A woman wears underwear as "outerwear" to overcome her body dysmorphia - and dons lingerie, corsets and boxers to go to the beach and on nights out.
Abbie Fidgett, 22, began suffering from body dysmorphia after she was bullied throughout school and college.
She spent 20 weeks on a waiting list for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and refused to go back to the GP after they wanted to weigh her.
She wrapped up in winter coats all year round to hide her body but in November 2020 decided to ditch it for underwear instead - after trying exposure therapy wearing different outfits.
She has started to feel better and loves expressing herself through fashion.
Now, she plans to run errands wearing boxer shorts and a jacket and regularly wears lingerie on nights out.
Abbie, a content creator, from Stafford, West Midlands, said: "I started expressing myself through my fashion because it felt like I was finally doing something for myself.
"I feel confident wearing underwear as outerwear and I’m so proud of myself.
"I love getting creative with fashion, it gives me my power back.
"I'm always wearing lingerie tops on nights out - I'll wear my boxer shorts on holiday, along with a bikini top.
"When it gets a bit warmer, I’ll be pairing my boxers with a blazer or jacket to go to the shops."
The bullying started when Abbie was in year seven, in 2012, and continued all the way through until 2017.
While she used to be a "confident, outspoken" teenager, Abbie quickly became withdrawn and started feeling bad about her body.
She says bullies would make fun of her skin and weight and it was "relentless" - lasting the entirety of her time at school.
She says her prom - which took place on July 7, 2017 - was the "worst day of her life".
She said: "I struggled mostly in high school.
"I got heavily bullied - so for me, the priority was to just find any piece of clothing I could hide my body in.
"I used to wear big winter coats, even in the summer, to hide myself.
"I’d get stared at a lot, which I did find really embarrassing, but it was more bearable than walking out the door wearing something that showed my body off.
"I just wanted to be able to feel comfortable again and wear things I actually liked."
Abbie visited her GP for the first time in summer 2017 - but she says there was no body dysmorphia-specific treatments available, and the waiting list for CBT was 20 weeks long.
She felt uncomfortable with the way her condition was being discussed by doctors - and she claims they told her they'd "get you out of that winter coat in no time".
"I couldn’t get any CBT during high school because the waiting list was too long," she said.
"I remember walking into my appointment in my big coat, stepping on the scales in front of the doctor, hearing them making comments.
"I left that appointment in tears."
