My little old (very old now!) Plus Size Blog is 10 years old. Blimey, how time flies. I started this blog when my Pops was just one. I was a new mum, I was struggling with my sense of self, my abilities as a mum and probably in the most part my body image.
A Plus Size Blog changed my life…
Just a few years before I stumbled upon the plus size blog world, I’d undergone weight loss surgery. I’d lost 7 stone, but I was still fat and it was something I was struggling to come to terms with. I saw myself as an immense failure. I’d started slipping into old disordered eating habits. I was in an incredibly dark place mentally and physically. I was at breaking point.
To say the blog saved my life is by no means a dramatic exaggeration. It’s scarily true.
From The Ramblings of Mrs BeBe to Becky Barnes Blog
Ahh how many blogs back then were called ‘the ramblings of…’ not very original, but at the time it felt right. I was just my random ramblings, fashion snippets, musings and everything in between. But the plus size fashion element was so important to me.
I have been plus size all my life really. When I started senior school my trousers were a size 16. I’ve never known any different. But even as the ‘big girl’ fashion has always been incredibly important to me. I needed to convey who I was because there was no way people could see past this big fat exterior, so I wanted to find another way to speak over the noise of my body, and for me, that was in the power of fashion.
But being plus size in the 90s wasn’t easy. It was Evans or nothing. So I had to get creative. Even back then I would buy vintage jackets, my nanna would make me clothes. I would repurpose pencil skirts into boob tubes because you couldn’t get them in size fat.
So even when my body became my enemy, I still had fashion, I clung onto it like a chubby life raft. So, when I discovered plus size bloggers in my darkest hour, I felt like I’d been rescued and hauled onto a big old boat of fabulousness.
Trials, tribulations, degrees and divorces
Those who have been here since day dot will know about my mental health struggles, the ups and downs. The parenting challenges, the divorce, the degree and more. It’s been a bumpy ride, but I’m glad I had you lot along with me.
It’s not all been bad though, there’s been few successful events (remember Plus North?) Awards, modelling jobs, and some incredible friendships.
So, to each and every one of you who took the time to read, comment, share, support and inspire, thank you. Thank you from the depths of my heart and soul. You did more than you can ever imagine.
My little corner of the internet doesn’t always get the love it deserves, but I’m not done yet, and I’ll keep on plugging away because I genuinely love it. More than words can say to be honest.