Jo is a self-described “Inbetweenie”.
A young mum in her early thirties, she falls somewhere between plus-sized and standard fashion-sized, but tends to focus more on finding the right fit for her curves — an ongoing project she writes about on her ICurvy.
Recently, she posted a picture of herself looking fab in an off-the-shoulder ball gown (with a rather spectacular ruffle, I might add) and found herself bombarded with unsolicited, if well-meaning, advices from her followers.
A photo posted by Plus Size & Inbetweenie Style (@icurvy) on
“Why didn’t you wear Spanx?” they asked, pointing out that they could (shock! horror!) see a couple of her lumps and bumps.
Jo handled the criticism rather smoothly we thought, posting a five word answer on her blog.
She simply wrote: “Because I didn’t want to.”
A very normal size 16, Jo is sadly used to having people comment on size and her body.
“Side eyes because I’m twice the size of everyone else at ‘standard’ fashion events, side eyes because I’m not ‘big enough’ to be plus at plus-size events,” she told Mamamia.
“The reality is that, like many women, I’m caught somewhere in between.”
She said the comments didn’t offend her or make her angry, rather they made her sad.
“Making a comment like that is not actually about me at all — it’s about that person’s relationship with their body and the pursuit for their own idea of perfection,” she said.
“It makes me sad that they saw the ‘flaws’. It’s become such a part of our culture that we now seek out the flaws, and are compelled to suggest ‘solutions’ to the ‘problems’.
“I’m not a fashion model in a magazine. I’m a real, size-16 woman, who had to sit in a real car in order to get to the wedding, who planned to eat some real delicious food, drink real champers, and bust some really real moves on the dance floor.
“I choose real. I didn’t wear Spanx because I didn’t want to — it’s as simple as that.”
Let’s hear it for Jo.
Top Comments
Looking good Jo!
I'm a size 18-20 and I rarely wear spanx, quite often the most I will wear is a singlet top that makes my tummy wiggle more...controllable depending on how active I'm being.
So where's this sisterhood I hear so much about?