Sometimes the command “Be confident!” is much easier said than followed—and really sounds quite trite. Like most teenagers, I spent too much time obsessing over my “weak” chin, my upturned “hog nose” (as one of my classmates termed it), my perpetually frizz-tastic hair. Then, at 17, I read a magazine article on how women in France define beauty and personal style, and I learned about an empowering little phrase that completely altered the way I viewed myself.

Trust me, I’m not some slobbering Francophile who thinks our beret-and-scarf-wearing sisters across the pond have all the fashion answers. But in this case they’re really on to something, and it’s even bigger than fashion. The French have a term, belle laide, that celebrates the magnetic appeal of individuality. The belle laide or, translated literally, “beautiful ugly” woman (though, unfortunately, there’s truly no comparable term in English) may not be a conventional beauty whose features fit an arbitrary golden metric of proportional perfection, but she doesn’t hide what some would call her flaws. In fact, she flaunts them. If she has a high forehead, she doesn’t cover it with bangs. If she has very thin lips, she doesn’t try to create a painted illusion that they’re fuller. She embraces what is distinctive about her physical features, and in doing so emanates an irresistible self-assurance.

This idea extends from the face to body shape. Sure, an hourglass figure is gorgeous…but so is an athletic figure with elegant broad shoulders, and so is a figure with a smaller bust and goddess-like curvaceous hips. No matter what shape you are, you’ve got features that differentiate you from every other woman—so why not proudly play up what makes you you?

Who wants be one of a million clones, no matter how “perfect” those clones try to be? Why should any of us want to look just like anybody else? When we acknowledge and own what makes our bodies unique, we make a visual statement that we’re not only comfortable with ourselves but value ourselves. And that is the most attractive fashion statement of all.