style story: brianna campos
on body grief and reclaiming florals in a plus size body
“It can be overwhelming to witness/experience/take in all the injustices of the moment; the good news is that they’re all connected. So if your little corner of work involves pulling at one of the threads, you’re helping to unravel the whole damn cloth.”1
I saw this quote once and I never forgot it. If each person tugs at their thread, together we’ll unravel the system. After last week, I’m not sure I have faith any more that the full unraveling will ever happen, but this is my thread to pull. The fewer restrictions women put on ourselves when we get dressed, the more time and energy we have to keep working towards a better world. The less time we spend thinking about changing our bodies and what we should be wearing, the more time we have to break down the systems in place.
On to today’s style story:
While a changing body may be normal, it doesn’t mean it’s easy, and an aspect of that process that isn’t talked about enough is grief. There is grief in letting go of clothes that no longer fit and in buying clothes in a size you don’t want to accept. No one has taught me more about this than . Her work has helped me personally navigate body shifts and I recommend it to pretty much every client I work with. I couldn’t follow Bri’s work without noticing her love for clothes and style. I knew I wanted to hear her style story. This post is photo heavy, so please click through if you’re on email to read the full story. Enjoy!
Q: Introduce yourself, your work, and how you spend your time.
A: Hi! My name is Bri and I'm a Body Image coach and a trained mental health counselor. I am the CEO of Body Image With Bri which focuses on body image education through the lens of body grief. Utilizing a fat positive approach, I combine my clinical skills and lived experience to teach others how to maneuver through their own individual body image exploration. When I’m not busy being a successful girlboss, I enjoy reading, power-watching TV shows, and hanging out with my friends at the spa or some sort of body of water! I also have a ten year old cat named Olaf!
Q: What was your style like when you were a child?
A: I didn't have a lot of options as a kid since I was in a bigger body. My family bought me clothes in the kids section when that wasn't really what fit me.
Q: Growing up, what messages were you given about what you should or shouldn’t wear (and from whom or where do you think those messages came)?
A: I heard a lot of rules about bodies and clothes like “certain bodies shouldn’t wear stripes” which I heard from my family, but it was also reinforced by the media.
Q: How has your style evolved since you were younger and what phases have you gone through with your style (i.e. high school grunge phase, early working days business casual phase, etc)?
A: I really continued my habit of clothing scarcity into my adulthood by finding whatever fit rather than finding things I really liked. Now I wear not only things that fit, but also things that spark joy and that I want to show off!
Q: How have external pressures to conform to the ideal standard of beauty and the thought of how others view you affected your style?
A: While I no longer subscribe to diet culture and its expectations, shopping in a larger body (aka being confined to stores with a larger size range) can make it difficult for me to really hone in on my style. A lot of times I am at the mercy of whatever is available. This forces me to be creative in order to cultivate a closet that I love.
Q: How have your sense of style and shopping habits shifted along with changes in your body?
A: Back in my disordered days, new clothing was reserved for a smaller body so when I lost weight, I would get new clothes. The issue was that these clothes were then short lived since the body I was in was not sustainable. This led me to have a closet full of clothes that didn't fit. This also then caused me to feel shame about not fitting the majority of the clothes in my closet that were new. Every time I would change over my seasonal clothes, I would be filled with fear over not fitting into the clothes I had packed away just a few months earlier. Now that I have stopped dieting and I actually buy clothes in the size that I am, I no longer feel that dread when changing over my seasonal clothes.
Q: What barriers do you encounter in trying to express your style? Are there any situations or spaces you feel your style prohibits you from accessing or gives you better access to?
A: As I explained earlier, clothing isn’t as accessible to me as it is to those in smaller bodies OR as it was to ME in my smaller plus size body. There is no minimizing the grief and frustration that comes with this. YET I have still managed to curate a closet full of clothes that I love and feel good in.
Q: Do you have any style icons? Who are they?
I love learning about fashion and body politics from @sassylatte! I get creative ideas from other fat creators including @heyseantaylor.
Q: How would you define your current relationship to clothes and style?
A: My motto is that I have to love it AND like how it feels on my body.
Q: What makes your style authentic to who you are today?
A: I don't ascribe to one style or trend. As long as it follows my motto, I will give it a shot!
Q: Do you wear anything that’s conventionally considered unflattering?
A: Yes! I wear stripes if the occasion calls for it and I know oftentimes the plus size community can HATE florals, but I love a floral print! I obviously love options but I have nothing against a good floral!
Thank you so much, Bri! If this is an area you could use some work in, I cannot recommend Bri’s resources and workshops highly enough. -Dacy
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