I’ll be honest in saying that wedding season has always felt a little bittersweet. Don’t get me wrong, there is something undeniably joyful about watching two people celebrate their love on a warm summer afternoon, surrounded by flowers, champagne and questionable dance-floor decisions. But for much of my adult life, the excitement of receiving a wedding invitation was quickly followed by the same familiar sense of dread—what on earth was I going to wear?

As someone who spent most of her life being a UK size 24, occasion dressing always felt more like an exercise in having to make do, as opposed to being able to express myself the way I really wanted to. In my early and mid-twenties, I attended countless weddings wearing the same charity shop-bought beige linen suit, simply because there weren’t many other options available to me. Not because of a lack of style, but because occasionwear options in my size were so limited that constant repetition felt like the safest choice.

Over the past five years, things have shifted. I’m now a UK 16/18, and while the fashion industry still has a long way to go, there’s been a noticeable (if uneven) move towards greater size inclusivity, finally giving me more room to play and experiment with different styles.

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My experience across both sides of the sizing spectrum is why I feel so rooted in mid and plus-size dressing—it’s a lived experience. I’ve had to make things work when fashion didn’t make space for bodies like mine, and I know exactly what it feels like when it finally does.