(sighing)
- How do I wanna say this?
I look good naked.
Why am I putting this on?
- Hi, my name is Jazzmyne.
- My name is Ali.
- Hi, my name is YB.
- My name is Destinee.
- I'm Nina.
- Hi, my name is Sellorm.
Today, we're trying Rihanna's size-inclusive lingerie line.
- I hope that this experience gives me more confidence
and I can see for myself that I can be more positive
about my body.
- I wanna feel as close to Rihanna as possible.
I wanna feel empowered, like bitch better have my money.
- Destinee in this lingerie is fierce, she is unafraid,
she's confident in exactly what she looks like
and is proud of the way she's built.
- Do I feel sexy?
I guess it depends on when you're asking me.
Sometimes at different points in the day, I do feel sexy.
A lot of the times, when I'm getting ready
and I just have my bra and underwear on,
I look at myself in the mirror
and I'm like 'I'm pretty hot.' (laughs)
One thing that was hard to grapple with
was that I have a pretty large chest,
but I don't have really perky boobs.
It's a hard thing to come to terms with,
to recognize your own body as sexy and just valid as a thing
when that's not what you see presented to you.
It's normal to have boobs that sag,
and it's normal to have wider hips
or love handles or whatever.
I wanna feel like I just don't give a fuck
about what people think
and be instilled with a certain confidence
and a certain don't give a shit attitude.
- I am here for lingerie.
I stan for it, it makes women feel sexy,
it makes men feel sexy.
It just makes people feel good.
Do I like to put it on my body?
No.
I'm a pretty shy person, and so,
to be in lingerie is something that's putting you out there
and it's supposed to make you be sexy,
and I just don't see me as sexy
because I never look like the girls who are modeling it.
So, when I wear it,
I'm like 'if I don't look like this, I don't look sexy.'
I was skinny until I hit puberty,
and then I just kind of thickened out everywhere.
I'm a solid girl,
and that was never marketed as beautiful growing up.
I don't really see it as something for women
who are a little more curvy, and to be quite honest,
it's also not really marketed towards women of color.
Serena, to me, was the first woman that was like,
she is beautiful and she is in my size.
Seeing women that are not considered
the stereotypical beautiful owning the way they look
and still being like forget what you say, I am beautiful,
that has helped me realize that that can be me
and that I just have to get in that mindset
of Destinee, you're bangin.
- When I started looking on social media
at all the influencers and models,
everyone has perfect bodies with big boobs,
and I was like 'oh my God, I don't have boobs,'
and I used to never care about it until recently
when I started seeing those pictures everywhere.
I think because of that I always counted
to be able to be hot, to be sexy, you have to have boobs,
and I know that's wrong,
but because of all those pictures
I always saw on the internet, I was like well,
I guess I'm not in the category
'cause I don't have big boobs.
I never really felt comfortable just watching myself
trying to be sexy in lingerie.
If it was for someone else like my boyfriend,
maybe I could try it, but it was never kinda for myself.
I think it's great that any kind of company's
trying to do everything inclusive whether it be skin color,
size, and especially things as intimate as lingerie.
You should be able to wear them if you want to.
Every woman in every size should be able to feel comfortable
and feel sexy in lingerie.
- I feel like when I try lingerie,
I'm supposed to have this elongated body.
I think that comes from a lot of years of growing up
and being told what a beauty standard is in this country
or in anyone's eyes and just looking at myself in the mirror
and saying well, I'm not it.
But I think that as I've grown,
I've seen more and more women just wear it
with their normal clothes
or just wear it to empower themselves,
and I've always wanted to be able to wear lingerie
in a way that doesn't really feel
like it's for anyone else but me.
The word sexy has always been something
that's so foreign to me,
and if I can feel confident and comfortable in lingerie,
then I can achieve that.
I envision someone who is self-assured,
someone who's confident, someone who lacks insecurities
and can just move through the world and not really care
about what other people's judgments are
and what other beauty standards are around her.
- My relationship to lingerie right now
is pretty much nonexistent.
I have a one-year-old baby at home.
I sleep pretty much in my husband's t-shirt
and sweatpants if it's cold
and no sweatpants if it's not cold.
When, in the past, I've worn lingerie,
I was a lot younger and a lot, you know,
more confident with my body.
It was sort of like a fun thing to do.
I have to sort of remind myself that I'm still sort of like
a person and a woman and not just my son's mother.
I lived for 38 years before he was born,
and I had a life and I have a body that's mine.
I very rarely sit and think about who I am to myself,
and it's been a long time since I've...
Oh, boy.
Since I've really thought about the person that I was.
You know, sometimes I have to remember also
who Ali the individual is, and regardless of the changes,
I can still feel proud of my body.
My body has brought a human into this world,
and that's something that I wanna celebrate.
- I come from a sports background,
so it was always spandex and sports bras for me.
So, I never really bought lingerie too much.
I never saw myself as sexy just because
my curves weren't as important.
I have a big ass, I have big legs, I have big boobs,
you know, I'm just a big person,
and I never really saw that many people
show that that was sexy.
When I came to Buzzfeed,
I was on a shoot where I had to be in a bra and underwear
and model with Tess Holliday,
and I think that was the first time where I looked
and I was like 'oh, I can be that, I can do that too.'
You can pose certain ways and you can wear certain things
that complement your body, and that's sexy.
In the past few years,
I've been really pushing myself to wear just a bra
or take a picture in my underwear,
and that's what I define as sexy,
me just being my most vulnerable self.
- [Nina] Lingerie should make me feel safe.
- [Sellorm] Lingerie should make me feel comfortable.
- [Jazzmyne] Lingerie should make me feel empowered.
- [YB] Lingerie should make me feel bold.
- [Destinee] Lingerie should make me feel like me.
- [Ali] Lingerie should make me feel
unlimited.
(upbeat music)