Many of you have heard me talk about Nina Manolson or have attended one of our joint programs or zoom seminars. Nina is a wonder and helps women attain peace with their bodies. No small feat, but Nina does it!
Recently, she sent this wonderful post and I asked if I could share it with you. I think it speaks to EVERY woman. Enjoy and you can find details below if you want to learn more about Nina and what she has to offer.
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From Nina…
A few months ago, I wrote to you about two dresses I found in my attic.
One belonged to my grandmother.
The other was my mother’s—a spectacular pink dress from the 1970s.
Neither had a size tag.
They had been made for the women who wore them.
The clothing was meant to fit the woman.
Not the woman trying to fit the clothing.
Well, there’s a second chapter to that story.
Last weekend, I officiated my niece’s wedding.
For the ceremony, I wore the flowy gray linen dress I’d planned on—very priestess-y and just right for standing under the chuppah with two people I love.
And then it was time to celebrate. 🪩🕺
The reception was disco-themed, so I changed into my mother’s pink dress and hit the dance floor.
I had the dress altered to fit my body.
I didn’t alter my body to fit the dress.
And somewhere in the middle of the party, while boogying, I learned something I hadn’t known when I wrote that first newsletter.
My cousin remembered the dress 😲
My mother had it made for my bat mitzvah.
She wore it to celebrate me in the late 1970s.
And almost 50 years later, I wore it to celebrate the next generation of our family.
I love that.
A dress made specifically for my mother’s body, for one family celebration, was altered decades later for my body, for another family celebration.
The dress changed.
Because that’s what clothes can do.
We forget that sometimes.
We open our closets and encounter clothes from other versions of our bodies.
The pants that used to fit.
The dress we’re hoping will fit again.
The beautiful thing we love but don’t wear because it pulls here, pinches there, or leaves us feeling self-conscious.
And before we know it, our closet isn’t just holding our clothes.
It’s yelling at us that our body should change.
Your closet shouldn’t do that.
Your closet shouldn’t be a holding place for the body you think you’re supposed to have.
Your closet should be a place that helps you become more fully self-expressed.
It should hold clothes that let you move and breathe.
Clothes that make you feel expressive, comfortable, playful, sexy, powerful, colorful—whatever feels like you.
Sometimes the answer isn’t changing your body.
It’s changing the clothes.
Alter them.
Let them out.
Move the button.
Buy the size that fits and cut out the damn tag if you need to.
Give away the things that scold you every time you open the closet door.
And here’s something concrete I’d love you to try:
Open your closet and notice what happens inside you.
Which clothes help you express who you are now?
Which ones make you feel good in the body you’re living in now?
And which ones are quietly—or loudly—telling you that your body needs to change?
Your closet is there to serve you.
You are not there to serve your closet.
And then?
Put on something that feels like you.
Turn on the music.
Because there’s one more thing the wedding reminded me:
Dance while you can dance.
You don’t even need to wait for a wedding.
Put on the disco in your own living room.
Wear the pink dress.
And go live your life.
With warmth,
Nina
P.S. If you’d like to learn more, check out Nina’s offerings here: https://ninamanolson.com/practicingbodypeace/
