Nelly B promotes body positivity

Kristy.ramnarine@cnc3.co.tt

Tshenelle Bethel-Peters, known on social media as Nelly B, is on a journey to rediscover her personal style. The content creator—a graduate of Holy Faith Convent, Couva—recently started dabbling more with fashion and beauty reviews. She, however, is not the typical fashion influencer marketer.

Bethel-Peters is considered plus size or full body. “I started doing content creation in 2012 about natural hair,” she recalled. “I had just gone back natural, and I had not seen many Trinbagonians doing natural hair content creation on YouTube.

“From there it expanded into all things beauty, lifestyle, and a little bit of travel.” About a year-and-a-half ago, Bethel-Peters realised she did not know what was really her style.

“There is a misconception that you have to lose weight to dress nice or look good,” she said. “My response to that is no, this is the body that you have now; dress it and dress it well.

“There is nothing wrong with wanting to have a healthier lifestyle, but it does not mean that you have to look frumpy or not well put together at the size that you have now.

“That’s been my main thing, showing people that no matter what size you are, you can look put together.”

The content creator described her journey as an interesting one. “I’ve been told in one or two instances that I didn’t have the look for what a particular campaign or initiative was looking for,” she said.

“When you press down further, what do you mean about the look? It boils down to my size. It can be a bit disheartening, but at the same time, I firmly believe what is for me is for me. I just take that as this is not for me.”

Pointing to her body, she added, “If they are not willing to look past this and focus on the content of my character and the quality of my content creation, it is what it is.” When it comes to sourcing clothing, Bethel-Peters said it can be challenging locally. “I hardcore support local as best as I can, from what I wear to products that I buy for beauty, skin, and hair. There are some local brands that, even if you want something customised, they are not really interested in catering to plus-size women, unfortunately.”

On the international front, there has been an explosion of the body-positive movement.

“Plus-size models were incorporated into fashion labels and fashion weeks,” Bethel-Peters added positively.

“On the local front, it has happened, but on a smaller scale. I still feel like there is so much more that can be done.”

Bethel-Peters said it was easier to source clothing in her size now than it was pre-COVID. “There are some local brands that will do clothing up to 7X. Now I think they are more prevalent, but I still think that other brands can jump on board.”

With a growing following on her social media platforms, Bethel-Peters described the feedback as ‘beautiful’.

“I would say 99 per cent of the feedback has been beautiful when people message you and say they didn’t know that these brands do these sizes or say they just like how the content looks or that you are really confident,” she said.

“I’ve had one or two negative comments where people implied that because of my size, I shouldn’t be doing it.”

Previous Nelly B would internalise things, “But now I say that’s on you. The people who I want to feel empowered by the content that I do, based on the feedback that I’ve gotten, are feeling empowered.”

The UWI graduate who did her undergraduate in Communications Studies never knew she would end up becoming a content creator.

Her advice to upcoming content creators: “Your content should inform, inspire, educate, and entertain. Work with what you have and build. You may not have the highest quality phone, just start.”

Bethel-Peters works full-time with Catholic Media Services Limited (CAMSEL) as a Digital Content Specialist.

“I am part of the digital team. It’s my vocation to work for my faith and be a part of something bigger for the grand scheme of things,” she said.

“We are responsible for quite a few of the faith-based platforms for the archdiocese.” Bethel-Peters has been with CAMSEL for the past nine years.

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