Lily Allen is adorable. I love her uniquely British blend of tough-but-tender-girl-ska-pop. At 22 years of age, she a cute kid who seems to have a strong sense of herself, her likes and her dislikes: She's the first to admit that she enjoys the hell out of a beer and a snog; She can pull off ghetto gold jewelry, paired with a flirty frock (fabulous!); And she has made no secret of the fact that she rejects the notion that a woman has to be thin to be beautiful.
In an industry filled with homogeneous waifs, Lily stand out for being real - for having a real body that she is in the process of learning to love. As the mother of two young girls, and as a woman, I love her for bring real about the pressure to be thin that all young women face, and singing lyrics like "I wanna be able to eat spaghetti bolognese/ And not feel bad about it for days and days and days/ In the magazines they talk about weight loss/ If I buy those jeans I can look like Kate Moss/ Oh no it's not the life I chose/ But I guess that's the way that things go..."
The launch of Lily's new line of dresses, designed with "real women" in mind, is perfectly timed to combat the national wave of teenage anorexia that is sure to follow the launch of Kate Moss' clothes line for Barbies. Lily says "Kate's clothes are just for skinny, perfect girls. I won't be buying
any. ... My bum and legs are revolting, which is why I wear dresses all
the time. And I put in wider straps to hide the arm bits we all hate. I
was really excited about doing my collection because I know what it's
like to feel uncomfortable in clothes."
Okay, so clearly she's still struggling to accept her body as it is. Who isn't? By being honest about the self-love process, and proactive about finding clothes that fit and flatter, she's taking matters into her own hands, and not starving herself to fit into a size 6. Hopefully, she will inspire millions of young women to do the same.
That's something for mothers of young girls everywhere to 'Smile' about.
