Geraldton women have EMBRACED!
/Geraldton women have EMBRACED!
Driven by Roshelle of Turn It Up Dancewear, Kate of Real Food Real You and Carolyn of Carolyn Fox a group of incredible women came together one winter's day in Geraldton wearing nothing but their undies!
Their mission... to reveal to the world they have embraced their body (age, weight and height notwithstanding!) and to encourage women everywhere to do the same.
Because they are beautiful. So, so, so beautiful. You have no idea how amazing they are.
Not only were these women photographed bearing barely nothing, they were also filmed and interviewed. The women were asked questions about their body image and they answered honestly from places of pain and love.
This short film will be shown at the Geraldton premiere of EMBRACE on 7th September. The local models will also participate in a Q&A session after the movie.
Turn It Up’s EMBRACE STORY – By Roshelle Duggan
As females I believe we all have a Body Image story…. this is my business Body Image story, and why Turn It Up Dancewear wanted to be a part of the EMBRACE Community xox
Over the past couple of years, I dreamt of having a funky dancewear store for all students, young and old to come in and feel incredible. I want you to leave my store feeling like the amazing star performers I know you all are.
One of the things I didn’t know I would see is little girls who feel terrible about their beautiful young growing bodies. They don’t want to wear particular types of clothing as I hear them say negative things about themselves. My heart broke into a million pieces when I first witness this unfair negativity on a young mind. My inner child was crying, it brought back all my emotions from when I was a little girl feeling I wasn’t skinny enough to wear anything that would show off my body type.
I have also had customers come in worried that they will not fit into my clothing. I prefer not to ask the customer what size they are but what they are after, what colours and style they like. It is my job to ensure you walkout my door feeling incredible and that I have met your needs. It is my job to know that shorts for example, you will get more room in a rollover short and a V Front short will provide you a firmer fit around your waist.
I remember in my early twenties I would walk into stores and when asked if I needed help I would say “I was just looking for a gift for a friend”, even though I was shopping for myself!!! I was worried and scared about being body shamed by the retail assistant in case their store didn’t cater for my size. I now understand this of course had nothing to do with any stores or the beautiful people working in these outlets, this was about me. Me not accepting myself and embracing the body I have been given. If only I had the voice to tell the truth why I was in their store, so I could have given them the chance to help me, help me find something that made me feel beautiful.
Sometimes I hate that clothing even needs to have a size on them, why do we need to feel that we are labelled by a tag size?
There is no lying that most branded clothing is limited in sizing, most of them really only going into a size 14. So as I was more than a size 14, I was left feeling that I was never beautiful enough to be wearing their tags. Sometimes we will experience what one brand classes as a size 14 fits but another brand with size 14 doesn’t? So please beautiful girls, never pay attention to the tag size, we don’t need to label ourselves this way, this sometimes can only lead us into a negative mind set.
I had seen Body Image Movement advertising Taryn Brumfitt story and her journey to create the Body-Positive Documentary EMBRACE, I had become even more excited when I had seen it being advertised that EMBRACE would be showing in Geraldton.
In the trailer there is a group of ladies of all shapes and sizes doing a group photo. It was at the moment I realised TIU needed to do this. TIU needed to do this to EMBRACE others.
I was so emotional. I was very excited to be sending out a powerful message but so scared to work through my own fears.
That was just over 4 weeks ago, and what amazing quick 4 weeks it’s has been.
I am so blessed to have worked with such amazing women with incredible stories to tell. Over the next couple of days leading up to the viewing on the 7th I will be sharing their stories on TIU FB page. I hope by either reading this or seeing our group photo that we have helped reach out to you to EMBRACE. Please gather all your friends and family to book your tickets to see EMBRACE. Our EMBRACE MIDWEST short film will be showing at Geraldton Orana Cinemas on the 7th and 18th September after the EMBRACE movie.
TIU has now been open for just over 6 months, and what an amazing 6 months it’s been. I am extremely proud of my team and thank each and every one of my amazing customers for your support and trust x
#embracemidwest #embrace #turnitupdancewear #bekindtoyourself
Without the below this could not of happened, big thank you to you all xox
Photos taken by: Emma Hutton Photography- Bumps, Births & Babes
Project by: Turn It Up Dancewear Real Food Real You Carolyn Fox
Models: Chilli Buck, Kate Tonkin, Kaitlyn Joy Isastrat, Carolyn Correll, Fleur Porter, Marnie Thurkle, Christine Bayliss, Roshelle Duggan, Sharna Whitehurst
Hair/Make up: Hot Locs Hair Body & Soul, The Makeup Parlour, Shanz Spray Tanning & MakeUp, Karis Crudeli
