No, One Size Does Not Fit All

I struggle with body image and insecurity. How I look is seldom far from my mind; I’m almost always thinking about whether my thighs look big in a certain pair of shorts or if my stomach looks flat in a certain dress.

I am far from alone in this. Fifty-three percent of 13-year-old girls feel “unhappy with their bodies,” and this number balloons to 78 percent by the time they're 17.

The biggest culprit of this epidemic is the media, which advertises a certain universally accepted beauty standard for women. Anyone who does not fit that standard should buy this eye cream to fix those pesky wrinkles or these slimming tights to smooth those disgusting fat rolls. This standard, though, is unattainable. The “perfect woman” in the glossy magazines isn’t real; she was created with makeup and airbrushing.

Thankfully, the problem is getting better. Many brands have realized that they need to update their practices to reflect the increasingly body-positive world. The clothing retailer Aerie, for example, started the campaign #AerieREAL, in which it announced it would no longer retouch its models. Several others, like Loft and Anthropologie, have introduced a wider range of sizes in their stores, sending a message of inclusivity. Sadly, one brand has not taken part in this: the wildly popular and influential Brandy Melville.

Brandy Melville is a brand serving adolescent girls and young women, and its impact on teen fashion is undeniable: simply walk around Stuyvesant or any other high school in the country, and you’ll see dozens of girls sporting its dresses, jewelry, skirts, and more. However, its impact reaches beyond what girls want on their bodies; it influences how girls want their bodies to look. From its products to its advertisements, Brandy Melville sends the message that to be accepted, you have to be skinny.

A quick glance at its website reveals that all its models look exactly the same. If you were to tell me that Brandy Melville uses one model for every picture, I’d believe you. Their body types are identical: flat stomachs, long and thin legs, wide hips, and small breasts. This is further reinforced by its Instagram page, which features girls who look the same and have the aforementioned body type; many even look thin to the point of emaciation.

It is not inherently wrong for a clothing brand to cater to one body type. Several brands, like Lane Bryant, which targets plus-size women, do this. What makes Brandy Melville’s extremely exclusionary advertising a problem is its “one size fits all” policy. “One size,” in this case, does not “fit all,” or even most. Brandy Melville’s sole size is the equivalence of a size 0-2 or waist size 25. For reference, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that the average waist size for a teenage girl is about 32.6. Claiming that a size 0 “fits all” means that if you are not size 0, you are not welcome in this store. If you are not size 0, you are abnormal; you are not part of the acceptable “all.”

This has significant implications for teenage girls. Being given the message that you are considerably overweight even if you are healthy can lower self-esteem and lead to body dysmorphia, a disorder in which you see yourself as having flaws that are imperceptible to others.

This isn’t just speculation. Being a teenage girl myself, I can attest to the damaging nature of Brandy Melville’s one size fits all policy. The first and last time I set foot in the store, I was there with my cousin. I had heard about its discriminatory policy and had seen its Instagram page, and I knew it wouldn’t be good for me to go because of my issues with body image and insecurity. But I obliged my cousin, who loved to shop there, and went against my better judgment. As soon as I set foot inside the store, I felt a sort of disconnect between myself and everyone else there.

I am of a healthy and average weight for my age group, but I felt absolutely gargantuan looking at all the skinny girls. It felt like some kind of club that I wasn’t good enough to be in. Still, I found some clothes I liked and went to the dressing room, where I soon discovered that there was no way the clothes I had picked out could fit over my body without literally bursting at the seams. To be told that you are atypically overweight for not being able to fit into a size 0 is absurd, but at the time, all I could think about was what a disgusting freak I was for not being able to fit into clothes designed for everyone to be able to wear. I left the store in tears, and I didn’t eat anything for the rest of the day.

Brandy Melville isn’t the only or the first brand to have a one size fits all policy. The difference is that other stores have clothes that genuinely fit all, like pants with elastic or drawstrings, while Brandy Melville’s clothes do not differ at all from regular sized clothes. Essentially, Brandy Melville designs a product, only produces a size 0 version, and claims it fits all.

The only products that have sizes are their pants, and even those only come in Small and Medium. Though this is little in terms of inclusivity, it suggests that Brandy Melville, like any other brand, is at least capable of carrying multiple sizes. It should, of course, be expanded to a much wider range, to represent the wide range of body types. There is no one average size for a teenage girl, and claiming that a size 0 “fits all” is damaging to girls’ mental health and body image. It’s time for Brandy Melville to recognize that.