I’ve had a super exciting week at Leave Me Breastless with my first public speaking event. I have always felt very passionate about wanting to make a difference to the lives of women who remain breastless, but it’s another thing to feel confident enough to stand up in front of a room of people I don’t know and share my story. I started to doubt myself wondering if people were going to think what I’m saying is ridiculous and contemplated that maybe no one feels the same as me about fashion post mastectomy. My beautiful photographer Vanessa gave me some inspirational quote cards and this one really resonated with me.
I knew that I had to focus on the deeper ‘why’ and ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. As it turns out, you’re never as bad as you imagine. I spoke from the heart (and for probably too long), managed to make someone faint (I hope I wasn’t that boring) but it was a great feeling to think I may have helped build awareness and also be a source of comfort for anyone who might have needed it.
Strangely afterwards, I had many people saying how inspirational I was, when I don’t feel like I am at all. There are millions of women who have gone through the same and worse than me. In fact, I honestly believe I am one of the lucky breast cancer survivors. It was still nice to have such warm feedback and I hope it has helped reach a wider audience. I know now that I’m on the path I’m meant to be on. I feel this buzz in my tummy when I think my story may have helped someone else detect their cancer early or find an outfit to make them feel amazing. It all just feels right. Friends and colleagues reassured me as I prepared for the night but one dear friend said calmly and confidently, “This is your journey, be courageous.” The love and support of those around me have helped me believe in myself and continue with passion what I so feel I need to do.
In the early days, the quest to find suitable fashion post mastectomy was reasonably difficult in the everyday fashion department but what was interesting was that it was even more difficult when I was searching for fancy clothing to wear to a wedding or a function. These are times where people are always looking at what other people are wearing, not like ducking down to the shops for some groceries. Finding beautiful high neck outfits has always been pretty easy if I was wanting to always put the prosthesis in, but finding the right outfit without the boobs, was always much more difficult.
I was always a lover of the V neck and still feel a little pang of sadness when I think I can never wear it again. It’s really hard to suddenly stop yourself looking at the styles you love and always wore. You really have to train your brain to browse differently and of course like anything, it gets easier over time. What I’ve realised though is that there aren’t going to be millions of fantastic options out there, but they are there, you just have to know what to look for.
I’ve always been a lover of the fashion on “The Project”, especially because they always seem to be outfits worn up high. I regularly follow their wardrobe on the show and look for ideas for what I could wear. Most of them are tight fitting and need the prosthesis in but I love the idea of finding a brand I didn’t already know and exploring their fashion options, especially when they are Australian designers. Here is the link …
https://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-project/wardrobe
I’m excited to say that this led me to my beautiful navy lace dress which I was able to wear to the event which supported the McGrath Foundation on Thursday night.
Here are the links to some other great Mossman Clothing items for breastless women.
Mossman Spanish Renaissance Dress
Eye Spy in the Meadow Mossman top
Mossman Squares of Madrid Dress
The best comments I had from people were that they had no idea that I had no boobs, until I got up on the microphone and told them. That to me is a success story. Lace really works for the no breast chest as its distracting and also a thick material that sits off the chest and won’t hug the scars. The best part about this being a great fabric is that it is so ‘on trend’ at the moment. Tight fitting lace however probably won’t sit as well. One of my gorgeous followers Tamra sent me this awesome picture of a dress she just bought from Zara which is lace and looks perfect on her. $89.95. She looks amazing.
Have a wonderful week and love yourself just the way you are.
I am breastless and beautiful.
Love,
Gen x
Leave Me Breastless 