Bending over to fashion trends

What you need to know:

  • BODY CHANGES. Fashion trends don’t just affect clothes, but also the bodies that wear them.

Fashion trends don’t just affect clothes, but also the bodies that wear them. High-waisted trousers, for example, favour curvy girls, and trust me the first time they emerged, women without curves felt left out. Here is how our own parts of the body have influenced fashion trends and how not to be a slave of this new madness;

Eyebrows
Currently, what is trending is a thick eyebrow, how do you achieve it when your eyebrows have been shaven clean? In Kampala right now, all makeup lovers are obsessed with the perfectly coiffed eyebrow, not for events such as weddings but even for a normal day at work. To achieve this look, sometimes, the eyebrow has to be shaven clean and replaced with work of a pencil.

Teeth
There are many ‘good things’ attached to women with the gap. And if you are wondering, there is actually a special surgery you can undergo to achieve that famous gap!

Breasts
Just recently, online fashion outlets were convincing women that big bouncy breasts were the ‘in thing’. One wonders what exactly the person who is not as endowed in the chest area is expected to do. Go for surgery? And what happens when ‘big’ goes out of style?

Hair
When you decide to take a path of following every hair trend, you might end up with no hair on your scalp. At one time, short hair is on trend, and all ‘short hair enthusiasts’ are revered. But, before they even enjoy their moment, a cropped do is back in style and all of sudden you have to grow some hair to hold a cropped weave. Shortly after, long hair is back in style! Before you know, your scalp is scarred and without hair. Studies also show that, one of the major causes of hair loss is the pressure and heat exerted on the scalp in pursuit of perfect looking hair styles which causes hair breakage and thus hair loss.

Skin
Thanks to social media that is fueling a phenomenon where beauty is defined by the faces that get the most likes on Instagram. Flipping through your social media feed is instead becoming depressing, rather than motivating and empowering. Light-skinned women are the models that endorse the beauty brands you apparently have to use to look good. The pressure to resort to cheap skin lightening products from downtown is almost understandable. Questions such as, should I lighten a bit? Or brighten? Linger on the minds of many women, and this is hugely influenced by what they see in the media.
Soon, however, healthy natural-looking skin will be the ‘it’ beauty’trend – just like natural hair- and you will have no healthy skin to parade.

WHAT TO DO
What do you do when faced with all these conflicting demands to look a certain way because it is what is currently on trend? Terms such as ‘Yay and Nay’ are used to underscore people’s appearances on social media. They are usually followed by justification, “She’s pretty but her butt is too big”, “She is looking good but looks fat in the face”… There is peace in knowing you are beautiful despite what social media is saying, and it is all you need to brave what can otherwise be a cruel time for one who is conscious about their appearance.

Forcing some body parts to comply

It is always rewarding not to follow trends, because they change too many times and sometimes it’s hard to keep up.
A trend everyone is drooling over now is going to be a thing of the past a few months to come, and when you choose to conform, you might need to create space for new shoes and bags every time a new trend pops in.
It is the same reason, we always use this page to reiterate the need to know your personal style and stick to it. It saves a great deal.

1.Eyes
This is no doubt the most prized feature on every woman’s body. Thank God, for eye-contacts though, as many would already have opted to go under the knife to achieve squeaky white eyes.
2. Thighs
The thighs have had a rough time too. From getting bleached to getting burnt from scar removing creams... Having a flawless pair of thighs is the ‘in thing’.
Sometimes, they have to be a little skinny and other times chunky. How does one manage to gain weight only on their thighs then?
3. Back side
A small ample behind was at some point the ‘in thing’. However, lately this is changing. A curvier chunkier one is what is trending, regardless of your body size. In fact, many of the jeans that are made now come in high waist fashion, made to favour women with a bit of flesh on their behind. This is why ‘fake bums’ and body enhancers, which apparently help make you to “grow” a bigger bum in an instant, are high in demand.