What does your body have to do with style?

I arrived at Frida Kahlo's Blue House in Mexico City in 2018 on a bright, sparkling summer's morning. I joined the queue that was already snaking its way down the street. Hundreds of tourists lined up, snacking on churros, waiting for their chance to experience the place where Frida had lived and worked.

Kahlo is a global icon, her image is instantly recognisable. She created a personal style so distinctive that millions of people across the world flock to Mexico City to experience its wonder.

In western culture, we have been sold the idea that style is only for young, thin bodies. That if your body falls outside what society deems beautiful, it has to be managed, adjusted, hidden.

Underpinning this is the demand that your body remains stable. That it doesn't age, bloat, soften, gain weight, sag, wobble or droop. That it doesn't change. 

There is no allowance in western culture for bodies that don't conform.

Frida Kahlo experienced chronic pain, disability, and multiple surgeries throughout her life. She wore spinal corsets made of leather, steel and plaster, a prosthetic leg, used a walking stick and later, a wheelchair. Hers was a body that changed dramatically throughout her life, yet she became one of the most iconic style figures in history.

Not despite her body, because of it.

As we move into midlife, our body changes. Weight gain, bloating, changes in body shape and proportion, changes in skin texture and sensitivity, our hair thins and greys.

The body destabilises.

It's changing. Evolving.

Western culture treats the changing female body as a malfunction. Change means we have failed. Failed at staying the same.

We’ve been taught that style belongs to bodies that behave, that stay consistent. Bodies that don’t fluctuate or shift. And when they do, the message is immediate and relentless — get it back, return to what you were.

That pressure doesn’t just live in the fashion industry, it’s everywhere. Maintain, manage, control, hold the line.

But bodies don’t hold the line, they evolve, they change.

And as they do, something happens.

The clothes that once felt familiar now feel off. They pull and grab in places they didn't before. They feel restrictive, the fabric feels irritating. You stand there putting things on, taking them off, wondering why none of it feels right.

You think you've lost your style but you haven't, you have evolved. Your body isn't predictable anymore. You are not the woman you used to be.

Of course it feels like failure.

You’re dressing a version of you that doesn’t exist anymore, because you've been conditioned to believe that your body has to stay the same.

I understand.

Getting used to my new body hasn't been easy. There are days where I feel bloated, puffy and gross. Days where an elastic waistband is not optional. Days where I just want to hide because I don't look like I did before.

But then I think of Frida, the global icon. One of the most stylish women in history. Who painted her plaster corsets and casts. Who decorated her prosthetic leg, transforming it into a work of art. Who, through the physical limitations of her body, dressed herself in a way that continues to inspire millions of people.

Frida's body wasn't predictable, it wasn't perfect. It was so much more than that. It was a vehicle for her powerful creative expression. And so is yours.

Frida showed up in pain, in limitation, in constant physical change, but she didn't hide. She expressed her experience, her culture, her pain, her defiance, her beliefs, her joy, her power.

That is available to you too.

Not when your body stabilises.

Not when the bloating subsides.

Not when you've lost the weight.

Now.

Your body is not an obstacle to your style, it's the vehicle.

This week I want you to approach your wardrobe like an artist. When you feel yourself thinking 'I feel bloated and gross and nothing fits', ask yourself 'What would Frida do?'.

Take the opportunity to think differently. What would you put on it if you stopped judging your body and started expressing yourself through it instead?

What would happen if you stopped defining style as a perfect body and started defining it as a powerful declaration of self?

Frida made art from everything her body went through.

Your body is going through something too.

Not a malfunction.

A transformation.

Your style is documenting the process. Make Frida proud.

Julie x