I  am really looking forward to the day when brands that use anything outside the model spectrum make news. Than I know we have evolved as a society, than I know we can be less concerned about how our children feel about themselves, than I know all this work has been for something.

 

Right now I am not so sure…

 

For nine years I have been immersed in lingerie, what started out of frustration because I couldn’t find a bra to fit me has turned into something much bigger. Nine years ago I scoured the globe to find a bra to fit my breasts because I couldn’t find one in Australia. I found several and I discovered something much more significant that a great fitting bra.

 

It’s more than just a bra, it’s something that we can put on every morning to make ourselves feel good. It’s the confidence it gives you, it’s the empowerment and self expression that brings… it’s more than bra it’s the beginning of women living life in their power, confident, happy and they’re excited and ready to start their day.

 

 

As much as my love for lingerie started out to help women like me, smallish frames and bigger cup sizes to find lingerie. I discovered it was beyond just cup sizes. The gap in the market, in the images we see was also leaving a big gap within us.

 

And that makes me sad.

 

The answer feels simple, but why does it feel so big?

 

I want to make a stand.

 

Because after years of obsessing about food, eating disorders, how I looked, what I weighed and feeling like I was never skinny enough, smart enough, strong enough, brave enough or perfect enough. It leaves you hollow to the point where we are existing, not living because we are too consumed in all the “what if’s” and “I’ll start on Monday.”

 

I’m making a stand.

 

I am enough.

 

I am a survivor of domestic violence, lived through cervical cancer, had two beautiful children and have been in business for 20 years. How is that NOT enough?

 

Once we remove all the stories we have around I AM all that remains is “I AM” and that is all you ever need.

 

I’m making a stand.

 

Changing the face of beauty is more than using plus size models and please don’t label them as “real” women, because it implies that if you’re not plus size than you’re not real and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

 

Yes, every BODY is entitled to find beautiful lingerie for them and everyone is entitled to immense happiness, love and joy. But it’s more than just a body. It’s just a shell, it’s not who we are. I want to see more of the shell, I want you to love your shell in all it’s glory as it is now… not as it was or what you want it to be, but as it is now because it has served you well.

 

It’s the garden to your soul.

 

I want lingerie brands to stop circling around body diversity and get real… I don’t want it to make news. I want to see diversity in our lingerie and want the models we see to be an extension of that.

 

You think it’s confronting for people see I call it LIFE.

 

Sometimes we need a raw, in your face realization about lingerie, body image and life.

 

Why not celebrate it?

 

All my scars, both internal and external leave me proud because they are reminders about how far I have come. How brave I am, how strong I am, how smart I am and how beautiful I am.

 

And these very scars, the ones that make you feel alone, weird and different are the same ones that unite us and bring us together.

 

With all my heart and soul, I believe lingerie makes you feel alive, now, today… right here is this very moment. When you walk and feel the soft material against your skin, it reminds you and brings you back to this very moment and it’s exactly where you’re meant to be.

 

 

Renée Mayne

The founder of Bra Queen Australia’s largest lingerie resource, a business mentor, speaker, blogger and advocate in changing the face of beauty.