A woman who was desperate for a breast enlargement at the age of just 15 has embraced her "no-cup" chest and now loves showing off her body. Lisa Banks, 31, felt insecure throughout her teen years after being embarrassed at her all girls' school for having "the smallest boobs".
At the age of 15 she even begged her parents for an operation and went to a Chinese herbalist for a remedy to help her breasts grow in her twenties. Desperate to gain a bustier figure, Lisa even gained weight a stone in her mid 20s but says it made her feel worse and didn't make a difference to her chest.
She started finding other women like her through the hashtag #IttyBittyTittyCommittee on social media and cleansed her channels of bustier women that she wished she looked like. In 2019, with a AA size cup, she decided to embrace her slender figure and "non-existent boobs" and has started uploading body-positivity content on social media.
Lisa has created a brand called Itty Bitty Label - selling clothing and nipple covers for women with smaller breasts. Lisa said: “I struggled throughout school I was really self-conscious.
“I went to a performing arts school in Ascot, Surrey, UK, and I dreaded PE and dance classes. I loved dance classes, but I hated being in a leotard as I couldn't wear a padded bra.
"We were teenage girls and people would compare their boobs - I hated being the one with the least amount. I would get changed and try and hide in the corner so people wouldn't notice."
The teen used to wear baggy clothes to hide her chest and always donned a padded bra. “Throughout my 20s I carried on feeling I wasn't good or womanly enough," she said.
"When I was 15, I asked my mum to take me to a surgery consultancy to get an augmentation and I tried to save up money for it. It was some kind of filler procedure and it seemed dangerous so luckily my mum didn't allow me to do it.
“I think my Instagram feed was toxic - it was full of bustier girls who had perfect Barbie doll shapes. I tried everything I saw in magazines or in the media to grow my boobs.
"When I was 15, I purchased tablets from a magazine - they gave me acne and cramps, I had no idea what was in them they could have been dangerous. In my mid 20s I even went to a Chinese herbalist who gave me three types of herbs to grow my bust.
"She said it was men transitioning to women used to grow boobs, it didn't work and gave me bad cramps."
The influencer wore baggy clothes to hide her petite stature and didn't have the confidence to wear low cut or tight-fitting garments. Petite Lisa - who weighs 8st 3lbs - said: "Doctors have told me to gain weight but I eat well, and I stay the same weight and I am healthy.
"Once I gained a stone because I thought it would make my boobs grow it didn't and I felt worse in myself."
In July 2019, aged 29, Lisa found a large online community called the 'Itty bitty titty committee' and started to find self-love and confidence. She changed her social media feed and swapped curvaceous women for women who looked like her.
Her heroes include Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman. "Everything shifted once I changed my feed," Lisa said.
"I started to follow women who looked like me. I decided I wanted to make a brand for women with small chests and I created Itty Bitty in 2019 as I was inspired by the community."
Lisa's brand sells clothing for petite women and nipple covers called 'pasties' - so small chested girls don't have to wear bras. She trained at TAFE - a fashion school in Sydney, Australia - to be a a garment technician.
Her partner, Tommy Ge, 37, works in fashion and has encouraged her on her journey to self-acceptance and love. She said: "I feel so good, I'm so focused on trying to encourage other girls to feel great in their own skin.
"When you get older you realise being unique and different is something to be proud of."
Lisa's tips for finding self-love
- Follow women who look like you and fill your feed with them
- Try to write down things you love about yourself and do inner work and talk to yourself nicely - you can’t control what other people say to you, but you can control the way you speak to yourself
- Journal your thoughts and read self-help books
- Change what you consume in the media - stop following women who are making you feel bad about yourself and follow women who look like you
- Work towards going braless or wearing a bra without pads
- Try to make your own clothing item
