Roar…?

I have a strong aversion to animal print clothing, especially leopard print. My partner finds this hilarious and often mocks me for it, but I finally questioned it myself the other day and figured out what has caused it.

 I've always been big.

 I fit into ladies clothes from around the age of 11, and that was when I first realised the saturation of plus size clothing with animal prints. Every store I looked at seemed to stock nothing else. I would wander into Autograph and any 'grown up' store with a plus size section shamefully tucked away at the back, and be overwhelmed by my choice between a leopard print giant sack or a zebra print.

(Bear in mind, I know plus size fashion has come a long way in days since, this was mainly in 2003-2006)

I was also treated superbly by the boys at both primary and high school  who took to calling me whatever large African animal they could think of that day. Ironically, rather like a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas.

The clothes felt like they agreed- you aren't human, you're an animal and should dress like one. 'Have a shapeless synthetic tent so the poachers know who to attack.'

To this day, animal print is something I cannot allow myself.

I give every person who can rock it absolute kudos, but with my own personal associations and childhood trauma, the only animal print you'll see me in anytime soon is my giraffe onesie.