I love a bit of Queen. I mean, who doesn’t?

For decades they wowed crowds with their musical prowess and lyrical skills and earned them many dedicated fans.

I can’t admit to being one of those initially as when Bohemian Rhapsody came out I was only 1 year old, however I have loved many of their songs over the years.

SO, what the hell has got that to do with plus size living, body confidence and me?

Well, stick with this blog and I will do my best to explain.

Since writing my first blog five years ago I have had a pretty good time of it. Lots of adventures and new experiences and I have loved it.

Over that time I have received hundreds and hundreds of messages, instagram comments and facebook messages from women who have followed and read my posts and blogs.

I find it really hard to accept when they use comments such as ‘inspiring’  ‘aspirational’ ‘stunningly beautiful’ and the biggest one ‘How they wish they could dress like me and have my confidence’

Natural Hair and Face

Hearing this is hard for quite a few reasons.

One of those is that it is simply not the British way; we don’t take compliments, especially from strangers very well! There is always a modicum of embarrassment about the whole thing, even though it is so lovely for people to take the time to do it.

Secondly it took many years of unhappiness in my looks and size to get to this point and it wasn’t easy.

However, the third is that in many ways I feel a bit of a fake.

In this day and age of Social Media it is very easy to post the good stuff that is happening in your life, the best selfies, the holidays, the food or even your latest purchase.

No Filters would sort this out!!!

Filters, photoshop and editing make this even easier and sadly this can lead to some unrealistic ideas and images that people get.

Let me ask you this…

How often do you post a rubbish, sweaty, messy photo of yourself on your SM? Or do you wait until you get a great shot, lovely hair and make-up and a great background?

Be truthful now.

Getting Curlier

And that goes the same for a lot of bloggers and innovators.

I can be fully truthful when it comes to photo editing; maybe 1% of the photos I post have some sort of filter on them and that is because I usually forget to do it!

I never photoshop them as I don’t have the programme OR know how to use it.

Does this make me some marvellous wonder? Not in the slightest.

It does however add to my Queen analogy.

Recently I went to Birmingham for a photoshoot with the amazing Lynsey Le Keux. This was a joint present for Boo and I and we had such an amazing time.

Making a Start!

The night before I travelled up, I had an idea in the middle of the night.

I wanted to do an homage to Queen and also show that a lot of Social Media is all smoke and mirrors. Make up artists and hairdressers preen and primp and make you look stunning.

Camera angles are checked, lighting set to catch the best light and poses struck to get the best possible shot.

And this is absolutely fantastic. I am all for making the best of yourself and boosting your own confidence with some brilliant photos.

But for me, this time I wanted to show that underneath all that beautifying, there is a normal everyday person.

Someone that chills out in her pyjamas, with rats nest hair and no makeup. Someone who walks the dog in a slouchy dress, socks and shoes. Someone who actually goes out to work with a bare face.

Totally natural

Some people may think that is even more inspirational in the day and age of looking good all the time, however I just don’t have the time or the energy to devote to it every day.

No Words….

Now, initially when I had booked the shoot I knew there were only so many changes of clothing that could be done, which is natural.

So, to use one of them for my Queen project meant that I would be possibly ‘wasting’ the chance to get some stunning photos all glammed up.

I felt really strongly about this though so when we arrived at the Salon, I told Lynsey of my idea and she was really eager to run with it!

My basic idea was to use the Kitchen set, dress in my nightie and have no makeup on. Lynsey suggested putting some rollers in the front of my hair and a headscarf, just like Brian May in the famous video.

I let her do her thing and I have to say I was thrilled with the results. She ended up taking a lot of photographs and I found it really hard to choose from them.

A few looked like they were from a vintage edition of ‘Readers Wives’ which gave me a bit of a giggle, so I discarded them straight away.

Eventually I only chose a couple of the professional images as I wanted to save my pennies for more of the glammed up photos.

However, I really wanted to share these with everyone to show that even without hair, makeup and a stunning outfit, that you can be beautiful au naturel.

Cheeky!

Confidence is not always based on your looks or style. It is just about being happy within yourself and your choices.

If you like the clothing you have put on, what does anyone else’s opinion matter? If you are happy scragging your hair back in a ponytail when going to do the weekly shop, go for it. If you don’t feel the need to shave your legs, armpits or lady-garden, then it is absolutely fine.

I Want To Break Free

Don’t worry about society and its ideals. These are impossible to live up to for most people and also, why would you aspire to be someone else?

As the inimitable Dr Seuss says

‘Today You are You, That is truer than true, There is No-one alive who is Youer than You’

Perfectly said I think.

Or in today’s society, more briefly put…

You DO You!

Till next time

SPSG xxx