Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Diet Wears Prada (Re-Run)

This post was originally posted Dec. 27, 2009…………..

How many people would try a particular diet if it came with a Designer name?  What would be the latest success of the Prada diet or the Christian Dior diet or perhaps the Coach diet?

I love the movie “The Devil wears Prada”. and Meryl Streep with her “That’s All!” attitude.

But how sadly true that can be.  Two lines from the movie:: “A size 6 is the NEW 14″.and  “I may not know about fashion but I am smart” feed into stereotypes on both sides of the “body” consciousness.  If you are one of the beautiful people then you are skinny and dumb.  All you know to talk about is fashion.  If you are intelligent and overweight, then you are frumpy and take life too seriously.

I am a firm believer that women are the harshest critics.  “Fashion Police” as my Mom use to call us as teenagers.  But we also become the “Weight Police”, judging other women if they are heavier than us and if they are thinner than us.  We still, even if we don’t want to admit it, seek the approval of others.  What does hearing, “Oh that is a gorgeous outfit, where did you get it?” do for you.  It is a connection to an image that we are looking for. It is a sense of belonging and fitting in.  Millions of dollars are spent every year for a “Designer” name because of the recognition and approval that you get when you choose that particular brand.  Just like Harley Davidson represents bad boys, freedom, and a catch me if you can attitude, wearing designer jeans or dresses represent walking on the red carpet with all the glitz and glamour of the rich, famous, and THIN.

I know for myself, I feel like I missed out on alot.  I haven’t thought of myself as a feminine gal, more like one of the boys. I held myself back from getting involved in the stereotypical female things because they didn’t fit.  I wanted to fit in, but being overweight seemed to be a contradiction with feminine while growing up.

As I have gotten older, it is finally settling in what my Mom told me all those years.  It is about what you portray.  If you look nice, you will be treated differently.  Just like her standard rule about entertaining. If the table is set and it looks ready, no one will notice that things are still in the oven or you are putting things together.  I use to chastise her for her “What will the neighbors think?” comment all the time but actually, there is some validity to that.  It justs comes in the form of “What will I think of myself if I dress like that or if I look like that?”  “What do I think of myself each time I look in the mirror’?. Am I dressing to represent how I feel about me?”  .

What am I telling the world about me if I run around in baggy, frumpy clothes with no make-up and my hair just thrown in a ponytail.  Am I giving the message of who I really am? No, I am not. That is just what I have settled for in the past.  Just like shoes, diets do not come in “One Size Fits All”.  You need to find what works for you and your personality.

That’s ALL!