What I've Learnt From Dressing A Bigger Body

Ten years on, one fashion features editor reflects on her relationship with body image and style.

- MAYA MENON

Trigger warning: Disordered eating

It started off innocuously. As a 20-year-old, I had quickly become acquainted with the shiny stores that paved the new shopping haven that was lon Orchard. It was a welcome (and vindictive) breath of fresh air as I emerged from the decade-long fog of cautiously walking through Bugis Street Market only to be told that I, in fact, wouldn't find that T-shirt in my size. Over my school break that year, I tested variations of the Master Cleanse Diet-a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup-to see what my body would react to the quickest. Spurred on by the Tumblr collages of Nicole Richie and Hilary Duff, I lost two dress sizes. In two months, I had lost four. The change was exhilarating and Topshop's summer fare soon became my playground. Amid a flurry of babydoll dresses, barely there crop tops and a full-blown eating disorder, the world was beginning to treat me differently. Until, at the age of 21, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, also known as PCOS.