Billie Eilish makes sad admission about her body-image struggles

Billie Eilish has candidly spoken out about her relationship with her body and the ways in which she has struggled with her body image throughout the years.

The Grammy-award winning artist is famed for her sense of style, which often revolves around baggy items.

The 22-year-old, who released her critically acclaimed album Hit Me Hard and Soft earlier this year, revealed the ways in which she dresses has changed over the years.

In a new interview, she told Complex: "What's really interesting is that when I was a little girl, I loved big dresses. All I wore was fairy dresses and skirts. I never wore pants or shorts when I was a little kid.

Billie Eilish is noted for her sense of style (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

"But when I got to be about 11, I got obsessed with this brand called Brandy Melville. And they only sold clothes in one size.

"I was chubbier and I was obsessed with these clothes, but I'd buy a shirt and it wouldn't fit me. That's when my body problems started. I was around the age of 10 or 11.

"I got boobs at like 9, and I was just developing really early. I wasn't slim. Also, I was in ballet, and that's this whole world of body problems."

She then shared how this evolved further when she became famous.

Eilish added: "I was wearing all these baggy clothes, and it was my style, but at the same time, it was how I could feel comfortable in my body and not feel tied to how my body looks. I didn't want my body to be part of my outfit. I wanted my outfit to be my outfit, and my body happens to be inside it.

The star's comments were relatable (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

"Then [my career] got to be big, and when I was around 16, I was put in such a box of, like, 'Billie Eilish wears baggy clothes only. And she's not a woman. And she doesn't look like a girl. And she's not desirable'. So when I made Happier Than Ever, I was kind of like, “OK, people have decided that I'm this one thing. And I am that thing. But I'm also all these other things.”

It's a struggle many women will be able to relate to - and we commend Eilish for playing around with people's expectations, as she pointed out later in the interview.

She said: "So of course, classic me, I had to go with the completely extreme version of it. I couldn't just, like, wear a skirt once. I had to completely reverse everything and be this girly girl for a second and have these pink nails, blonde hair, skirts, dresses, button-ups, bras, and lingerie.

"I really just did it to prove a point. I was just like, 'F**k you guys. I can do whatever I want. And then I can go back to what I was doing before, and you guys can eat it'. So even though it was a little extreme how I did it all, I feel really grateful for it."