Happy New Year!

Posted on January 2, 2012 by busts4justice


For most of us, by tomorrow it’ll all be business as usual as we head back to the office and readjust to regular meal patterns without a solid base of foil wrapped chocolates. Sigh. Which is why New Year’s resolutions were invented, perhaps: to give you something to think about on those first painful commutes back. I love a resolution, but it you think it’s all fad-diets and empty promises, think again. Here are B4J’s top four resolutions for a happy and healthy 2012. Who fancies joining me?

1: Learn to love your lumps and lines.

Lots of people use New Year to kickstart health and beauty regimes, and that usually involves spending money/self-harming in the quest to become that thinner, younger looking version of yourself you’ve always known would be happier and more successful than you. Well, big wobbly bums to that. Here are two empirical facts: being skinny is not the answer to whatever you’re feeling dissatisfied about. It’s easy to get confused when every cultural signal suggests we’ll be much happier when our face resembles a smooth potato and our body can be held together only by skin alone, but it’s a misdirection. Work out what it is that would really make you feel like a new woman and go after that instead. And fact two? Time keeps moving on, and fretting about it showing on your face is setting yourself up for a lifetime of chasing your tail in ever increasing circles. Love the lines that show you’ve lived. I’m thirty this year. I bloody hope I can remember this resolution this next decade…

Julia Roberts Lancome Advert Banned Potato

2: Love what you have enough to look after it.

Now you’re resolved not to hate on your amazing body, a new year is as good a time as any to take up an exercise – not to lose weight, but as an investment to keep strong and fit and happy for the rest of your life. The gym is not for everyone – but if a PE-phobic like me can find things I love (in and out of it) enough to do regularly, anyone can. Jump in and try everything to discover yours – because the possibilities are almost endless and your marvellous body deserves it. And as luck would have it, I’ve seen my ultimate sports bra, the Freya Active underwired, in the sale ALL OVER THE PLACE. On your marks, get set….

Freya Active Sports Bra

3. Spread the boob joy.

Are you wearing the right bra size? And if the answer to that question is “yes of course, I’m a discerning busts4justice.com” reader, then is your friend/sister/mum/aunt/colleague/barista/stranger on the bus? The next best thing after getting your boobs in to the right support is spreading the word and helping others to too. And the best way to influence retailers’ buying decisions is to increase demand for the alphabet beyond D. Go forth, and change the world!

The Quadraboob Boobie Trap Bra Fitting Poster

4: Spend more time touching yourself.

I really mean it. Although this might get you kicked off the train/on YouTube as #busgropelady if you attempt to act upon those resolution thoughts mid-commute. Most women recognise immediately when their eyebrows need attention, or when their ends are splitting, or when they need a pedicure, but they haven’t a clue what their breasts feel like normally or when something’s not right. Your best defence against breast cancer is early detection, and the only person who can control that is you. Check out the poster below for guidance, or go directly to the flipping marvellous CoppaFeel! website for all the help you could possibly need to help save your life- including text reminders to check yourself. What are you waiting for? Get groping!

CoppaFeel: signs to look out for

5: Have an amazing 2012.

What more could we ask for?

Happy resolving all! Love from B4J xx

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Under the Mistletoe: Feminism

Posted on December 22, 2011 by busts4justice


It’s been brewing for a couple of years, but 2011 feels like the year feminism really stretched its legs, sharpened its claws, and stood up for women while it kicked modern misogyny in the short and danglies. Because beyond the traditional challenges to inequality in the workplace and in Government policy (check out the Fawcett Society for tireless, policy driven feminism), and the immensely significant amount of oppressed women standing up to fight for their rights in the Arab Spring, 2011 has seen women en masse take a stand against complex, culturally endemic issues that affect them too.

Take the Slut Walk. Growing up, I couldn’t have counted the amount of times my all girls’ school warned us to protect ourselves from rape – but not once did my friends at the corresponding boys school sit through an assembly on how not to rape. And while I’m not saying that every boy is a rape timebomb waiting to go off (of course most men don’t have a problem with no-means-no) – it does say something about what society thinks of the causes of rape when prevention is a task charged to potential victims. And when a Toronto police office advised women to “avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized,” women across the globe took to the streets to protest the absurdity of this and demand a radical cultural shift in the way we think about rape and treat rape victims. It was inspiring and exciting stuff – but it’s just the beginning. With a recent study finding that people couldn’t tell the difference between copy from lads’ mags and statements from convicted rapists, and with the Men Call Me Things movement exposing the sheer volume of sexually violent threats made against women writers on a daily basis, it’s clear that we’re only scratching the surface of an issue that affects women everywhere.

Then there was the Muff March – protesting against the pressure for women to conform to a (let’s face it, porn-dictated) ideal of beauty that has so distorted our sense of perspective that doctors are seeing an increase in even teenage girls worried that their perfectly normal genitals are ‘wrong’ and in need of surgery. It’s messed up – and it’s time we started standing up for our bodies against this tsunami of utter nonsense.

And away from the streets, someone has slipped something in to regulatory board the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)’s water and they’ve started taking action against certain campaigns: including a ruling against a banned adverts that appear to objectify women as sexual objects from public spaces where they might be seen by children, and banned adverts using anorexic looking models for being unrealistic and irresponsible.

What would you like to see change in 2012?

***

Long term feminist, curious or just plain confused? Check out the very brilliant ‘How to be a Woman’ by Caitlin Moran. I’ve given it to about ten people now: funny, interesting and bloody inspiring. An amazing read for Christmas.

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Boux Avenue expand to H-cup

Posted on December 16, 2011 by busts4justice

Boux Avenue H Cup Lingerie
When they launched earlier this year, new lingerie brand Boux Avenue responded to disappointment at their limited range of cup and back sizes with a promise that more sizes would come. Ho hum.

But as it turns out, they weren’t lying. While there are still no 28 backs (always disappointing from a brand using super-slim models in their product shots), Boux Avenue have now expanded their cup size range from a G to an H cup.

And – whilst not being an especially bountiful selection – it’s a solid start. This vibrant red Brodie brocade number is pretty yum, and this cute Monique polka dot number (also available in pink) is a great everyday basic. Both retail at £26.

I wonder if it’s a sign that times are changing that what is essentially the new (prettier, less itchy) La Senza has so quickly broadened its alphabetical horizons. It’s certainly encouraging. So, Boux Avenue: what have you got in your stockings for us next?

Boux Avenue H Cup Lingerie

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Andrej Pejic models lingerie for Dutch retailer

Posted on December 14, 2011 by busts4justice

Andrej Pejic for HEMA
Following his appearance on the Jean Paul Gaultier runway, the androgynous and totally beautiful Andrej Pejic can now be found at my bustop (above) modelling lingerie for Dutch bargain retailer HEMA (think of Woolworths crossed with Primark, but probably nicer and with hotdogs…).

The €20 “mega push-up bra” promises to boost a cleavage by two sizes, and HEMA choosing a man to model certainly proves it does what it promises. I love the cheek of it, and also enjoy the fact that – in this advert at least – no woman is being told her boobs aren’t big enough…

But what do you think? Great campaign or a step too far?

For more about Pejic and why I don’t see men on the women’s catwalk as a negative thing, check out my original post on the subject here:

 

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Under the Mistletoe: Whistles

Posted on December 13, 2011 by busts4justice

Whistles dresses
Continuing my romp through my most loved of 2011, I have to give some love to my brand new go-to shop for every occasion: Whistles.

Now, on the surface I feel like this might be surprising. At the high end of the high street it’s not cheap, many of the clothes are dry clean only (which at 29, I’m still not grown up enough not to groan at), and the models used to show the clothes are always lean-figured waifs at least 75 pies lighter than I am. Plus, in spite of being dressed head to toe in one of the true stars of the British high street, they look bloody miserable.

But don’t be put off. Whistles’ choice of model actually disguises the fact that many of their clothes are cut fantastically for an hourglass shape – in fact often they look better on a fuller figure. They’re a great secret supply of boob-friendly dresses without being of the obviously-from-Pepperberry (no offence meant) variety. And their miserable faces also conceal the fact that wearing Whistles always makes you feel brilliant, because as well as feeling awesome people will actually cross rooms/bars/streets to compliment you. Sure, I’d always prefer to see a variety of shapes and sizes represented by all retailers, but I also know that if everyone knew how great Whistles looked on a G-Cup everyone would be wearing it… Damn.

It’s all beautifully made and, if cared for properly, lasts for ages. Furthermore, the customer services – be it on Twitter, in store or wherever else you may encounter them – is always outstanding. I just love them.

In fact, the only thing I’m at all wary of is their trousers. Endowed with bottom, I wouldn’t bother. But then with dresses like theirs, why would you want to?

Shop Whistles online, or find your nearest branch here:

Above dresses left to right: Veronica Saffia print dress £165, Paisley print dress £150, Daryl column dress £75, Polly Polka spot dress £165

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