Prom. The staple tradition of high schools across the United States and the highlight of senior year. Prom prepping tends to be an intense task, and as the standard for girls gets higher and higher each year, it becomes a little more difficult to conform to them. These standards lead us to believe that we should “stay in our lane”; that trying different styles of clothing (not necessarily dresses!) can’t work because our body types aren’t “meant for them”. Shopping for the perfect prom dress can be a ridiculously difficult task, especially when you believe that the only way to look good is to suck in your stomach and wear something you don’t really love, but that makes your body look slimmer. It is truly hard to find something that you love and feel beautiful in. Prom magazines are filled with girls that have similar body type and the models tend to have unrealistic standards. As prom season rolls around, people feel the need to prepare their bodies in every way possible But— you don’t need to lose weight to look gorgeous at your prom, even though body positivity is very difficult to maintain during prom season.Now the problem is we believe that “beautiful” is only a synonym to skinny. In actuality, we fail to acknowledge that you look beautiful in every way, no matter if you’re curvy or thin, you still slay at prom.
Four things you can do for yourself are:
Try not to compare yourself to others! One’s beauty does not take away from your own! Everyone is beautiful in different ways.
Find little things you like about yourself and start from there. Compliment every bit of yourself that you love.
Treat yourself. Don’t stop yourself from indulging in a cookie. You deserve it, just enjoy yourself!
Accept compliments. When someone calls you beautiful, don’t disregard it. They aren’t lying.
And when you try on your prom dresses, remind yourself that you look amazing. Don’t allow a set of ridiculous standards to ruin one of the greatest nights of your senior year! And when you go shopping, don’t be afraid to try something new & remind yourself that your body has no flaws, and every inch of you is beautiful.
