Valley Fashion Blogger Promotes Self-Love

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Every week, fashion blogger Amanda Allison's thousands of followers get a glimpse inside this girly room in her Clovis apartment, filled with all things 'sparkly'.

She started her blog "Fashion, Love and Martinis" six years ago -- after taking fashion classes at Fresno City College.

"If you look back to my posts from 2010 you'll see a lot of self-hate," said Amanda. "Just very negative things that I thought about myself that I was willing to put out there."

That all changed when she came across plus-size fashion blogs. Finally, women she felt she could relate to.

Amanda added, "Little by little I started posting full body photos and I started to love myself."

As her self-confidence grew -- so did her social media presence. Amanda started a YouTube channel -- sharing fashion tips, hair and make-up tutorials, and even taking viewers inside store fitting rooms.

Her candid and sometimes very personal videos have anywhere from 5,000 to 100,000 views.

"One was called A Fat Girl's Secret and talked about my binge eating problem and a lot of people related to that because that is one of the drastic measures that I took to lose weight," said Amanda.

The posts resonate with her fans -- who are always quick to come to her defense when someone puts her down because of her size.

Amanda explained, "I am not promoting obesity, I am not promoting being unhealthy -- if anything I want everyone to be healthy -- mind, body, spirit and soul. And I think that that starts with loving yourself."

And Amanda says she loves every part of her size 24 self, whether it's in those much maligned horizontal stripes or in a swimsuit, Amanda says embrace who you are, and make no apologies.

"So what started with self-hate -- grew to self-love and how to accept yourself no matter who you are, what you weigh and what size you are," explained Amanda.