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This Viral Photo Shows That Clothing Sizes "Don't Mean Anything"

When body positive blogger Michelle Elman found a dress that she's had since 2012, she decided to put it on for the hell of it — and lo and behold, it still fit, despite the fact that she had gone up in dress size over the last five years.
"The dress is a size 14," she wrote in a post to Instagram. "I bought it 5 years ago when I was a size 12. Now, I'm a size 20. And yet, I still fit it. Which just proves that NUMBERS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING."
Elman wrote that she decided to post the photos of herself wearing the dress, five years apart, to prove that we should never let clothing sizes dictate how we feel about our bodies.
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NUMBERS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. I found a dress in my cupboard the other day that I had since I was in sixth form. The dress is a size 14. I bought it 5 years ago when I was a size 12. Now, I'm a size 20. And yet, I still fit it. Which just proves that NUMBERS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. So are you really going to let a change a dress size dictate your day? Are you really going to let an increase in a number affect your mood? Same dress. Still comfortable. Still beautiful. (In fact, I think I look better and happier now!) A higher dress size doesn't mean: - you are less beautiful - you are less worthy - you are less lovable - you are a worse human - you are a bad person - you are a different person AND it doesn't even mean you have a bigger body. You could go up a dress size by simply changing stores... (or countries). You can change dress sizes because of the time of the day or simply due to whether you are on your period or not. If you look at your cupboard and you find it harder and harder to find something to wear because of a change in clothing size, I have a great solution for you... throw out all clothes that don't fit. Looking at your wardrobe shouldn't be something that makes you feel insecure and sad so make sure everything in your wardrobe fits! Numbers don't matter. Not the number on the back of your jeans, on the scale or even the number in your bank account. You are not a number. #OneTakeBeauty #BodyPositivity EDIT: For anyone saying I'm lying about my size. Check my stories

A post shared by Michelle Elman (@scarrednotscared) on

"Same dress. Still comfortable. Still beautiful," she wrote, adding that "A higher dress size doesn't mean: — you are less beautiful — you are less worthy — you are less lovable — you are a worse human — you are a bad person — you are a different person AND it doesn't even mean you have a bigger body."
While there's nothing wrong with having a "bigger body," clothing labels can often trick us into feeling insecure. As she noted, clothing sizes are often arbitrary, and can vary from store to store or country to country.
Futhermore, in a follow-up post, Elman pointed out that size doesn't dictate how good you look — which is why comments like "you look good for a size 20" aren't a compliment.
"When you say I look good for a size 20, it usually means I look skinnier than a size 20 which still sends the message: thin = good, fat = bad," she wrote. "This perpetuates the idea that fat equals ugly or unattractive which is most definitely DOES NOT!"
The bottom line? Clothing labels are unpredictable, and we can't let them affect the way we feel about our bodies.
It's your body. It's your summer. Enjoy them both. Check out more #TakeBackTheBeach here.
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