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While the fashion industry still has a long way to go toward size inclusivity, plus-size clothing and accessory options are much more readily available today than they were even 10 years ago. Chrissy Metz, who grew up in a time before plus-size clothes had spread far beyond stores like Torrid and Lane Bryant, remembers how she had to learn to be creative with the few options she was given.

In an interview with People, the This Is Us star said it was much easier for her friends to find cute clothes at the mall that expressed their personalities. “I was the only chubby girl in my friend group. I remember Wet Seal becoming popular when I was in school, but the clothes didn’t fit me the same way they fit my friends,” she said. “Only Lane Bryant had clothing I could wear.” Metz added, “I had to make [my style] my own, because otherwise you’d look like someone’s grandma and you’re 14.”

According to Metz, the worst time of the year for her was back-to-school shopping season. “It was terrible. I had to settle for clothes. I wanted cute little cutoff shorts, but I had to get the longer ones because of my thighs. I thought, ‘Maybe I could cut them and maybe I could make them my own,” she said. “And then I would try to wear those little lacy bike shorts underneath them, because that was all the rage. It was really hard. My younger sister is thin and she would always be wearing cute clothes, so I had no one to talk to.”

Over time, though, Metz, 36, learned to get creative when it came to fashion. While her friends were able to swap clothing, the actress became an accessories expert. “I got super creative. I made a purse out of an old Baskin Robbins ice cream tub,” Metz said. She also crafted purses from old jeans and bedazzled thrift store T-shirts. And when she moved to Los Angeles at the age of 23, she became even more adventurous. “My style started to shift when I moved to L.A. I had a roommate who wore funky clothes. I was like, ‘If she can do it, I can do it,'” she said.

Now, in her Emmy-nominated role on the hit NBC show, Metz is getting to connect with other women who shared similar experiences, while simultaneously continuing her mission to break out of the box in which society has tried to place her based on her weight. “Because of the role of Kate on This Is Us and how her character was written, people got to see her many layers and realized she’s not solely characterized on her size or her weight,” she said. “I relate so much to that character. When I was younger, I was cognizant of being different and people made me feel that way. I had to cover up, and I always wore T-shirts around my friends. It’s a terrible thing, because size doesn’t, of course, equate to beauty. People aren’t educated and there’s fear around that. You might be bigger than the next person, but that doesn’t mean you’re not worthy or you’re lazy or whatever some people think plus-size is.”

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