‘It’s liberating’: The no-bullsh*t style advice Abbie Chatfield lives by.

Abbie Chatfield is an icon for a lot of reasons. And one of those reasons has a lot to do with her sense of style.

This week, the radio presenter/podcaster/influencer/business owner sat down with co-hosts of Mamamia's What Are You Wearing podcast Deni Todorović and Tamara Davis to talk all things fashion.

The conversation ranged from Abbie's thoughts on 2022 trends like servo sunnies and skinny eyebrows (thanks TikTok) and also all the details behind her new clothing label.

As someone who now designs clothes, Abbie said there are a few key elements she now has to consider when creating each garment for Verbose The Label – one of them being size inclusivity.

Here's what she had to say.

Watch: Abbie Chatfield on No Filter with Mia Freedman. Post continues below.

"The vision was simple."

Around 18 months ago, Abbie and her business partners were chatting about brands they had seen which weren't pulling their weight with size inclusivity. 

"They would have one size six model and then one size 20 and call it 'inclusivity' and 'diversity'. And we were like 'omg we should fix that'," Abbie said. 

"Then we forgot about it and then a month later we were having drinks again and said 'you know we could actually make a clothing brand'. I was like, well I love clothing and enjoy fashion, but I'm not a fashion designer." 

And luckily for her and the team, Abbie's sister is actually a fashion designer.

"She is a huge driving force behind the brand," Abbie shared on What Are You Wearing.

The vision was simple: A) Look for things that Abbie herself would wear all the time. B) Aim to fill a gap that Abbie and her team felt was there, that has made many feel uncomfortable and not catered to. 

"I have a hard time finding tops to wear, especially finding tops that are comfortable. And now that I'm in radio, they need to be wearable all day, every day."

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Addressing fatphobia was key for Abbie.

As Deni and Tamara noted on the podcast, one of the more 'revolutionary' aspects they discovered with Abbie's label was that on the website, consumers were able to see an image of each garment size on a model associated with that specific size. 

"How annoying is it seeing just a size six and size 20 side-by-side. For me, it feels very tokenistic for me. [Initially, we thought] is it too expensive to have more models for photoshoots, but honestly, we did the whole lifestyle and e-commerce shoot in one six-hour day with six models. Then we wondered 'is it expensive to make the clothes in different sizes?' But it wasn't. You have quantities, and X amount per colour and per style," she explained. 

For Abbie, she said it's her experience as an influencer and witnessing fatphobia that made her want to do better. Not to mention the importance of representation.

"I think that was at the forefront of my mind, and then it was about trying to get a fashion designer to help me create that."

With five items in sizes six to 26, Abbie also wanted to showcase some amazing women leading the way for the body positivity movement, including Kaleena Steinback and The Bodzilla.

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"Micro trends come and go."

Fashion trends on social media are ever-evolving. And from the looks of it, they're getting more fun and kooky by the day - 'minced pork' handbag anyone? On the What Are You Wearing podcast, Deni and Tam asked Abbie what micro trends she'd like to 'kiss' or 'kill',

First up: Speed dealers or servo sunnies? It's a no from Abbie. 

"Konrad [Abbie's partner] has some and every time I see them I go, 'get them off'. They're feral. I have some speed dealer adjacent glasses that are just gold reflective ones, but not the full speed dealer ones – no."

As for jelly shoes, Abbie said it's a tentative no: "While I want to say kiss and want to love them, I know in three years I would say that's so embarrassing."

Also on the kill list were cargo pants and skinny eyebrows. But long shorts are for the win!

"For skinny eyebrows, kiss on some, kill on others. I think it depends on your face, but fashion is evolving. Micro trends come and go so fast though, I think with eyebrows and makeup it's just whatever you think you look best in. That's why I'm constantly in block colours and sets because you can't go wrong. I got sent some long tracksuit pant shorts and I've been wearing them a lot, so that's a kiss."

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"No one is looking at you."

To finish things off, Deni and Tamara asked Abbie what she thought the secret was to embracing her body and feeling confident. 

"The only thing I have to say about that is no one is looking at you. Honestly, no one cares about you. And not in a depressing way, in like a liberating way. No one gives a s**t about anyone but themselves and when you're out, you're so focused on how you look and how you're presenting that you're not thinking of others," she said on What Are You Wearing.

So if you are someone whose fears come from what others might think – it's time to say f**k it and do what you want to do!

As Abbie said on Verbose: "Unrealistic imagery on TV, social media and online shopping sites often convey unhealthy and, frankly, dangerous messaging about how people 'should' look. Sometimes even blatantly shaming bodies that don't fit that mould. We want to celebrate people as they are. We want to not 'look past' differences but actively champion bodies of traditionally 'othered' sizes, races, genders, abilities and sexual orientations."

You can listen to the full episode of What Are You Wearing with Abbie Chatfield here:

Feature Image: Instagram @abbiechatfield.