A mum-of-three has revealed how she bounced back from "rock bottom" to launch a successful clothing line featuring "realistic" models.
Clare Blasbery, from Ormskirk , said her lowest point came after the birth of her third child when she suffered from low mood, poor self esteem and body confidence problems.
But with the support of family and friends, she set about establishing her clothing line Style Button after spotting a gap in the market for a website that uses everyday women instead of models - to show how the products look on “realistic” body shapes.
The site, launched by West Lancashire mum Clare, is now celebrating a successful first year, Business Live reports .
Clare, 35, said: “My self confidence was rock bottom - I doubted myself a lot and had no belief in myself. It’s a fairly widespread problem and a lot of women experience this type of thing.”
Clare said she didn’t experience these feelings with her first child, but with the second and third, adding: “It hit me with my third because I was a lot older - I was 34. My body didn’t bounce back as quickly as it would have done after my first. There were a lot of mixed emotions.”
She praised her family and friends who supported her, adding: “I’ve got a lot of mum friends who I talk with and a lot feel the same way as I did. It helps having so many friends who are parents, as this is a fairly widespread problem and it helps to talk about it.”
Clare, who grew up in Skelmersdale , said after a disappointing online shopping experience, she came up with the idea of a website with realistic images of clothing worn by women like her.
She said: “When I set up Style Button , I didn’t know what to expect, I’d never run a business before and it has been one huge, exciting learning curve for me.
“Juggling three kids and a business has been hard at times, but I have enjoyed the challenge.
“My aim was to create a website that other women like me could relate to with images of everyday women of different sizes modelling the clothes.
“I just love the feedback I get from customers, who say they love that the clothes are modelled on different sized women.
“I think customers really like the fact that they can see what the same item looks like in different sizes.”
Clare also feels that women, especially new mums, are under a lot of pressure when they see celebrity mums promoting post-natal body expectations of perfection on social media.
She said: “Most modern lives revolve around social media; our phones are flooded with images of perfect lives and bodies.
“Talking from personal experience, this can negatively impact on self-esteem and mental health.
“My aim is to keep it real with the photography I use and help women to feel good about the clothes they order.”
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The women modelling on Style Button, including Clare, are all shapes and sizes, all have had children and have all experienced some of the changes that women go through after becoming a mother.
This is to demonstrate what the clothing looks like on different body types.
Sizes on the website currently range from 8 to 18, and there are plans to include smaller and larger sizes in the future.
Clare said: “My plans for the near future are to open a physical store, in my opinion the ‘clicks and mortar’ concept is the future of retail on the high street and I think it is really important for retailers to combine both an online presence with a traditional bricks and mortar store.
“One of my main goals for this year is to expand into plus-size ranges, I understand that I need to do more to cater for all women.
“I will always represent real women today, untouched and honest.
“It is so important for me, as the mum of two little girls, that we are comfortable in our own skin, it is one of my main focus points as I grow the business. Women in my age bracket, aged 28 to 40, are usually in a transition stage, growing in their careers, motherhood or experiencing new life priorities.
“Few brands cater for them, it is either really young fashion or older.
“I feel passionately that there is a gap here, more women want to see brands that really represent them.
“I want women to come onto my website and see what the clothes would look like on someone just like her, an everyday woman who loves fashion and wants to look fabulous.”
