Blake Lively says she felt ‘insecure’ about her body after the birth of her third child and struggled finding clothes that fit

Blake Lively wants you to know that being a celebrity does not necessarily make her immune to feeling insecure.

In posts to her Instagram story on Friday, the actress shared an image from her television appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in 2020, not long after the birth of her third child.

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.”

In a recent interview, Sturino told CNN that she was inspired to start the hashtag #makemysize after trying on a DVF skirt in its largest available size (14) and it didn’t fit her.

“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.'”