Fashion expert Stacy London once worked at Vogue magazine, but speculates she probably would not have been hired had she weighed 180 pounds at the job interview.
“Vogue was my first job out of college,” London told Cosmo April 1. “I had been VERY thin was I interviewed for the job, then got double pneumonia before I started and within a year I was up to 180 pounds. Talk about feeling like an outsider. Lucky for me, that was the year grunge came in, so I could wear flannel shirts and big peasant skirts!”
Looking back, Stacy said she’s not sure she would have been hired if she had been heavy at her job interview.
“I don’t know whether I would have been hired at 180 pounds,” said London. “Not looking the part in that environment was hard, but I overcompensated, did the work of three assistants, and tried to be the class clown.
Stacy continued: “Honestly, it’s less about whether Vogue would have hired me and much more about my own self-esteem issues. I worked super hard to compensate for not being a size 0.”
Stacy, who co-hosted What Not to Wear from 2003 to 2013, struggled with weight loss, binge-eating and the eating disorder anorexia for years before finally getting healthy. During her twenties, London routinely binge-ate and then starved herself, Examiner reported.
Her eating disorders became so erratic the 5-foot-7 London once starved herself down to a skeletal 90 pounds and then compulsively overate until she tipped the scales at 180 pounds.
In her book, The Truth About Style, Stacy came clean about her battles with poor self-esteem and body dysmorphia to help others who are facing similar issues.
“When you can talk about something and shine light on it, you’re obliterating shame,” said London, who also wrote Dress Your Best. “And that was always the really hard part – to feel so filled with shame and having no recourse to thinking it could get better.”
Stacy, who now eats sensibly and is healthier than ever, has finally found self-acceptance after years of internal struggles. “My value doesn’t simply come from [being thin],” said London. “It comes from me and solely from me. It took me a long time to recognize that.”
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