This Woman’s Viral Pic Proves That Sizes on Your Clothing Labels Don’t Matter

Every Body celebrates inclusivity and the representation of human beings in every shape and form.

It’s no secret that many clothing companies often use vanity sizing, marking sizes as smaller than they actually are to entice shoppers into buying. It not only makes finding out what size you *really* are basically impossible, but it can reinforce a frustrating and confusing relationship with our own bodies. But really, the problem is non-standardized sizing across the board.

Some companies, luckily, are starting to do away with sizing altogether. And as one woman’s viral before-and-after photo emphasizes, it’s about time. She’s proving that the sizes on clothing tags are basically meaningless.

Michelle Elman is a certified body confidence coach and body positive activist who often uses her Instagram account to celebrate her own body and document overcoming her own insecurities. Recently, she shared a picture of herself in the same dress taken five years apart. In the first picture, taken in 2012, Elman is a size 12. In the second photo, taken this year, she’s a size 20. The dress is a size 14, and as you can see from the photo, it fit her just as well at BOTH sizes. WTF?

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NUMBERS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. I found a dress in my cupboard the other day that I had since I was in sixth form. The dress is a size 14. I bought it 5 years ago when I was a size 12. Now, I'm a size 20. And yet, I still fit it. Which just proves that NUMBERS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. So are you really going to let a change a dress size dictate your day? Are you really going to let an increase in a number affect your mood? Same dress. Still comfortable. Still beautiful. (In fact, I think I look better and happier now!) A higher dress size doesn't mean: - you are less beautiful - you are less worthy - you are less lovable - you are a worse human - you are a bad person - you are a different person AND it doesn't even mean you have a bigger body. You could go up a dress size by simply changing stores... (or countries). You can change dress sizes because of the time of the day or simply due to whether you are on your period or not. If you look at your cupboard and you find it harder and harder to find something to wear because of a change in clothing size, I have a great solution for you... throw out all clothes that don't fit. Looking at your wardrobe shouldn't be something that makes you feel insecure and sad so make sure everything in your wardrobe fits! Numbers don't matter. Not the number on the back of your jeans, on the scale or even the number in your bank account. You are not a number. #OneTakeBeauty #BodyPositivity EDIT: For anyone saying I'm lying about my size. Check my stories

A post shared by Michelle Elman (@scarrednotscared) on May 29, 2017 at 8:07am PDT

In the photo’s caption, Elman puts it pretty bluntly: “NUMBERS DON’T MEAN ANYTHING.” The changes that have happened in her body over the years haven’t stopped the dress from fitting, but if she’d simply looked at the size on the tag and thrown in out during a closet purge, she never would have known.

“I think I look better and happier now!” she writes. “You could go up a dress size by simply changing stores (or countries). You can change dress sizes because of the time of the day or simply due to whether you are on your period or not.” Too real.

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When I found body positivity, I couldn't find me. Where was the girl with the scars? Scars are something you don't think about unless you have them. Scars are something that aren't discussed, especially when you do have them. Everyone in body positivity was talking about weight and so the only marks they discussed were weight related ones - stretch marks but HOW ABOUT SCARS?! This is why I started Scarred Not Scared. Instead of complaining about a community that was meant to be inclusive, I created a space for it. Instead of feeling left out, I forced myself in. Instead of saying "what about me?", I started saying "why not me?". Instead of feeling snubbed and ignored, I introduced myself, said hi and made friends with people who I can now call life-long friends. When I launched my campaign in 2013, I still hesitated when I called myself Scarred. The important thing is that I said it though, even if my voice wobbled while doing so. I made my first video about it, even though I didn't know all the answers and within a year, talking about scars became normal to me. Scarred Not Scared is my passion project, my pride and joy. Mindset For Life was my coaching business, my career, my job. You don't have a mindset for life, you evolve, you shift, you grow. Back in 2013, I didn't realise how much of my trauma I hadn't yet released. Now I have and now I must evolve. To mark the occasion, I'm changing my username. I'm still ME, I'm still Michelle Elman but now, I'm @scarrednotscared And I can't think of a better way to mark today than to be in that very same bikini that started it all, using the body I love to go swimming with one of the people in my life that I love most. See you tomorrow, for now, I'm off swimming with my bestie 😘 #SCARREDNOTSCARED

A post shared by Michelle Elman (@scarrednotscared) on May 25, 2017 at 7:00am PDT

Elman has had a number of health issues and undergone many surgeries in her young life. She started her online Scarred Not Scared community to advocate for body positivity and to help others overcome insecurities over their perceived imperfections — like her own surgery scars. Whether she’s putting vanity sizing on blast or reminder her followers to embrace all of their “flaws,” her perspective is a super important one.

“Simply having a working body — a body that keeps you breathing — you are lucky,” she says in one of her Youtube videos. “And you’re lucky to be here.” We couldn’t agree more.

Do you pay attention to clothing sizes, or just wear what fits and feels good? Let us know @BritandCo!

(h/t Good to Know; photo via Liam Norris/Getty )