{"id":7420,"date":"2018-11-20T20:40:52","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T01:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dia.com\/blog\/?p=7420"},"modified":"2022-06-22T12:05:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T16:05:27","slug":"plus-size-fashion-community-kiana-gonzalez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dia.com\/blog\/know\/plus-size-fashion-community-kiana-gonzalez\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Plus-Size Fashion Community Changed My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Written by Kiana Gonzales<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never been anything other than big my entire life. I don\u2019t know anything else. I don\u2019t know how to live any other way. Until recently, I used to see a problem with that. Trying to fight who I was naturally stressed me out. I realized that if I really wanted to lose weight, I would have done it. If I want something and I\u2019m determined to have it, I will have it. I didn\u2019t have a problem with the way I looked until someone brought it up and made me feel like I needed to have a problem. I get treated differently because of my body\u2014that\u2019s the problem. If I didn\u2019t get treated differently, then there would be no issue. It\u2019s so black and white. I\u2019ve been really made fun of, criticized, and bashed about it, or been praised and put on a pedestal. I\u2019ve been on both ends of the spectrum.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working at LOFT during the launch of their plus-size collection was a turning point for me. I\u2019d heard about theCURVYcon<\/a> through my job, and I had only been working there for maybe five months before I begged my manager to let me go. I\u2019d never been in an environment with people who looked like me my entire life\u2014not in school or at work. I went to theCURVYcon and I met all these amazing women. I just really fell in love with body positivity and acceptance. I used to bash myself every day, but being around so many amazing women who empower you and lift you up makes it easier to keep your own self-esteem up.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At theCURVYcon, I was imagining: \u201cWhat if I get signed? What if I get discovered?\u201d<\/em> Two weeks later, I\u2019m ringing people up at work. We\u2019re taking 40% off the entire store. It\u2019s packed. Then this woman\u2014Rosaliz Jimenez<\/a>, Dia&Co\u2019s Fashion and Photo Director\u2014comes up to me and says, \u201cHave you ever heard of Dia&Co?\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019m wearing their jeans.\u201d She says, \u201cNo way! Here\u2019s my card. We\u2019re doing a shoot. I\u2019m not crazy, I promise.\u201d And it just clicked. It felt like everything was starting to fall into place. It made me feel like I was normal. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For once, I was in the spotlight. And it was for a good reason\u2014women loving themselves and wearing nice jeans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"kiana<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Modeling in the photo shoot<\/a> pushed me out from my comfort zone and helped me find the confidence I didn\u2019t know I had. I had never really thought of modeling before. It was so fun\u001f feeling normal and regular. Feeling like I\u2019m included. For once, I was in the spotlight. And it was for a good reason. It\u2019s not like, \u201cHere\u2019s what you would look like if you ate all that food.\u201d It\u2019s not a bad comparison. It\u2019s just women loving themselves and wearing nice jeans. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not that rare. I always thought that I couldn\u2019t be the only one who looked like I do. My whole entire life I thought, \u201cWhy does there have to be a plus-size section? Why do we have to be banished to the basement?\u201d We\u2019re 67% of women. Why do we still get treated so differently? I don\u2019t like the categorization. Why do you have to put a label on me? That\u2019s why I don\u2019t label myself either, even sexual orientation-wise. I\u2019m just Kiana. In my dreams, I don\u2019t have a size. I don\u2019t see anyone\u2019s size. I don\u2019t like feeling like I\u2019m being pushed into a lane, or that I have limitations. I want to be beautiful because you find me beautiful, whether that be physically, mentally, or emotionally. I don\u2019t want to be beautiful just because \u201cbig is beautiful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only has my relationship to my body changed since finding this community, but so has my relationship to fashion. I used to wear the same outfits every day, but now I know I need to amp it up. I\u2019m going to be 20. I\u2019m trying to move out of my parents\u2019 house and get my life together. I can\u2019t be wearing sweats, a shirt, and moccasins my entire life. Technically, yes, I can, but what\u2019s the fun in that? Now I\u2019m much more open to trying new things. I look at a shirt and if I like it, I wear it. I can have a nice pair of jeans. It\u2019s my<\/em> choice of clothing, from styles to patterns to wearing more colors. I had never tucked my shirt<\/a> in before\u2014I did that for the first time at the shoot. Next up is getting back to wearing dresses<\/a>. I actually just purged my room because I want to live this minimalist lifestyle. I had so many items in my drawer that were for when I lost weight. It\u2019s like holding onto garbage, because, obviously, I\u2019m not going to wear them again. That was also something that was holding me back. Having clothes I love is like a weight off my shoulders.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by Kiana to be part of a body-positive community? Request to join the Dia&Co National Community Facebook group<\/a> today!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Kiana Gonzales I\u2019ve never been anything other than big my entire life. I don\u2019t know anything else. I don\u2019t know how to live any other way. Until recently, I used to see a problem with that. Trying to fight who I was naturally stressed me out. I realized that if I really wanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":7436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"class_list":["post-7420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-know"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFinding the Plus-Size Fashion Community Changed My Life - Dia & Co<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kiana Gonzales put up a wall throughout her high school years but realized that she needed to make a change. 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