Get Yer Kit Off!

A couple of weeks ago I stripped off and stood wearing nothing but my underwear in a room full of people.

Thought that would get your attention. OK, so it's nothing like as sordid as it sounds, and I was completely enclosed by curtains on all sides but still!
The reason I was stood in my scanties in a room full of lab-coat bedecked strangers was because I was having my body scanned in 3D-not for science but for fashion (I feel like a sell out!).

The hosiery company (note-I cannot pronounce this word for the life of me. I think this must be lesson one in selling hosiery...) Charnos is bringing out a new line of tights and other such things for plus size ladies and are actually appearing to do some proper research into the subject by getting information from the women who will be wearing them. There was both a focus group where we discussed what we like and disliked in a pair of tights and then of course the 3D scans to generate data from plus sized women's bodies for them to help make them fit as well as they can. I actually found it all really rather interesting-I never knew there were so many things that could be wrong with a simple pair of tights. There were women of all shapes and sizes there (all above UK size 16) and it didn't take long before we were chatting away about our various body shapes and seams and ladders and chafing-all things I can honestly say I'd never discussed with a group of strangers before. People weren't shy either-I found myself caught up in a conversation with two rather fabulous women both at least 40 years my senior talking about how tights just really weren't as sexy as stockings and how they missed being able to wear suspender belts. It almost made me blush but actually was all pretty fun and goes to show that the older generations can certainly hold their own against us youths, haha!
Interestingly though, I was the youngest person there by at least 25 years. I was expecting to see more faces my own age if I'm honest, it seems like a very studenty thing to do and fun and patterned tights seem to be very in at the moment. I can only speculate as to why this might be-it could just be that I'm an unemployed bum whose mother happens to read the right paper, but I couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than that. Another thought for another day though, perhaps.

I was, I have to confess, a little nervous about the actual scanning part though-don't get me wrong, I like my body in clothes, I like the way it moves and feels and for the most part I like it unclothed too. I'm always a bit anxious about sharing it though, and at the time I hadn't exactly spent a lot of time around people in my underwear recently to put me at ease. (Except for Rara who has grown up with me and so probably doesn't count any more!) I knew that no-one was going to actually see me but none the less they were going to scan my body in 3D which basically equates to the same thing as them having a sneaky look at me in my undies.

In the end, though, it was fine. There were make-shift cubicles to change in and big fluffy robes to change into, and you were in control of when you took it off, once you were safely behind the curtain of the scanning booth. It definitely felt a little off to be standing there in my underwear whilst a man I didn't know told me to hold my arms a little straighter, but it was all good in the end. It didn't turn out to be the most flattering 'picture' of me ever taken but it was still pretty cool to see myself in a way I don't usually get to. I was planning on including it with this blog post but realised it was essentially a picture of me naked (albeit entirely made of graph paper) and that was something that The Internets just didn't need to get ahold of. Sorry to disappoint you all, I'm sure!

Basically, what I'm saying is that if you get the chance to do something like this then you should because it's painless and simple and easy-all you need to do is stand perfectly still for about 2 minutes and if I can do that with my awful balance then you can too! (I know ASOS are doing something similar using the same technology at the moment too).

So yeah. I got my kit off for fashion. But I thoroughly enjoyed myself and earned a bag of goodies too-can't really say fairer than that.

-Jenni-