{"id":3716,"date":"2019-01-27T07:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T07:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tilibeauty.co.uk\/?p=3716"},"modified":"2019-01-27T07:00:52","modified_gmt":"2019-01-27T07:00:52","slug":"anushka-moore-the-body-positivity-lessons-of-midsize-collective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/beauty-insider\/josie-e\/anushka-moore-the-body-positivity-lessons-of-midsize-collective\/","title":{"rendered":"Anushka Moore: the body positivity lessons of Midsize Collective"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AnushkaAnushka Moore is the founder of the Midsize Collective<\/a> Instagram account, and blogs at Mascara Every Saturday<\/a>.\u00a0Here she talks about how seeing mid-sized women on social media every day has helped her in her own quest for body positivty.<\/h3>\n

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It was my first day back at Zumba after the Christmas break and I couldn\u2019t help but wonder, as I used my elbows to fight for the tiny square of space I had to do our routine in, why the class had been so much busier than usual. My question was answered when I overheard two of my Zumba teacher\u2019s \u2018Front Row Divas\u2019 talking after class. \u201cNEW YEAR NEW ME!\u201d one of them exclaimed excitedly as I inwardly cringed.<\/p>\n

The Front Row Divas were usually the first to arrive at every class, bagged the spaces right behind the instructor and knew the moves to a level of precision that they could put her out of a job if she wasn\u2019t careful. Front Row Diva A was telling Front Row Diva B that she had done three classes every morning that week. \u201cIt\u2019s never too early to get bikini body ready, babe!\u201d she claimed as she mimicked the sassy girl emoji. And here I was thinking all one needed to have a bikini body was to own a body and a bikini at the same time.<\/p>\n

She then went on to bring out her phone and reference a bunch of bikini photos of her favourite Instagram influencer holidaying it up in Cartagena, while they both commented on how amazing she was for fitting into her size 6 jeans again after having a baby a month ago.<\/p>\n

the rest of us, who ironically make up majority of the British population, were completely left out of the fashion narrative<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I walked back to my car, I couldn\u2019t help but think of how far I had come. A couple of years ago, their casual exchange would have left me, a size 14 (okay, sometimes 16 depending on the brand) feeling depressed, inadequate and insecure. 2019, however, truly was the birth of a new me, because 2018 had worked hard to help me get there, mentally and emotionally. 2018 was the year I had started Midsize Collective<\/a> \u2013 an Instagram account that reposted images of fashionable girls between UK size 10 and 18 who had been forgotten by fashion.<\/p>\n

If you think about it, scroll through your Instagram Explore page looking for influencers who look like they have a similar body to you at a size 12 or a 14, and all you\u2019d find are the size 6-8s or the sized 18, 20 and above. Not like there\u2019s anything wrong with being any of those sizes as all bodies are beautiful. But the rest of us, who ironically make up majority of the British population, were completely left out of the fashion narrative, especially by the fashion brands we love who may stock our sizes, but still divide us into \u2018Regular\u2019 and \u2018Curve\u2019 accounts online, leaving the rest of us with no home to go to. Till Midsize came along, that is.<\/p>\n

The page is a truly inspiring place not only because it allows you to discover influencers you relate to because they have body types that may look like your own, but because it urges you to experiment with new styles because you can see somebody with a similar body shape rocking it, without worrying about whether it \u2018flatters\u2019 her or not. She wears it because she loves it and it makes her feel good. And if she can do it, I can, too!<\/p>\n

We also regularly discuss issues surrounding body positivity and body image issues, because it is so important for us to have these conversations for the fashion industry, and ultimately the world, to evolve out of fat shaming and thin privilege and instead, move towards a world that is more body positive, accepting and encouraging of women.<\/p>\n

Since starting the page in July 2018 and growing to almost 20K followers since (the first 3K of which happened in the first 24 hours!), I have been so touched to have received messages from women telling me how they had been waiting for a page like this and that this is what had been missing from their lives for the longest time. That they finally felt accepted and celebrated, were experimenting with clothes they never thought they could wear and that it had done so much for their self-confidence and body image issues.<\/p>\n

Losing weight is not your life\u2019s purpose and, your weight doesn\u2019t define who you are. You are more than a number on a scale<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps the most emotional messages were those I had received from women who struggled with or knew someone who actively struggled with eating disorders or mental health problems stemming from deep-rooted self-esteem issues. A lot of them said that after following the page and seeing girls who looked like them leading normal, happy fulfilling lives without caring about what others thought about the way they looked, that they finally felt like a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders.<\/p>\n

Six months on, I feel so privileged to have started the page and feel like it has given me and taught me more than I will ever be able to do for it in return. A lot of those messages turned into ongoing conversations that evolved into real friendships. And the lessons it has taught me are so invaluable, I\u2019m going to carry them with me for years to come. Here are some of the lessons in body positivity I learned from starting Midsize Collective, in the hope that you won\u2019t have to learn them the hard way like I did, at first:<\/p>\n