As a mom, Laurel Larson’s days are packed with bagged lunches, school pickups and part-time work as an art therapist. Her evenings: snack time, story time and tucking her sons into bed. When she finally gets a moment to herself — clocked out, kids asleep and a house unstirred — she pulls out her phone and starts editing videos to post to her nearly 99,000 Instagram followers and 200,000 TikTok followers. In 2020, amid a global pandemic and seemingly endless quarantine, many were left to their own devices, and Larson started using hers to entertain others with online fashion content.
It started as a joke. “There’s this creator I follow,” Larson says. “Millions of followers. She’s built like your standard model. Everything is designer. I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I followed her formula, but I’m mid-sized, wearing Gap and Old Navy?’ And the rest is history.”
Larson’s videos caught traction with a post on Feb. 22, 2022. “My outfit is not a good outfit,” Larson laughs, “A flannel, jean skirt, Doc Martens and a weird hat. That was the magic formula.” She still wears the outfit every Feb. 22, to commemorate this new lifestyle.
Her tagline, “Middle Aged Midsize Mom from the Midwest,” speaks for itself. “I’m not used to seeing bodies like mine, size 14 in your 40s,” Larson says. “And it turned out others felt the same way. I hope this gives women the permission to style themselves authentically.”
(Courtesy Jeani Brechbill)
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She aims to remain authentic for her family, too. Larson says that her husband, Matthew, is her “biggest cheerleader,” and that her three sons love seeing what she does.
In an age of polarizing media, Larson hopes to set an example. “I refuse to let this take away from time with my
family,” she says. “I’m still working on it, but it’s hard.”
She’s transparent about the reality that content creation is a taxing job, between filming, editing, maintaining promotions, following trends and tracking engagement.
“This has allowed me to be creative in a way that I think I was searching for,” Larson says. “But you’re basing your income on an algorithm. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, so I’m just enjoying the ride right now.”
(Courtesy Jeani Brechbill)
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