Relief in the Land of the Curves

I was happily surprised yesterday when the boy sat in his rent-a-car stroller at the mall and let me look through a few racks in a store that promised a loot of happy colorful clothes. I’ve been dying to buy something nice for myself to celebrate some weight loss, partly due to stress and mostly due to papaya-mango breakfast festivals. 

I’ve been observing Brazilian women these past few weeks. Because that's what we do, us women, check each other out and compare, right? I see these women throughout my day.

Packs of well-to-do ladies in skin tight body uni-tards, white knee-high socks, and fluorescent running shoes, chit-chatting in loud chicken coop voices while holding their Louis Vinton handbags and waiting for their kids to get out of school.

Women in subtle brand-name outfits and expensive high heel shoes trotting through the air-conditioned, professionally guarded shopping mall, waving their perfectly bejeweled and manicured hands as they pass their dolled-up babies to their nannies.

Tired nannies, and house cleaners hogging the bus stop, wearing badly dyed washed out jeans with bedazzled back pockets and tight polyester tops in colors not found in nature.

Sweating along the beach, women of all ages power-walking or running with the blazing sun in their faces, while others are playing in the surf, wearing small two piece bikinis.

They have something in common, and I don’t want to say a girly-girl vibe because that’s not it, but they are more feminine than the women in Vancouver, and it’s a bit of a mystery; a combination of what they wear and also a way of “being”.  In terms of appearance, here are some observations I’ve made.

I can almost always guess that if I see a woman with short hair that she is a foreigner, and I’ve been right so far. Brazilian women love their long hair, caressing their locks as if a cat was sitting on their shoulder. They also, no matter what social standing their might have, love to wear tight fitting outfits, from gym wear to office wear. The curves rule here! It’s liberating to see older women power walking in their bright bikinis, sun hats on, boobies bulging out and bellies out.

It’s so refreshing after living years in a city seemingly ruled by tiny size 0 Asian women in conservative golf wear. What an immense sense of ease I’ve had in trying on clothes here, clothes that actually pass over my hips and don’t get stuck over my boobs unlike the tree trunk shaped clothes in Vancouver. I've noticed that some shops back home don’t even carry size 12, because the kleenex sized 0 and 2 take up too much room on the rack.

I’ve often felt left out in terms of fashion back home, not only because of sizing being preferential toward petite asian women and pre-pubescent teenagers, but also because of what’s available; MEC, Lullulemon and even most shops like the Gap and Banana Republic sell what I consider uniforms, and in most stores, I can’t really tell the difference between the men’s and the women’s clothes except that they are smaller. Maybe that’s what happens when men and women become more “equal”; they start to dress the same?

Whenever I’ve worn Brazilian jewelry and clothes in Vancouver, I always get joyful compliments, although, one male neighbor once asked me why I was wearing my pajamas out and when I replied that these were popular in Brazil, he sheepishly apologized. (Obviously, he has a serious case of the “fashion-clue-lessitis”) But who could blame him since seeing bright colors and patterns seems to be reserved only for the ski slopes?

Of course, being feminine isn’t just about fashion, but just the fact that I’m surrounded by curvaceous women allows me to relax and ditch the “uniform”. Why can’t I wear a nice fitting dress to do the groceries? I’m happy that while I’m here, I can have a chance to rediscover my femininity; play with fashion the way it’s meant to be played with, wear bright colors, fun patterns and clothes that celebrate the body I’ve been given.

Here is a fashion show for one of my favorite Brazilian brands.

Fancy a tiny bikini for the bum that God gave you?