Fashion Is For Fat Women Too

[Anonymous]

If you look in the majority of fashion magazines, you might easily be convinced that America is made up of a population of 6ft tall women who wear sizes 0-2. What you should know is in reality, 68% of women in the US are what is considered plus sized and not only are they wearing size 14 and up, but are of an average height of 5'3. So where is the representation? Where do you exist on the pages of a fashion magazine, runway, or even your local mall?

Fashion Week is where those in the know and those who want to know come to soak in the latest fashions in New York, Paris, and Milan. Photographers are everywhere hoping to snap the who's who of that's that of regular people coming to these shows, but when those pictures hit the internet or the pages of the magazine, you'd be lucky if you even saw 1 plus sized girl. Before you go thinking, they don't go to fashion shows, you'd be VERY wrong. Just because they aren't photographed, doesn't mean they weren't there. We also forget that those helping to design the clothes they can't even wear, are also often in fact, plus sized women.

Photographers at these shows and street events will snap 10,000 shots of someone who is a size 2, every fashion writer/blogger will swarm in and want to hear everything about what they are wearing, but someone who is plus size will be lucky if they get 15% of the same air time and photos.

Fashion belongs to the world. I personally find it disgusting that a woman in particular would say to another woman, you don't deserve to be seen, you don't deserve to walk down a runway, you don't deserve to wear beautiful clothing. I've heard it in some really pathetic posts on this site, and I think, why is your goal to just tear another woman down given all that we are all faced with in life for just wanting to look her best just because they don't fit in a size that in reality only 32% of the female population in the US actually wears! These women are your mothers, your sisters, your baristas, your child's babysitters, your friends, your bosses, your therapists, your hair stylists. They deserve to put on a beautiful, interesting, unique piece of clothing.

As a designer, you should want to cater to more inclusive sizing because it means MORE money in your bank and more social media attention and clout. Who do you think the girls will come to if they know you have something for them? It's the same with how I feel about infamously racist make-up brands that don't make shades darker than sand but claim to cater to POCs. Look what happened when Rihanna's brand offered every shade under the rainbow up to and including shades for pale skin girls who have been equally ignored? She's laughing all the way to the bank!

Fashion is about style, creativity, joy, passion, comfort, and design. It's about that and not about shunning the very people who would love to share in the beauty of the brands and creative ideas designers have, and drop major coin for the latest and greatest. I get chills when I hear a designer say their passion is to make WOMEN feel beautiful. Not a size, not a certain race, just women in general, and they follow through with that promise because it tells me it really is about their artform and truly wanting to share their gifts with the entire world of women.

[PrincessC16]

Soo, soo nice to see this brought out into the public light. All my life I have been discriminated because of being fat. To me, it's just like picking on someone with a disability. I decided a couple of years ago that I will not shop at stores who don't offer plus sizes. Ex. Victoria Secrets. Major discrimination of plus size women. I won't even buy their fragrances anymore.

[PBandJ_Nerd]

It's hard to stand to go into Victoria's Secret at the mall anyway because they have all of that perfume stuff that's sprayed around. You can just stand outside of it and be right across from it, & you'll still smell the perfumes.

[myTake Owner]

I love this and I'm glad you're doing that! This is a subject I'm passionate about. I was lucky enough as a teen to start working in a retail shop that catered to size XS all the way to 36. I didn't even know there were that many plus sizes, but seeing women come into the shop, and be able to find the exact same items as the straight sizes, was so refreshing. I would always go out of my way to help the plus sized customers shop for something that would make their faces light up because I remember so many times, my mom, who is plus sized, would go into a shop and the ladies would just ignore her. She hates shopping, absolutely hates it, and never took me as a kid or teen unless it was for school.

As I got older, I understood why. They make you feel like you don't exist when all you want is to look cute, sexy, put together, find an outfit for work, for prom, a wedding, whatever. Do not let places like this steal your shine and absolutely seek out retailers and designers that make you feel wanted. I recently came across the brand JessaKae and was floored by the designers philosophy of dresses for all women because similar story to mine with my mom, how plus sized women were discriminated against and decided to design for every size. Love it!

[alice55]

Fashion is for everyone, it's ways better for everyone to be fashionable than wear boring clothes

[myTake Owner]

That should be the vibe, absolutely!

[alice55]

Yes as a woman that love fahsion I love it when everyone is comfortable being fashionable 🥰

[wynning]

Good read! I think the hate comes more on the health aspect though. But everyone knows that being fat isn't healthy. You don't need more people dogging on it as if you aren't aware.

[PrettyCrumblBb]

Fat women are allowed to dress nice, nobody is stopping them. Worry more about your health, instead.