She looks at me uncertainly and says, "Um...you know that this machine can't be used by pregnant women...," and hastily adds,"and people with pacemakers."

It was casual Friday at the office, and I was standing in front of one of those BMI and percentage body fat calculating thingamajigs which had been set up in the office for an event we were having, in a while dress that falls just above my knees, and one of those cropped cardigans that you tie up instead of button.

The dress was pretty similar to this...

and the cardigan, something like this.

I didn't feel particularly offended - I knew she was just trying to be as tactful as possible in the face of uncertainty. But it did make me think - why is it that the moment a girl not in a magazine or catalogue wears something that does not hug every lump of her body, it is assumed she might be pregnant? This isn't the first time someone has assumed I'm preggers just because I'm wearing something that isn't, ironically, hugging the slight bulge that is my very baby-less belly (hmm...is that, in fact, as sign that I'm not as unfit as I think?). I am a huge fan of cute dresses that bring words like 'breezy/summer/light' to mind. And it pains me to think that perhaps it isn't fashion that dictates we all be stick thin and wear things that make most of us look fat (last year's high waisted jeans, pants and skirts, anyone?). Perhaps it's this strange thing we've all developed - that anything that doesn't hug your body completely indicates you've got some jiggly bumps somewhere to hide.

*Images were just from a quick Google search. Not the actual clothes I wore.