Serena Williams Shares Clothing Fail Amid Postpartum Weight Loss Journey

Serena Williams is serving refreshingly honest advice about her postpartum journey.

Nine months after welcoming her second daughter Adira River with husband Alexis Ohanian, the tennis legend shared an update—and an even more important reminder to herself—about the progress she's made towards losing her baby weight.

"I am going to try on my skirt again to see if it's any closer than it was four weeks ago," Serena said in a May 22 Instagram video, referring to her high-waisted denim skirt from Valentino. "Really, it's been about six weeks. Honestly, I feel like it's gonna fit the same because I've been gym-ing a lot but I don't know if the needle is moving."

In the clip, the Grand Slam winner—who also shares six-year-old daughter Olympia with the Reddit co-founder—struggled to pull the maxi-skirt above her hips, admitting, "Can't say I'm happy about this."

But in true Serena fashion, she used this experience as extra motivation.

"It's getting there. Before it was like down here—it's like an inch higher," she noted of her progress trying on the skirt. "I want to cry, but I'm not. I'm gonna stop eating all those snacks."

And while the 42-year-old didn't necessarily hit her goal, her all-star attitude resonated with her followers.

"Thank you for doing this and showing that it's a process after giving birth for world class athletes," Octavia Spencer wrote in the comments section. "You're even more stunning and real!"

Tennis player Taylor Townsend joined in, adding, "Hahahaha I actually cackled!! The way I relate to this. Realness at its finest."

This isn't the only time Serena has been open about her postpartum journey. In February, she offered words of affirmation to herself and other moms struggling to embrace their body's changes.

"Loving yourself is essential," she began a Feb. 12 Instagram post. "I find that I have to remind myself of that self-love through all different stages in my life. Right now I love that my body is not picture perfect."

The Wyn Beauty founder closed out her message with a gentle reminder: "Start this week, knowing that you are loved, and that starts with you."

Serena is just one of the many celebrity moms who have spoken out about their postpartum experience. Keep reading to see how other parents have navigated everything from breastfeeding to their body changes.

"I think my breastfeeding journey was also very empowering because it was so difficult," Keke told Essence in an interview published Aug. 21. "And I wanted to give up at so many different points, but I just kept pushing myself and kept trying to figure it out."

She added, "The relationship I had with my son during that process empowered me to get back up and do things for myself again."

The Game alum, who shares son Cree, 12, and daughter Cairo, 5, with ex-husband Cory Hardrict, opened up about her struggles with breastfeeding. "When I had Cree, I was struggling to breastfeed him," she wrote in an Aug. 10 Instagram. I was only able to breastfeed for 3 months before having to switch to formula. And during the second time, I found that I was able to breastfeed Cairo for 13 months." 

She continued, "Nonetheless, the journey was difficult...if you are struggling with breastfeeding, I want you to know that it is more than okay to feed your children formula. As long as your children are fed, loved, happy, and supported that's all that matters."

The House Bunny actress snapped a photo of herself nursing daughter Louetta, who she shares with musician Derek Richard Thomas, during a family beach day in August 2023.

In a carousel of Instagram pictures, the former Victoria's Secret model shared a photo of herself breastfeeding her and Jason Statham's baby girl, Isabella. 

In May 2022, Ashley Graham shared a photo of herself feeding her twin boys, Malachi Ervin and Roman Ervin, at the same time. She captioned the post, "double fisting (peep the whacky tan lines)."

In March 2021, the Victoria's Secret model shared a pic of herself on Instagram breastfeeding her baby girl, Tuulikki Joan Daly. A couple of hours later, she shared the same photo on her Instagram Story, writing, "Find it interesting the amount of dms I get from men who get offended when you post a photo breastfeeding... Like, why is the most natural thing so offending to you? Breasts literally excists [sic] so we can feed our children [red heart emoji]."

The Twilight star opened up about breastfeeding her 20-month-old daughter Bodhi Soleil Reed Somerhalder in an Instagram post in 2019. "To be honest, I have no idea how long her and I will be on this journey together. I follow her lead, and she tells me exactly what she needs," she wrote.

"little bear," Kehlani tweeted in 2019, along with photos of her and baby Adeya.

"On a lighter note.... @acrebaja was bomb," the actress shared on Instagram while kicking off 2019, after welcoming her second child, daughter Banks. 

"Feeding time for the little munchkin," Robin Thicke's girlfriend wrote by a video of her feeding their daughter Mia. 

The actress breastfed son Grey, writing on Instagram in 2017, "BREASTFEEDING=JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE!"

The Hills alum and mom of one told her Instagram followers in 2016 that her sister, Casey Loza, is "always capturing me in moments. #momonthego."

The actress is all smiles as she snaps a selfie of her feeding her little one.

The model mom of two encourages other moms to share #breastfeedingselfie pics.

The Bravo star astutely pointed out in 2016 that "this #breastfeeding stuff is no joke."

The actress shared this photo in honor of daughter Elizabella's first birthday in 2015. "Happy Birthday, my beautiful Elizabella. You've taught me that my heart has no end. You were the missing piece to my soul. Thank you for choosing me," she wrote.