The other day I was strolling around the shops in one of our local shopping centres, and since my eyes are kinda sale sensitive, I couldn’t resist but entering the George store. For a while I pretended I was interested in the new arrivals, but once I assumed I was not going to look desperate anymore I casually walked up to The rack. Festooned with huge red discount signs just like a poor life sentenced pine tree in your living room on a Christmas morning.

Anyhow, amongs other things there was a specific piece that caught my attention. Summery, leopard printed, short sleeved overall. Truly eycatching. Despite not being a big fan of animal prints, for a moment I imagined myself walking downtown wearing that thing, accompanied by dangerously high heels and sunshades. Femmefatale.

But.

The reality is, I’m not any close to become the next top model, and even tho I’m happy with my appearance I wouldn’t have had enough balls to pull that outfit out. Thus I skipped the thought and after choosing a cute, navy blue long skirt with white dots and some shirts, my steps led to the fitting rooms.

Right upon the entrance, an english woman chatted me up. At first I thought she had mistaken me with a shop assistant, but as she kept going I realised she was asking me for my opinion on what she was wearing. The women was in her thirties, two kids running around, rough estimation of weight somewhere around 120 kilos. And what was she wearing?

That leopard overall.

For mere seconds I was lost for words, as I replayed in my head the internal dialogue regarding the above mentioned piece of clothing. Dammit.

But then something really cool happened. I looked her in the eye and she, visibly excited, added: “You know, I’ve lost some weight recently and I feel really good. You think I can get away with this? I have a black cardigan at home, waterfall style, I wouldn’t go out just like this for sure..” I could hear a hint of anxiety creeping in her, so excited just a while ago, voice.

I smiled.

“Yes, it suits you”, I replied. And to my own surprise, it was an honest answer. She was blooming, leopard print or not, she felt confident and great and that’s what matters.

It’s all in our heads. Our fears, our delights. I wish we all had people to embrace our beliefs in our lifes. After all, it’s the little things what makes the difference.