First she was curvy. Then she was slender. And the smaller she got, the bigger Lily Allen became in the fashion world.
But the singer has told how she battled the eating disorder bulimia at the very time she was being applauded for losing weight.
Allen, 25, admitted she used to "vomit after meals" to keep her new and much admired figure.
She made the admission in a documentary about her decision to give up her music career to concentrate on fashion.
"There was a point last summer [2009] where I had an eating disorder, I used to vomit after meals," she said. "It is not something I am proud of. But I tell you what, a lot of people used to come up to me and tell me how great I looked. And I was on the cover of every magazine with them saying ‘Lily is looking amazing,' ‘Look how much weight she has lost'.
"I thought I looked good. It was great to try on clothes and walk out of the shop feeling a million dollars. When you have been a victim of people saying the complete opposite, you want more of it.
"But I wasn't happy, I really wasn't. I would like to be the skinniest, mini-est person in the world, but I know I can't do that without being unhappy. I like my food."
Pressure
Allen made her name in 2006 after putting her music up on the website MySpace and being signed up for a record deal. But the pressure of producing two hit albums and living life in the spotlight became too much. In 2008 she sought treatment for depression after she suffered a miscarriage and her relationship with boyfriend, Chemical Brothers musician Ed Simons, ended.
By the time she unveiled her second album It's Not Me, It's You in in 2009, she had a much slimmer figure, which at the time she attributed to cutting out junk food.
Last year, after fronting Chanel's Cocoon handbags campaign, she spoke frankly of the pressure on women in the fashion business.
"I'm a pop star not a model," she said, "Don't make me feel s**t for not being really skinny and having an eating disorder."
She speaks about her battle with her weight in the Channel 4 documentary Lily Allen: From Rags to Riches, which follows her and sister Sarah as they launch their London vintage clothes shop, Lucy in Disguise.
"People who are famous and successful and live in this mad world tend to die really early, or kill themselves, or die in a drugs overdose. I'd rather not so I figure I will go and eat," she said.
"My idea of hell would be doing this in 25 years' time. I don't want to be like Madonna — look at her, she's mental. No offence, but that is not what drives me. I want to get married and have kids and make sandwiches cutting the crusts off."
The documentary was filmed before Allen suffered her second miscarriage last November. She was devastated after losing the baby boy she was expecting with fiancé Sam Cooper. The film crew went back to continue filming her story after her loss. In the programme she spoke of her recovery as "a really long battle".
Her plans to marry Cooper appear to be full steam ahead. She arrived in Paris on Tuesday to watch the Chanel fashion show and meet designer Karl Lagerfield. "I'm here to see Karl for my wedding dress," she said.
However, on Monday she was feeling less than thrilled with life if her tweets on Twitter are anything to go by. "Have just Googled myself, am depressed. Going home and switching off broadband. I just get upset when some people can't see how nice and brilliant I am. Good day to you all."
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