It's one thing to embrace your 'thunder thighs' but how do you find clothes that embrace them back?
Canberra fashion designer Bronwynne Jones has, "spent 40 years of my life fighting with fashion," and wanted to do something about it.
After working as a public servant for 20 years and then running her own business for another decade, Jones started two labels: Infinitie which refashions silk ties, and Alchemy, a range of steampunk and vintage jewellery. But with her new label, Thunder Thighs, Jones said it's personal.
"I've spent my life trying to find clothes that fit, look good, that feel comfortable and that I can just wear," said Jones.
"Finally someone said to me, 'if you could do [anything], what would you do?' And I said I would make clothes for women that are not a standard shape so that they can get up, get dressed in the morning, look in the mirror, feel great and not have to think about what they're wearing for the rest of the day."
The initial collection is predominantly trousers and skirts, shaped to embrace a curvy lower half, plus jackets and tops in flattering cuts. Sizes start at 10-12 and range up to a 20-22, but Jones said the problem isn't so much with size, but shape.
"You can be a size eight and have thunder thighs - it doesn't necessarily mean that you're a big girl. It just doesn't mean that your body's in the same proportion that the fashion industry likes to design for," she said.
"It's very hard to embrace your shape when you can't find clothes that fit. And the clothes that are available don't flatter what's great about your shape."
The Thunder Thighs collection will debut at a new fashion show in Highgate Lane in Kingston on April 8, with the laneway converted to a runway for the evening.
The event is the creation of CARDIF Collective, a not-for-profit that provides space and support to fashion designers plus a retail arm selling locally-made fashion and accessories.
Five of CARDIF Collective's fashion designers will showcase their new autumn/winter collections on the runway, alongside an art exhibition and charity auction.
The CARDIF Collective Fashion Alley is on Saturday April 8 from 7.30pm. Tickets $35 from cardifcollectivecom.au.
