Shopping for prom can be difficult normally, but when you’re shopping for the perfect prom dress as plus size woman, it can be nearly impossible.

As someone who has always been bigger than others, I can say that the struggle of finding a pair of pants that fits right in all the right places is exhausting. But whenever you’re shopping for the perfect or just a semi-decent dress for any occasion it is not only insanely expensive but damaging to your mental health.

Whenever I was shopping for my prom dress, I found out that nearly every size bigger than a size 16 is only sold online and the dresses that are offered in stores are insanely oversized and hide any sort of curve or shape that I do have. I went to five different stores and tried on 15 dresses before I found the dress that I eventually bought. Of those five stores, only two had a “plus size” section with a very limited quantity of dresses to choose from in only about four different colors.

When I finally got to the store where I bought my prom dress, I was looking at all these gorgeous, colorful dresses that were out on the showroom floor. But every time I came across one that I liked they didn’t have my size. When I would ask the workers if they had any other sizes in the back, they told me that they only sold them online. After about 45 minutes of looking, trying things on, and feeling bad about my looks, I finally found my dress — and it was on sale!  Even though it needed some alterations, I fell in love with it as soon as I tried it on.

What’s really disappointing about this is that, at this point, society, the fashion industry and the world should understand that everyone has a different body type and not everyone is going to fit into clothes that fall under a size 16. It’s not a cookie cutter world; not everyone is the size of a supermodel. One size does not fit all. And that’s OK.