My Experience with “Sizing Up” in a “One Size Fits All” World

My days of standing proud with a full, round tummy as a toddler came to a halt at the start of elementary school. I remember inspecting my appearance in the mirror in second grade. I turned sideways and saw my least favorite feature pop out — my stomach. I didn’t understand why I didn’t look like the other girls in my grade. All of the girls developed at different rates in my grade; my body changed all at once like a tsunami.

I graduated from Aeropostale’s size zero in jeans to a size two, and eventually to a four in middle school. Then, the dreaded day came where I could no longer fit into a four, which was considered the “norm” and “average” size for girls. I looked longingly at the size four section and slipped on a size six, mournfully watching as they fit. I hated shopping for clothes, moving to another section of the aisles of clothing. It felt unheard of for women in general. 

But my insecurities didn’t stop. In fact, they got worse. Freshman year of high school, pulling up skinny jeans, struggling to button them. The sound of the rip still rings in my ears. This is what my life had come to. Sizes had become a measure of my worth. I put a number on a pedestal as one of the factors for being perfect. 

I spent countless nights crying about being “fat” because I couldn’t fit into the “perfect size.” Something my mom used to tell me when I whined about not being able to wear certain clothes was “we are all built differently.” It never stuck with me until I finally accepted that we can’t all physically be the same size. 

Now, I love shopping like I used to. New clothes are like retail therapy after clearing my closet of old ones I don’t wear anymore. Sizes don’t define me. When I walk into any clothing store, I try on all different sizes, because each style fits me differently. Not all stores run the same — some run on the smaller side, and some run bigger. Wearing the right size of clothing built my confidence, and I lost the baggy clothes that I would typically wear to hide my insecure areas. 

Let’s look at sizes in a different light. Each number size should be replaced with a nice adjective about yourself because in the end, they are just numbers. Words mean so much more. 

• jeans
• one size
• perfect
• pretty
• self worth