Positive Body Image

I wanted to share some striking photos that promote a healthy body image with you :) It is possible to learn to love the body you are in. Above is the Butterfly Foundation one and this is so true: our beauty is not measured by how much we weigh.

My Life In Australia

This is sort of to remind me that I should be happy in Sydney. Yes I dont quite feel myself here and nor do I have friends of my own except at work but I am working on what I set out to do - gain as much experience as possible and become more confident.

So here it is:

Employed by Momentum Promotions,
Fragrance promoter in Myer,
Beat ambassador (overseas),
Volunteer for The Butterfly Foundation,
Writer for My Personal Best web site,
Writer for All Walks Beyond The Catwalk blog,
Author of Showing Recovery Is Possible and A Geordie Girl In Sydney blogs,
Member of Book Club,
Self-promoter of positive body image on Twitter,
Tourist and holiday Rachel,
Studying a fashion course,
Fashion intern with LGN events,
Had work experience with Marie Claire.

Surviving anorexia

An article about me and my struggle with anorexia for my project:

Rachel Cowey was seventeen years old when she nearly died from anorexia. As she enters the final stages of recovery, she shares her story with Teen Vogue.

“I was sixteen when I first started using food as a way to control bad things in my life. If I was sad or thought I had upset somebody else or I hadn’t done exceptionally well at school, I wouldn’t eat. Pretty soon, I had a full blown eating disorder to the point that the thought of food made me sick.
It wasn’t about being thin to me; I wanted to disappear. I thought if I was invisible no body could pick on me anymore and nobody would see how ugly I was.
My family and friends started to worry about me as I lost more and more weight. My dad didn’t understand, he thought I was doing it for attention. My mam was frustrated because she couldn’t find any medical help who would take the situation seriously.
Ironically I only got professional help because of how emaciated I had become. To me though, I was fat; not skinny and I certainly didn’t have anorexia. It took me awhile to admit I had a problem, probably at the same time I looked at photos of myself and realised how ill I was.
The unit stopped my life. There were no beds available so I was made an outpatient under my mam’s 24/7 supervision and care. I couldn’t drive, go to work or college. I couldn’t go out with my friends or go on holiday. It felt like I was being punished for a crime I hadn’t committed. But because I could potentially die at any minute, I couldn’t do anything strenuous.
Recovery was a very long process, with me moving on to adult services along the way. What most people don’t realise is eating disorders are mental illnesses. It wasn’t just weight I had to gain, but to win a battle against the voice in my head.
It took me 18 months to finally decide I wanted to recover and then a further nine months to achieve my target weight. I was discharged last year, with a request from my therapist: she never wants to see me back there!
I am in the last stages of recovery now. Although I lead a typical twenty-something lifestyle and eat normally, occasionally I get very upset and resort to controlling my food intake to make myself feel better.
I do believe recovery is possible. I am now in my fifth year of being a young ambassador for Beat (national charity for eating disorders). We promote the message that eating disorders can be beaten and try to raise awareness. I have given presentations at international conferences and the House of Commons. I regularly give media interviews and am a mentor.
I just want to make something positive out of everything that has happened to me.”

Feature On All Walks Beyond The Catwalk

People are talking about

“In terms of diversity having witnessed, against all odds, a man of colour take residency in the aptly called White House, my hope is – Yes, We CAN.”

Debra Bourne, Co. Founder, All Walks Beyond The Catwalk

Teen Vogue loves powerful women and this statement fills us with hope. So what is All Walks Beyond The Catwalk?

Originally Beat (The national charity for eating disorders), asked the British Fashion Council to create a fashion event about inspiring bodies. The idea was not accepted but Caryn Franklin (fashion expert and TV presenter), Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor decided they could start up something similar: “a high level industry standard concept.”

The message behind All Walks Beyond The Catwalk is that all shapes, sizes and colour are beautiful. They would like more diversity on the catwalk and are creating imagery that reflects these values.

Firstly, there was the i-D shoot and then a launch party at the September ’09 London Fashion Week at Somerset House.

All Walks Beyond The Catwalk knows that the “perfect body” promoted by the fashion industry is not realistic: only two percent of the population can be a supermodel: we are all not 5”10 and a size six.

“Beauty is not a reflection of a perfect set of statistics”

Debra says: “Within the industry we are noticing people’s attitudes are changing. More curvy models are walking the runways and in magazine spreads. However the fashion industry does like a trend. At All Walks Beyond The Catwalk our work is committed to longevity beyond Trend Curve.”

All Walks Beyond The Catwalk gave their eight designers the opportunity to make a difference with their work. They were asked to consider the model’s own body before creating a piece.

They produced brochures, which were sent to every editor visiting London Fashion Week.

The web site has testimonials from designers and models, expressing the need for change.

Debra says: “We have witnessed designers like William Tempest, integrating the idea of diversity through model castings for the February 2010 catwalk shows. As well as Mark Fast, the designer we introduced to Hayley Morley, who is also continuing to work with models like Crystal Renn.

“We want to simply expand on what is on offer. Something as simple as showing models that represent a more realistic mirror to the women on the street in top end designer clothing. Not such a big deal.”

All Walks Beyond The Catwalk simply asks those of us in positions of power, can we change anything? Should we be listening to these statistics? (The increase in numbers of people suffering from eating disorders and other mental health issues.) Could we contribute positively to this matter? And creatively how might a return to acknowledging a more individual approach benefit?

Interview with plus size model Nina Blakemore

Plus size models are getting more recognition. From designers like Mark Fast using curvy girls to give his clothes justice to the new season’s trends celebrating all there is to be a woman, the fashion world could be falling out of love with the dangerous size zero trend. Teen Vogue chats to Nina Blakemore, a successful plus size model, who has been working with style guru, Gok Wan, for four years.

How did you first make it into the modelling industry?

Originally, I was a size eight model and had been approached by an agent at a fashion show I attended. However, I found it difficult to maintain being a size eight. I suffered from an eating disorder then and was very ill.

What made you recover from your eating disorder?

I just decided enough was enough. I wasn’t happy. I let my body gain it’s natural weight and shape. It was perfect as this was the time around ten years ago when “plus size” modelling was just starting.

What do you love about being able to be a plus size model?

I think the obvious answer is not having to restrict what I eat. I am not a naturally skinny girl. I still look after myself and go to the gym regularly but if I want a chocolate bar, I will have one and not feel guilty about it!

I am also comfortable being in my own skin. I have had so many opportunities come my way through being a size 18 model.

What are your thoughts on the size zero debate and the influence of the media on young people?

I am concerned about size zero. I wish we could start seeing more healthy models being used on the catwalks, in magazines and in adverts. Unfortunately it is still a huge “issue” when plus size girls are used for campaigns [like Mark Fast’s]. I can’t wait for the day when it is just seen as “normal” to see everyday women in the media.

I do think the media has a social responsibility, regarding the health and wellbeing of their readers. The number of young adults suffering with an eating disorder of some kind has risen dramatically over the last two years. [There are currently between 1.1 million and 1.6 million people suffering from an eating disorder in the UK]. The media is powerful and there are a lot of impressionable young people that they should be accountable for.

You campaign for healthier models and positive body image. What kind of things do you do?

I hope that by being a plus size model and comfortable with my figure, I promote a positive body image. I have so many women coming up to me at the end of shows and commenting on how refreshing it is to see a “real woman” in the outfits. Someone who women realistically look like.

I am also involved with the charity, Beat. I am proud to be associated with them. As someone who has recovered from an eating disorder, I can empathise with a lot of the people who benefit from the service they provide. [Beat has help lines, one-to-one services, live chats, email services and forums]. I do media work for them and try to promote their work as much as possible.

How did you start working with Gok Wan?

I went to the casting for his new show, “How To Look Good Naked”, four years ago. It was for the second series where they wanted to start using a catwalk show. Gok and I hit it off straight away. I have been lucky enough to have been a “Gokette” in every single series since!

I am truly grateful to him and his wonderful team. “How To Look Good Naked” epitomises everything that I have been working towards over the last 12 years of my life – “You don’t have to be a size zero to be gorgeous!”

So what is next?!

Well, I currently work all over the world, taking part in fashion shows and shoots. I am also trying a bit of presenting too. Then I hope to open an online boutique selling trendy clothes to curvaceous confident girls!

We heart you, Nina! To check out Nina’s work, go to her website at www.ninablakemore.com

It Is Time To Love Your Body

For my final project for my MA Magazine Journalism, I wrote pieces for a British Teen Vogue. A lot of them were about positive body image. Here is one on curvy models and Body Gossip:

It is time to love your body.
Teen Vogue reports on the change of attitude in the fashion world.

“Breasts are back”
“The woman silhouette”

Seeing the key trends for a/w 10 and the ever growing number of curvy models used in magazines and on the catwalk, I have started to feel optimistic that maybe the size 0 trend is on its way out. But are we just seeing a further existence of the gimmicky trend curve?

Here at Teen Vogue we want you to feel good about yourselves, whatever your clothes size, but with the constant stream of perfectly looking models and celebrities, is it any wonder that the number of people suffering from eating disorders are increasing? Or that more young girls are suffering from low self-esteem or BDD? The fashion industry may not cause these mental illnesses but they can help to make us feel better about ourselves. That is why I hope Trend Curve will turn into the norm.

With this season’s trends telling us to embrace our womanly curves maybe it is a possibility!

Here are some of the trends, which celebrate being a woman:

“All woman” with Louis Vuitton’s boned corsets and grown up circle skirts.

“Hourglass” - Dolce and Gabbana showcased corsets and roses into womanly shapes.

For a/w 10 it seems that our new heroine is the curvaceous bombshell. Basically it is time to be proud of your assets. Corsets are praised for giving women a nipped-in waist and a heaving cleavage re. Victorian times. Think of your favourite Jane Austen period drama! This is the figure everyone is coveting.

Models to admire: Lara Stone, Doutzen Kroes, Laetitia Casta, Haley Morley, and Crystal Renn.

TV programme, Mad Men, has been described as inspiration for some of the new trends. I personally would love to be January Jones, so I am ready to wear nipped-in waist dresses, little cardigans and celebrating being more curvaceous.

It is important to feel good about your body, especially when the majority of the media tells us that we are not good enough. Charities like Beat, who support those suffering from eating disorders, aim to educate the media into promoting positive body image. A new campaign called Body Gossip has also been created:

Ruth Rogers, the creator of Body Gossip, came up with the idea when she was a student actor in New York where she was encouraged to lose weight by several people. She found a group of women who had formed a support group for people refusing to conform to society and the media’s ideas of the perfect body. It was then she realised that everyone has a story to tell about our bodies.

Ruth says: “Not enough is said about how most of us have at least one body worry. So the fact that Body Gossip exists, it reassures people all over the country that we, as a society, have body worries and those body worries are normal. No-one is alone in worrying that their body has imperfections and we are not abnormal for not having the airbrushed bodies that grace the magazines and ad campaigns.”

With regards to the size zero debate, Ruth advocates that everyone has his or her own natural body shape – some of us are naturally a size zero. Therefore it is really important that the fashion world does not start to exclude them in the quest of trying to be a fairer business.

Ruth states: “We should look at our natural body shape – the shape we are when we eat healthily and exercise in moderation. And that is our healthy body shape and society should not be encouraging us to shrink or grow to be anything else.”

She has some great tips for body confidence. Here are some of my favourites”

“Share your body concerns with others – you will soon realise you are not alone and that everyone has bits of their body they do not like. And then look at those friends who worry about their tummy or their bum or their nose – I bet to you they look gorgeous right?! Well there you go – to them, you look gorgeous too!”

See more about Body Gossip at www.bodygossip.org and ways for you to write your body story.

Body Gossip

The team: Natasha Devon (journalist and positive body image campaigner)
Lee Simmons (graphic designer)
Sarah Bakker (Film maker)
Danielle Simmons (photographer)
Imogen Bond (theatre director)
Lynsey Tash (producer and organiser)
Emma –Jane Haigh (Beat ambassador)
Kieron Jecchinis (actor)

Body Gossip also works with Beat (since 2006) and the National Osteoporosis Society.

The best body stories are performed by celebrities: here are just a few who are involved:

Shobna Gulati from Coronation Street
Nikki Grahame (her book is called Dying to be thin)
Anne Diamond (her campaign Fat Happens)
Natalie Cassidy

Body Gossip with Natasha Devon also takes confidence work shops into schools and colleges.

Dreaming...

Although I made a decision a few years ago to not plan my future as no one knows what is going to happen, it is still important to have dreams.

Personal goals help you be motivated; they make you smile; daydream and try to actively work towards your aim. I have still had dreams but anorexia/a boy/my home town have stopped me from trying to reach my true potential. Now in Australia, in the sunshine, I am beginning to dream again =]

I want to:-

Travel more;
Get my book published;
Work for a magazine;
Start a group promoting awareness of positive body image;
Learn to make my own clothes;
Create my own magazine;
Do the Great North Run;
Be proud of all that I have achieved and be happy to be Rachel.