone else who is confident. Whether that’s a friend, celebrity or colleague, it’s worth seeing what’s working for them and trying to copy it.
It might be that a colleague wears high-waisted trousers a lot, accentuating their curves, or another colleague might team blazers with jeans to give that smart-casual look which many offices favour now.
Whatever it is that they’re wearing and is giving them the look of a confident, on-the-ball individual, it’s worth seeing if the same styles work on you too.
The impact a piece of clothing can have on body confidence is huge; the slightest addition to an outfit can help boost self-esteem. For Emma, the double-breasted jacket does just this:
“I’m hoping that everybody can and will wear the range. It’s quite classic in the way it looks –it’s not loud and out there, it’s quite simple and has that masculine/feminine feel, which I think is really easy to wear. And really I just hope that it has broad appeal for age and size… And I love the navy double-breasted jacket – it makes me feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.”
Mastering body confidence takes time and there is no overnight fix. However, with the right mind-set and a few of the tips and tricks above firmly under your belt, you can definitely speed up your journey to feeling more body positive and confident. Emma Willis has also given her secrets to maintaining her fitness and preparing form the summer months from a fitness perspective. You can read our breakdown on her advice and how you can start to achieve your body goals >here