I, like many other young people before me, have inevitably felt the pressures to look a certain way, fit into a certain dress size, and conform to a specific image of body perfection which, quite frankly, more often than not was bloody impossible to achieve. Yet, as things begin to change in the world of fashion, something is changing in the minds of young people as well. Whenever I log onto Facebook, there are a myriad of images relating to body positivity, articles popping up containing mantras to keep fit for strength, not to be skinny. It’s empowering and certainly ticks all the boxes when it comes to getting a confidence kick. But there still are ways that shops, designers, and the media could project a better sense of healthy body image. It’s as if it is a never-ending battle against a perceived state of bodily perfection, which is not the reality for most of the population. Both men and women are bombarded on a daily basis, sometimes hourly depending on when they have access to online media etc., with images of how they should look, what they should be wearing, what they should be eating, and what exercise they should be doing. At times it is too confusing to try and figure out which diet is best, or which training regime will garner the right results, or which new-fangled celebrity lifestyle is the one to emulate.

There are so many avenues to explore, that sometimes it is easy to forget that just eating right, and finding exercise that you enjoy doing, is enough. Although, even the most body positive people in the world cannot deny the creeping in of negative feelings about the way they look, or what size they wear, when they see the so-called ‘ideal’ body image. For men, this is muscly and toned.

Think washboard abs, bulging biceps, and legs of steel. For women, more often than not, this ‘ideal’ image is simply skin and bones. And who are the worst culprits for projecting this ideation? The answer is straightforward, and right before our eyes: high-street shops.

Many a clothing shop has been struck by the perils of negative social media in recent years, as customers have posted images of the rake-thin plastic clothing models, as well as the apparently ‘plus-size’ ones, which come in at a size 10. When the average women’s dress size in the UK is currently a size 14, this labelling of size 10 as ‘plus-size’ is not only ironic, but also disgusting. What kind of image does that force upon young shoppers?

For many reasons, this is probably linked to the sudden surge in body positivity companies and social media accounts in recent years. From a clothing brand for women called ‘Healthy is the new Skinny’, to plus-size models such as Tess Holliday, the rules are beginning to be broken. No longer are the glossy pages of magazines kept only for the top supermodels, but now women and men with real bodies are gracing the pages, showing the world that, while it’s alright to be skinny, it’s also acceptable to be you – whatever size that may be.