It’s nearly summer, so you decide to take yourself to the mall to get a few of the essentials: a swimsuit, flip flops, shorts, a sun hat—or whatever floats your boat. You waltz into one of your favorite stores, still in your pre-summer daze, and begin grabbing various pieces that catch your eye.
You try on a few bathing suits and tanks, and you’re feeling pretty good about what you see in the mirror.
You walk out of the dressing room and make your way to the cash register—and then you spot it: a floral slip dress that pretty much screams “summer.”
So, you do what any other inquiring shopper would do: you walk over and check to see if they have the dress in your size.
You glance at the tag and much to your surprise, it says, “One Size.”
You decide to test this theory and try it on; the clothing company has to know what it’s talking about, right?
You pull the dress over your head and glance at your reflection, only to find that—surprise, surprise—it doesn’t fit as well as you had hoped.
The straps are too long, the fabric is flimsy, and it hugs your body in all the wrong places. You realize that one size apparently does not fit all.
Companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and Lululemon have come under fire in the recent past due to their exclusion or elimination of plus sizes. As of late, however, clothing companies are taking this sense of exclusion to a whole new level. Some establishments have started carrying clothes or even basing their entire line upon the one size fits all label.
One of the most popular seems to be the California-inspired Brandy Melville brand. There may only be a select few Brandy Melville stores in the US, but the brand has been gaining popularity among young women by featuring some of its collections in age-targeted stores like Pacsun.
Though one size may not fit most of us, one size certainly seems to fit all Brandy Melville models. When logging on to the brand’s website, one thing immediately stands out: the models’ uniformity. They are all long-legged, tanned, thin and white.
This type of image-branding sends an overt message to young girls, and it certainly isn’t a positive one. Companies like Brandy Melville are basically telling their consumers that, in order to be fashion-forward or beautiful, they have to be able to fit into one certain size—which is only a small or medium according to the Brandy Melville online store.
According to The Huffington Post, Brandy Melville skinny jeans only fit sizes 0-2, or, in other words, a woman with 25-inch waist. The average size of a 16-year-old woman, on the other hand, is approximately 138 pounds with a 31-inch waist.
Sophomore and former HC WVWC Style Icon, Olivia Hancock, says that it is imperative for young women to realize that we don’t live in a one size fits all society.
“I think one size fits all is unrealistic because no matter your size, everyone is built differently,” she says. “The problem comes in when girls fail to realize that it’s unrealistic. It becomes especially harmful when they are fed the idea that they must look like the women in these shops.”
One size does not fit all, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Women come in all different shapes and sizes—and they’re all beautiful.
We cannot base our sense of self-worth on a size or a number.
Instead, we must learn to base our self-esteem on what we love about ourselves and what distinguishes us from our peers, whether it be our physical appearance, our accomplishments or our strong character—not our pants size.