Though she is smiling in the photo, she said she remembers having a difficult time finding an outfit for the appearance because “no one had samples that fit me after giving birth.”
“I put together a @lavinoffical shirt and dress from @netaporter to make this pretty outfit,” she wrote in the Instagram story, adding that “so many clothes from stores didn’t fit either.”
“It doesn’t send a great message to women when their bodies don’t fit into what brands have to offer. It’s alienating and confusing. I wish I felt as confident then as I do now, a year later looking back. That body gave me a baby. And was producing that baby’s entire food supply. What a beautiful miracle. But instead of feeling proud, I felt insecure. Simply because I didn’t fit into clothes. How silly is that in retrospect.”
Lively, whose husband is actor Ryan Reynolds, went on to praise entrepreneur Katie Sturino, the founder of MegaBabe, who utilizes her platform to call on designers to have more inclusive sizing.
“@katiesturino and others are out there challenging brands to do better, helping women to not feel alone,” Lively wrote. “And she’s making meaningful progress.”
“It’s never boycott this brand, this brand doesn’t support women with real curves,” she said. “I think that it’s much better to call a designer in, or a brand in, and educate them on the fact that like, ‘hey, you’re missing out on a part of the population, the majority of the population, and you should maybe think about offering larger sizes.'”