Monday fashion inspirations - body confidence

I don't live in UK and I don't own a cable TV package (I actually watch TV very rarely), but I watch a lot of Brittish TV for my freelance projects.

And I have to admit that I'm a huge fan of Gok Wan. It's not a post about him, but I have to menthion his name a few times. I do believe that he's doing a great job at helping people feel good about themselves. And I'm not talking about women on his show - I've been working in showbiz for far to long to believe in genuine reality TV. I'm talking about women who watch his show and who, I hope, start feelinig a little bit more confident in themselves.

I know that there are lots and lots of different opinions about Gok and his work, but I really like him. I always watch How To Look Good Naked when I have a chance, and I really liked his TV documentary Too Fat Too Young which I watched a few days ago.

I think the topic of this movie is very important and everyone needs to see it. Gok is talking about his fight with obesity, about constant bullying which he suffered at school for being fat, gay and Asian at the same time, about being so unhappy about himself that it brought him to the vicious circle when you eat, you feel unhappy about yourself, and you start eating more to make yourself feeling better.

It is a huge problem for young kids as well as for adult people. I personally was very unhappy about myself in primary and secondary school - I was slightly overweight (some may say that I'm still overweight but I honestly don't care), I had no friends and I was to open and kind for everyone to mock and bully me. And I do think that the main reason for this wasn't my weight or size. I just didn't like myself then and cruel children weren't helping.

So maybe that's why I liked Miss Naked Beauty, the other one of Gok's shows, so much. It's not perfect, it had it faults and at times it looked a bit cheap (finale was really cheap and awkward - just my oipnion). But at the same time this show is great. Because we, girls, became way too dependent on our make up kits and fake tan. I was really scared a few years ago when I figured out that I don't feel pretty or confident without make up on. And I honestly don't think that it's the way to go. I want to feel beautiful every day and my confidence shouldn't depend on concealer, mascara or lipstic. Because if it is, it's not a confidence, it's self-delusion.

So I really like the idea of beauty contest where girls learn to love themselves the way they are, to appeciate natural beauty, where they have a great tasks of writing articles, talking to people and gathering public opinions on important matters.

And I love Shona Collins. She's beautiful, smart, she has great dress scence (well, I adore her polka dotted dresses amd full skirts) and nice writing style, she's confident in her own skin and helping others to feel confident too. It's such a great feeling - to see a girl with such a nice figure and size 14, who's just happy to be beautiful and healthy.

That's the role model I want my future children to be inspired by. I don't want them to be obsessed with unrealistic images of models, which are airbrushed, photoshoped and altered in every possible way. I want beauty magazines showcasing all sizes of models, because we all are different - we're curvy or skinny, tall and short, we have different shapes of our bodies, lips, noses, breasts. And if we don't look like those girls we now see in magazines, it doesn't mean that we are not beautiful. Because honestly - even those girls don't look like this in real life, they have lots and lots of help.

As for me - I'm 26 years old. For the last 10-12 years I've lost some weight and gained some weight, so as lots of us, girls. And now, when I look at myself in the mirror, I sometimes think that honestly - I could drop a few kilos. I know I'll feel even better if I do. But that doesn't mean that I don't feel good about myself now. And this is the most impornant thing.

I look at the mirror every day and I'm repeating to myself that I'm awesome the way I am. I've been through some tough times in my life, but I refuse to go back there.