Just in case you need a friendly reminder: your clothing size does not define your beauty or worth. Actually, one South African blogger proves that your clothing size doesn’t mean anything at all.
Body-positive activist Mira Hirsch went to a local clothing store and tried on two different colored pants in the same size.
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She snapped a photo of herself in the dressing room while modeling each pair and shared the side-by-side snap with Instagram followers. Along with her candid photo, Hirsche wrote a PSA about the clothing industry’s skewed system and why numbers on your clothes are useless.
“I was looking for a pair of pants and found both of these in the same size in different sections of the store…” she began. “The maroon pair had a label saying ‘New Fit’ and the mint pair had nothing. Both were my size yet one pair couldn’t even close and the other pair was a little loose?”
Hirsch shared that she used to “dread” shopping for clothes because of the way these size discrepancies affected her confidence level.
“You look for something in your usual size, it doesn’t fit and you end up leaving the store feeling so s—y about yourself. Letting diet culture kick in, and self loathing take over. I know I did,” she admitted.
But the 18-year-old isn’t letting this bad experience ruin her perception of her worth. She used it instead to empower others who may be feeling the same.
“Stop trying to fit into the ‘ideal size’! Wear clothes that you feel funky in!” Hirsch preached to her more than 100,000 followers. “Who the hell cares if it’s a few sizes bigger or smaller than what you normally wear.”
“Take back your power and wear whatever size and style you desire… love the skin you’re in!” she concluded.
Her body-positive clap back to the clothing industry has other women speaking out about their own struggles to find proper clothing and to look past the number it may read.
“Dressing rooms are my worst enemy for this reason. Nothing makes you feel worthless like trying clothes on at the store,” one user commented to share her frustration.
Another says she’s fed up with the industry’s excuses: “I’ve had this happen before, I even told the store employee and she said ‘their fits can vary based on fabrics and materials…’ Ya right, you go girl!”
After seeing other bloggers get real about the same ill-fitting clothing issues, isn’t it time the apparel industry listens to our complaints? Until then, just look at those numbers as arbitrary additions to your favorite jeans and tops.
