SIZE 14: BEING A FASHION INBETWEENER.

Being a size 14 in the fashion blogging world is almost like no mans land - an a la mode purgatory or middle ground if you will.

Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve been everything from a gaunt size 6 to a rubenesque size 18, yet this ‘happy medium’ is probably the place that feels most odd to me since I’ve taken up ‘fashion blogging’, or more, sharing photos of what I’m wearing on the Internet. I put fashion blogging within quotation marks because I feel like it seems to fall into two categories on the internet, neither of which I feel like I fit in with.

I’m absolutely not slim enough (or toned enough!) to sit among the quintessential, cookie cutter 'Instagram girl/fashion blogger' etc, but at a UK size 14 (16 on a bad day ;) I’m not large enough to be
classed really as plus size.

Outfit details:

Striped broderie top (similar), Tapered linen trouser, Khaki jacket, Birkenstocks, Straw bag, Gold bangle.

And what's more, whilst I'm pretty well catered for on the highstreet (let's not get into the fact that most designer or high end clothes only go up to a size 12..), most straight size clothing seems to be cut for the proportions of those at the lower end of the size spectrum. I can't count how many times I've tried on a top to find it's my boobs that don't fit! I've got to say a lot of size 14-16 people aren't just a 'wider' version of a size 8-10 - they've different proportions. So I think being expected to fit into clothing that's been cut to the proportions of a much smaller size is a bit absurd, and can make you feel a bit down about yourself. Considering a size 14 is the UK women's average, it'd be nice for clothes to be cut to a more average proportion, and to see some size 14 mannequins and models about, that weren't considered 'plus size', don't you think?

Both the 'Instagram girl/fashion blogger' and plus size communities seem to be really populous, and there’s so much support and representation for either side, but I feel like us ‘fashion inbetweeners’, that drift about somewhere in the middle, are really underrepresented here in the blogging/Internet space - especially on Instagram.

The truth is, I like food. All food (just about), from sushi to junk food, and I shan’t be coerced to discriminate! ;) Coupled with the fact that I deeply detest exercise, it’s a cert that I’m never going to be the waiflike self of my youth (achieved via an eating disorder and exceedingly bad food habits), but equally, I’d like not to be much bigger than I am now (I don’t need my thighs to stick together anymore than they already do!)

I suppose the nub and jist of this post is that I feel us average Joe's ought to be better represented here on the internet (especially Instagram) so that we're constantly reminded that we should feel content being any size and shape.

xx