I went down to my local shop to get a couple of bits and pieces and when I got to the checkout I couldn’t help but warm to the woman behind the counter. She was sweet, friendly and helpful. But I also couldn’t help but notice that her clothes were two sizes too small. Her trousers clung to her thighs, her cardigan hugged her chest and was so tiny that her stomach was hanging out bare. Her outfit was nice, she wasn’t overweight, but the fit was all wrong.

She was so confident in her armour and it appeared as though she was so used to wearing ill fitting clothes that if she chose to wear her size it would have taken some getting used to. So often many of us do wear ill fitting clothes and more often than not ill fitting partners. There is something lacking, lack of appreciation, lack of understanding and lack of treating us they way we should be treated yet we still persist to make them our size. Perhaps we want them to fit so bad we ignore the fact that they are two sizes too small.

I’ve always thought that this was o.k because in time you could learn how to fit. But after seeing the sweet woman, I realised the only way she would suit those clothes was if she lost weight, but why should she have to change? Instead of changing herself to make her chosen outfit work all she has to do is find the perfect fit.

Text: Michele Obi