Size 12 and PROUD

Hi Guys! So this weekend I was lucky enough to visit The Clothes Show Live at the NEC in my home town of Birmingham, which I've been going to for so many years, it's become me and my mums tradition; so you can imagine the excitement! The Clothes Show Live always does their best to put on a fantastic catwalk show for their visitors every year and this year they exceeded all expectations and were amazing! Very Impressive! However, besides the catwalk show, their main attraction is the massive hall of shopping, and I have to say, this year I was extremely disappointed.

Being a size 12/14 gal growing up I have always suffered with body image issues and being self conscience with my weight around my peers, so reaching the stage of being 18 and absolutely proud of the way I look was a massive milestone for me; especially in todays society with the media the way it is (blog post on this soon guys!!). 

Every year I always look forward to shopping at The Clothes Show as it allows me to easily shop at brands that I normally wouldn't think of looking at (and also its sooo much cheaper, haha!). However, when perusing the isles this year, I was so disheartened to find that most of the clothes from less well-known, up and coming 'boutique' stores (which The Clothes Show is full of) mostly only ranged to a size 10 and their styles that they sold just wouldn't suit my body shape. For example a cropped t-shirt/jumper or short legged jeans that were advertised for the 'smaller lady'. It was almost as if I'd walked into the petite section in TopShop!

As a girl of a moderately larger clothing size I find this hugely offensive that a brand hasn't even considered to acknowledge the fact that I might want to buy their clothes and just suggests to me that they don't think I will be a good advertisement for their brand. However, they've actually just potentially lost lots of business, because I was massively put off by any brand I found that did this. 

After leaving The Clothes Show disappointed and aggravated, I decided to do some more research into other brands that also took this view. If you’re a teen girl, or have shopped with one lately, you’ve probably heard of Brandy Melville. They are an Italian brand that set up in the U.S. around six years ago, and has lately enraptured teens’ hearts and purses with its social media savvy, targeted product research, and very special niche: They only offer one size, small, under the banner "one size fits most". - *Deep breathes" - you can imagine my frustration!!

As we don't have a store here I had a quick scan at their Instagram instead, which instantly showed me most of what I needed to know. With more than two million followers, @brandymelvilleusa predominantly features white girls with long, blonde hair wearing cozy, loose-fitting clothes, worn-in and distressed to perfection; but these girls all have something else in common: Without exception, they are very, very thin. WHY?!

Unsurprisingly, not everyone likes this brand strategy as I found that many people were asking "'One size fits most' of whom?". Obviously a store has the right to sell to whomever it pleases, and Brandy Melville certainly has the right to only make clothes for the select few to whom every other store in the country already caters; but in todays society where teens are bombarded with negative body image throughout their day to day lives I think its unnecessary to add more pressure.

As I said early, this is a topic that is very close to my heart as it is something that has really effected me and I really hope that I won't be seeing this with any brands in years to come, especially for the younger generations sake. This blog post was not meant to pick apart Brandy Melville and I am sure that they would argue that their marketing strategy is their choice, however

"JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING, DOESNT MEAN YOU SHOULD"

Please feel free to write your own opinion in the comment section below or if you have any questions. Any opinion is valid and I really hope you found this post interesting!

Much Love,

Becky xo