Colours have always played a strong role in how we perceive one another. They can show our personalities or hide our insecurities. The dilemma has since long eluded our sense of self belief and confidence.
It is contrary to popular belief that the plus community should wear colours more suited to hide their curves and to minimise their appearances. Even in the accepting society of today, the plus size figure is deemed as unfitting and must always hide behind prints or layers of loosely fitted jackets.
In Pakistan, the long since recipe to look comparatively thinner is to either wear an outfit that simply falls off the back in an easy breezy manner or to do with darker shades. Navys and blacks are always a go to staple when we feel have gained some extra pounds over the holidays.
In recent years this trend of wearing a darker shade has really begun to show up on social media with the notion of looking slimmer and leaner. Though the concept has never failed us at any occasion, it has put a new question in the minds of the plus size individuals around us that it’s better to hide behind an illusion that to accept who you really are.
With darker colours come its effects on personality as well. If we are used to wearing deeper tones all week long, a day out in the sun in a soft blush or a cool ice blue is more so a nightmare.
A plus size individual is already very shy, body conscious and far from staying in their own skin, and more so being comfortable in darker fabrics makes them slowly sink into themselves. Consequently, one begins to feel ashamed of who they are and how they look.
Light and bright colours have proven to bring out the best of ourselves. With warmth and subtleness, lemon yellows and powder pinks are always a mood lifter and simply perfect for casual strolls in any season be it at the beach in the summer or flying through a cold breeze in the winter.
The plus sized community should be encouraged to wear such colors to bring out their over the top radiant personalities. We all have that one really sweet slightly overweight friend whose charisma is parallel to known. They need our support from them to shine bright in the colors that truly represent who they are.
On a more local front, Pakistani fashion has also been taking its baby steps to being more open towards encouraging plus size fashion and similarly them trying out a variety of cuts and colours.
A prominent example being the real-women inspired collection of designer Cheena Chhapra that she showcased at the Spring Summer edition of the Fashion Pakistan Week in 2018. The collection that was modelled by real-life women instead of models included a variety of options for the beautiful, curvier women.
