How to Feel Great About Your Body on a Date

So it’s time to slip into that dress for Homecoming, Prom, a Date, or some other formal.  Why are we girls always so self conscious about this?  Have you ever noticed how hard it is to just be happy with ourselves for a minute?  It seems like we take one look in the mirror and always find some flaw or something to complain about.  Our teen advisors don’t think that’s right so they wanted to share some tips at Girls With Dreams TV for how you can feel more confident and great about your body when you’re on a date.

Can you Stop the Fat Talk?

Did you know that this week (Oct 19-23) is Fat Talk Free Week?  You know what I’m talking about…its the comments we each make in hatred of our own bodies…things like “I need to lose ten pounds, I’m so fat, I’ll never look like her…” you know what I’m getting at.  What would our world be like if we could eliminate fat talk?

Fat Talk Free Week is an international, 5-day body activism campaign that draws attention to body image issues and the damaging impact of the thin ideal on women in society. This annual public awareness effort was borne from Tri Delta’s award-winning body image education and eating disorders prevention program, Reflections: Body Image Program™.

On their website, the End Fat Talk campaign shares many interesting statistics.  Here are a few: 

• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat. 51% of 9 and 10 year old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet.
  (Mellin LM, Irwin CE & Scully S, 1992)
• Barbie, the best selling fashion doll in the world, has unattainable and unhealthy body proportions. If she were alive, her waist would be smaller than patients with anorexia nervosa, and she would be unable to menstruate. Research has shown that very young girls (ages 5-7) who are exposed to Barbie have lower body esteem and want a thinner body than they have.
  (Dittmar, Halliwell, & Ive, 2006)

If you’re ready to join thousands of other teens and women who want to stop the fat talk, you can sign the End Fat Talk Promise!  I signed it…and I hope you will too!

Fashion Tips for School: What’s in and What’s Not

We were having a discussion at Girls With Dreams about what to wear to school.  Do you think girls should just be comfortable and wear jeans or sweats or do you like to get dressed up?  What about girls that wear shirts that are low cut or very short skirts?  Do you feel that is okay?  We want to know what you think, but you can also watch our discussion about it on Girls With Dreams TV or read Stevie’s advice on ‘Being a Scrub’.

Stevie Recommends Being a Scrub

Sleep in. Don’t freak out if your hair isn’t perfect. Wear less make-up. Be a SCRUB! By scrub, I mean wear sweats and be comfy! It’s okay to do, I promise. Who cares if you don’t look like you just got your hair done, had a professional apply your make-up or spent all night picking out your outfit?

Reasons why you should go scrub:

1. Guys actually like it. I read and hear from guys a lot that they like it when a girl can still feel confident in comfortable clothes.

2. You get to sleep in a little longer, and you spend less time getting ready.

3. You don’t have to do it every day because sometimes it feels good to look really nice and polished.

4. It’s just fun and keeps you from getting angry. I get so annoyed trying to find an outfit every day. This way, I don’t waste time thinking about my outfit and getting mad when I can’t find something.

5. I have better ways to spend my time.

6. You’re being a leader, not a follower. It gives you a way to be your own person instead of trying to fit in with all the new fashions.

I hope this gives you something to think about. Just don’t be like everyone else. Be who you are and do what you want. Don’t follow what everyone else is doing. I’m not saying never dress nice, I just want my point to get across that it’s okay to wear sweats and be comfortable.

Stevie Recommends Burt’s Bees lip balm

Burt’s Bees lip balm is one of the best chap sticks I have every used! Honestly, I love this product and I recommend it to everyone. It makes your lips feel really good and gives them a cool tingly feeling. They also have other great products too, pretty much anything from that company is worth buying. You can find their products at Walmart, Target, Bath and Body Works, or go to their website and take a look.

How to Find the Dress that Makes You Look Best

Finding that perfect fit for Homecoming, or any type of formal, can be a bit of a challenge. An important thing to remember here is you are not buying a dress to please others, but rather to compliment your body shape, and size. Many girls try to buy a dress that looks good on the model, without considering what compliments her figure. I’ve compiled a brief list of body shapes and what kinds of dresses fit them best.

1. Thin and Tall: You want to either compliment features you find yourself lacking, or highlight the features you do have. If you have longer legs, but little bust or curve, look for short flirty dresses. Be careful when choosing dresses which are tight or cling to your figure. A safe choice would be dresses that come to your knees, and have a fuller skirt. If you find yourself having an average size bust, halter tops are always a great style to help make you beauty shine!

2. Tall with Curves: Find an empire gown of sorts. These are dresses which are normally floor length, halter topped (or strapless) which are snug around the bust but flowing around the torso and legs. This dress with help to eliminate any unwanted curves, and has a very slimming appearance. Use color to highlight you eyes and hair for an amazingly beautiful you!

3. Short with Curves: These girls should be looking for dresses which flatter a certain portion of their body, and elongate the torso or legs. Find dresses that are snug in the areas you wish to be noticed. Dresses with a more circular neck, or more volume to the skirts will give the fun and appealing look most girls are looking for. High heels are always an option for enhancing height, though I would never recommend anything over 1 inch high.

4. Short and Thin: Try short and flirty!  Go with a dress that is shorter (mid thigh) or if parents don’t go for that try something that is knee length. This dress can be tighter around the hip and leg region to accentuate any curves and to elongate you legs. Work with different textures and colors to create a stunning effect!

5. Hour Glass: I find my self in this category, it is composed of girls and women who have an hour glass shape: wider hips and shoulders, but a middle that is lesser in width. It is actually difficult to find the perfect dress in this category because clingy dresses tend to make this body type appear larger and squeezed into an outfit. Pay extra attention to strapless gowns, look for ones that offer enough support wile flattering your shape. The best bet for any girl in this range would be to find a dress with layers. By this a mean a dress with a ruffled or layered skirt. This will help to accentuate the curve of your hips with out over doing it. Corset tops, or gowns with tighter upper portions are excellent with these shapes, as are halter tops. It will highlight some of your best curves.

Quick tip for EVERYONE! Try some Spanks with any dress. They smooth out curves and help to give a more complete figure. They eliminate the dreaded pantie line and tuck in any unwanted curves.

Now go out and have a wonderful evening, have some fun! The most important thing to remember is that you are buying a dress to make you look beautiful, not to make everyone else happy. Buy what you think looks best what fits you the best. Be confident in your dress choice. This special occasion is a time for girls to be their “Inner Princess”

Now go out and have an excellent evening! This is a night to be the princess each one of us truly is! And most importantly, Buy the dress for YOU, not everyone else.

For a few more quick tips, check out Girls With Dreams TV.

Saving Tips for Fashionable Teens

What girl doesn’t want to find great clothes and save a bunch of money! This video from Girls With Dreams teens shares tips on how to shop for cool clothes on a budget.

Here are a few more ideas:

1. Have a clothing swap party! Invite your friends over and have everyone bring 5 things that they don’t wear anymore. Let the swap begin!
2. Do you love that shirt in your favorite teen magazine? Look for knock-offs of the same cool style at less expensive stores such a Old Navy, Target, and Walmart.
3. Look for coupons. Sometimes you can find these online or even in the mail.  You might try googling coupon with whatever brand you are looking for.
4. Share money-saving ideas with your friends!

We Are Beautiful!

So today I went to a modeling try out. I know what most of you are thinking, “Come on Miranda!” And all of you are right. I had an enlightening experience with the agents; they opened my eyes to one of the biggest jokes in our nation: Body Image! I’m an average sized girl and by no mean skinny or petite. Today during my try out’s, before they even got to know more than my height and my name, the agent looked at me and said very plainly with a condescending tone, “Well, hmm, yea.” She paused asked me to repeat my weight, then my pants size before she smiled and said to me, “Yea well, I’m sorry we actually don’t have anything we could really use you for. You see, you fall into what we would call ‘plus size’ and there is no use for you now. Though there are-” Yes I did stop listening. Honestly this was one of the most insulting things I had ever been told in my entire life. I actually was embarrassed! I looked around and felt so self conscious. Normally, I would consider myself as a confident person. I’m confident in how I look, walk, talk, think, pretty much everything, but this just made me feel so horrible about myself.

I cut the agent off in the middle of her speech about how I could possibly change myself so I could please the modeling world, and be a better me. Something just clicked inside, just like a little me knocking on my forehead yelling, “Hello! Is anyone home? WAKE UP MIRANDA!” I smiled the prettiest smile I could, and said in my most confident voice, “Well that’s ok; I was just trying my luck.” She smiled back and we said our goodbyes quickly and without hesitation. The whole meeting had taken less than a minute.

When I explained the conversation to my mother, she was less than happy, and wanted to go back and give the agents a piece of her mind. I guess it’s a good thing I had gone to talk to them alone! On the drive home we began to talk about what a joke that whole “Try-out” had been. Now I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to be skinny, that’s not at all my point! The whole lesson I learned here was how distorted the Hollywood world is. I was turned away for being a healthy weight, without any consideration of my other characteristics. At first I was embarrassed; it was like they had told the entire world my deepest fear. I felt uncomfortable with who I was, and for a minute (I promise it was only a minute) I actually was listening to her tell me some options for becoming something I’m not. It felt horrible and gross. Looking back, I’m appalled at the fact that even if it was only a minute, I bought into that superficial world!

Ok so now that I’ve finished rambling here’s my main message: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! Don’t let someone tell you that a number on a scale is who you are. We are all beautiful in our own unique ways. The number on a scale is just that, a number. It is not a restriction on your life, it’s not a cut off for being pretty or not, it’s a simple number with little to no meaning. I’m tired of watching TV and hearing about some as beautiful as Kate Winslet being called “overweight” or how a stick figure celebrity is the thing every girl should be. My point of view is as long as you are healthy, and happy that number on the scale will not control you, or how others see you as a person. I promise each and every girl who reads this that I will never look at sickly stars and think about how I could be thinner, or listen to someone who doesn’t even know me tell me how I’m not good enough. Because I am good enough. I’m good enough for my parents, my sisters, my baby brother, and to my friends. And each one of you is good enough; every single girl out there is important and beautiful in her own way.

Who Said I’m Not Pretty?

Hey Girls! I’m Becca and I’m one of the newest bloggers! To start with, I’ve decided to post a poem I wrote last year. It doesn’t really have a name, but I thought you’d like it.

Who said I’m not pretty?

‘Cause that’s not true

Even if I’m not considered gorgeous

When compared next to you

But everyone’s beautiful

In their own special way

No matter what they do

To their looks in every way

I may not be supermodel gorgeous

But I’m fine with that

It’s what’s on the inside that counts

There’s nothing more important than that!

I hope you all liked that poem! There are going to be plenty more from me!

Summer Challenge Update and the Swimsuit Season

It’s only week 2 of swimsuit season and, I’ll have to be honest, the Summer Challenge has been a little more difficult than I thought! I didn’t realize how much I compared myself to others. I also didn’t think I was as hard on myself as I have been.

Have you ever felt like your stomach wasn’t flat enough or parts of you weren’t thin enough? I’m glad we started the Summer Challenge because it was an even bigger wake up call for me. We still have so far to go with self-esteem in teens and women! Eating healthy and taking care of myself have been pretty easy (minus the pint of Ben & Jerry’s that is sitting in my freezer). Now I know where I need to focus my attention during the challenge. What’s been the hardest or easiest part for you?

If you haven’t joined us yet, it’s not too late! You can read more about the challenge here and you can join our Facebook Group for the Challenge Here!

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