(Image credit: Interscope)

Selena Gomez has been in the public eye since she was a child, and during that time she not only had to deal with growing up publicly, but she also had major health issues leading to a kidney transplant as well. She’s been candid in recent years about how her lupus battle has impacted her ability to maintain a standard weight, and she’s said it was a very special dress that started helping her come to terms with her body as she made her way into womanhood.

In a reel that’s been running around from Vogue’s ‘Life in Looks’ Selena Gomez opened up about a look she famously wore to the Met Gala back in 2015. At the time, the now 31-year-old actress was only 23. Yet she says she was already struggling with her shape and fluctuating size. When she was invited to the Met Gala that year, she “didn’t feel good,” but she was given more power and control over her look and that helped her on the journey to self-acceptance.

I fluctuate a lot with my weight. I remember this night specifically: I didn’t feel good about my body. So what was really amazing was that I actually got a chance to work on the dress that fit my body. I had such a beautiful time shaping this dress.

The white Vera Wang dress with the black straps was gorgeously fitted and did really work for her body type, pooling into liquid-like fabric around her feet. She’d paired it with a memorable floral headpiece for the “China: Through the Looking Glass” theme that year, and the outfit as a whole has routinely been listed among some of Gomez’s most notable red carpet looks of all time.

(Image credit: Getty Images (George Pimentel/WireImage))

For her, it was a standout fashion moment for a more personal reason, as well, as it marked a period of growth and change for her as a person.

I think we came together and built something really beautiful and something that fit me really well. I that was one moment I realized I don’t need to have that 19-year-old body shape anymore, because I’m not.

While she had a bit of an epiphany back in 2015, it’s worth noting that changing how you feel about yourself doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, acceptance of her body is a note that in the time since she has still been fully trying to internalize. Even a short while ago, Ms. Gomez shared before and after swimsuit photos that asserted she knows her body type has changed but that even now sometimes she “forgets” it’s “OK” to be herself.

Regardless, these days she’s known for being an excellent dresser in the realm of celebrity fashion, with a recent black stunner she wore to Steve Martin’s documentary premiere making the rounds. She’s also become an inspiration for many women of varying shapes and sizes as the “pressure” of the ozempic craze in Hollywood continues to be talked about. She may not have the same body she had at 19, but she’s gained so much else.