It is common, unfortunately, for people to go through times - some of great duration - where they do not love their bodies. I can’t and would never speak for other people, and can only tell my story of how I’ve felt about myself.

“How is this relevant to wardrobe therapy?” you may be wondering. Clothing is how we express ourselves and how we present our bodies. Your thoughts about your body - positive and negative, insecurity and confidence - are given voice with your clothes. This is why two people who are physically the same may dress differently: they have different feelings about how to present that body.

I was mostly comfortable with my body, but deeply insecure about being flat-chested. My younger years were full of push-up bras and boob-envy.

What changed my way of thinking about myself was realizing that women who looked like me could also be attractive - go figure! If there were many ways to look good, surely my looks qualified as well. I was able to see all bodies as beautiful in their way, and that extended to mine.

Once I changed how I looked at my body, I changed how I presented it. It used to make me incredibly self-conscious to wear a fitted top without layering something padded with it. But my body is what it is, and it’s okay to show it that way. I feel good by dressing my body up to celebrate it as it is, not change it into something else.

When I was able to accept my body, and not hurt myself by comparing it to others, I was able to accept other bodies more easily too. I can genuinely appreciate and celebrate other people because I am not putting myself down at the same time, and I don’t have to make others worse to make myself feel better.

Comparisons are the thief of joy, and no body has time for that.