Mom Tries To Fit Into Pre-Baby Size, Moment Of Clarity Ensues
Constance Hall’s encounter with a store employee reminds us no dress size is better than another
Blogger Constance Hall posted recently about a shopping incident that most of us are probably familiar with. As is her style, she keeps it incredibly real. And incredibly funny.
Her latest anecdote is about body image, clothing sizes and being truthful with ourselves. She was browsing a rack at a store when an employee got a bit bold suggesting she might have more success elsewhere.
The employee thought Hall might fare better at a rack with bigger sizes, since she was only looking at sixes and eights. Ouch. Any woman would probably bristle at another woman sizing them up (literally) and deciding they look like they’re a bit lost. At first, Hall was indignant and swept into her dressing room with a size six dress both she and the shop assistant knew wouldn’t fit. The result was getting totally stuck in said dress. Whoops.
Hall emerges from the dressing room where she tells the employee the color didn’t suit her. The employee replied sweetly with a compliment about how she was one of those women who looks good in any color.
That was when Hall had her epiphany; it wasn’t the shop employee body-shaming her by nudging her toward different sizes, she was body-shaming herself by taking offense at the woman calling her out for the size she actually wears. Hall writes, “She wasn’t body shaming my delicious #mumbod she was being practical, it was ME who body shamed myself by taking offence! Today was a reminder that NO dress sizes are BETTER then any OTHER.”
Bingo.
As women, we’re often told by society and the media that a certain size is ideal and if we are anything above that magic number (or if anyone suggests we are) it’s reason to beat ourselves up and feel less-than. Hall’s store encounter and resulting light-bulb moment is something we all need to hear. There’s no shame in wearing one size over another — they’re just numbers. We need to focus on loving ourselves as we are and not defining our worth by a stupid digit on a tag.
Most women are guilty of getting hung up on the totally arbitrary sizing of women’s clothing. Even if we’re happy with how we look it can still sting to have to go up a size in certain stores. Why do we let it get to us? Do we look less hot because we’re wearing a 10 instead of an eight? It’s so ridiculous and Hall’s post is an excellent wake-up call for women who have had a similar experience.
As she says, “It’s YOUR BODY. You only have ONE. Love it.”
Amen.
