Growing Up Plus Size
Sitting in the sand on St. Pete Beach, FL in my comfy Chic Soul pullover.
In the middle of Times Square wearing my adorable pink pullover from Chic Soul.
It’s a weird way to start my birthday but its time to talk about one of my biggest insecurities. This story gets happy I swear! Over the past year I’ve fallen in love with fashion and I think a lot of that has to do with me finally feeling comfortable in my own skin. However, growing up plus size has never been easy especially when it comes to trying to find clothes that made me comfortable.
That’s why I am so thankful for companies like Chic Soul for making my fashion endeavors a whole lot easier. Chis Soul is an online retailer that offers clothes for ladies sizes 10-24. Thank you so much Chic Soul for sending me an amazing birthday present, a box of beautiful plus size clothes!
When I was little, my mom said she’d rather get a root canal then go shopping with me. Maybe I wasn’t the best shopper but I had a good excuse: I hated shopping for clothes. After dealing with years of bullying about my weight, it defiantly had an effect on how I viewed myself which made clothes shopping very hard on me and my mom. I didn’t like the way I looked in anything and my confidence plummeted. Fast forward to everyone’s favorite time for self loathing, middle school. When I was in 8th grade, my friends and I were obsessed with going to the mall. Nearly every weekend we were eating at Johnny Rockets, getting a Starbucks, riding the carousel, and going shopping. My friend’s favorite thing to do was to find outfits for each other to try on. While this was a harmless, regular 14 year old girl thing, it sent me into a mild panic. It was supposed to be a fun game but unfortunately that game only works if you’re “normal” sized. For me, it was humiliating. Every weekend someone would try to find an outfit for me and every weekend the sizes weren’t big enough. It really took a toll on my self confidence. These mall days were some of my favorite memories but they always ended in me hating how I looked.
On my last birthday I made it my goal to do what I can to become a confident version of myself and I think I’ve done that. This past year I’ve been lucky enough to surround myself with people who brought out the best of me and have made me realize I am so much more that my weight. I’m also lucky to see people in the media like Lizzo who focus on body positivity and boosting confidence in beautiful women.
The fashion world hasn’t been too kind for people like me. So many of their expectations are constricting to people whose body types are nearly unobtainable. And the few places that specialize in plus size clothes are generally really expensive. I am so thankful for Chic Soul for giving people like me a way to express themselves through beautiful looks and not break the bank. I think if I had a store like this growing up my self image would have been very different. If I’d have seen beautiful clothes for plus size ladies then I’d probably have been much more excited to go shopping with my mom.
So to anyone who has felt the way I’ve felt, here’s my birthday wish: believe you’re beautiful. It takes time but if you have the right people around you, you’ll get there. Now go listen to some Lizzo and take a look at Chic Soul’s Black Friday sale, I know I will.