![]() ![]() As Business Insider recently estimated, plus-size fashion is worth $21 billion annually that has gone largely untapped, save for a handful of flash-in-the-pan diffusion lines, high-low collaborations, and pop-ups.Ī post shared by Outdoor Voices on at 6:06am PST The industry’s marginalization of plus-size fashion stands markedly and puzzlingly at odds with consumer demand. At the same time, images of non-slender and nonwhite bodies are nowhere to be found within the pages of the high-fashion press and in advertising culture at large. ![]() My research has exposed the fact that since the birth of ready-to-wear in the late 19th century (when plus sizes were charmingly known as “ stoutwear”), the fashion industry has largely ignored the clothing needs of fat women. Fashioning Fat Stigmaįor the past eight years, I’ve been researching the history and culture of plus-size fashion. Yet when fat becomes fashionable - even as women whose bodies place them beyond the spectrum of standard sizes do not reap the benefits - it’s tantamount to appropriation. It raises some big questions: What precipitated this inclusive turn, and, perhaps more importantly, who ultimately benefits when mainstream retailers use images of fat women in their promotional and marketing materials? If it’s not the consumers who identify as such, then it must be the brands. Much as with Madewell, however, these launches have not been without problems. ![]() #Image plus clothing how to#If Madewell was not really serious about catering to women with “nonstandard” bodies, then why did the company dare to flirt with controversy by using Duval as the face of the campaign?Īlthough retailers and consumers continue to grapple with how to refer to fat women’s bodies and their dress, a growing number of mainstream retailers have seemed to suddenly jump on the plus-size fashion bandwagon. While the plus-size fashion industry is currently experiencing something of a renaissance, it nevertheless remains a hotly contested terrain. What really struck me about the Madewell denim launch, however, was the use of Duval’s image in its rollout and promotion. I Love Fashion, but Fashion Doesn’t Love Me Backįurther Reading for The Size Conversation This was hardly a revolution it was inclusivity with an asterisk. Madewell declined to comment on this issue. While the company claimed that the jeans went up to a size 20, the waist circumference of the jeans better corresponded to a size 14, just barely surpassing the straight/plus threshold. It also turned out that the sizes had been mislabeled. Adding insult to injury, across the website, the “curvy” jeans - a term now almost universally used to designate larger-than-standard sizes now that “plus size” has become passé (but which Madewell explains refers to shape and not necessarily size) - were confoundingly modeled by slender women. Madewell’s new line was restricted to fewer than a dozen pairs of denim in a limited range of colors and fits the select pairs were only available online and had sold out in a matter of hours. In the days that followed, however, it came to pass that this was perhaps not the inclusive turn that so many had been waiting for. One commenter remarked, “I’m so excited about the curvy fit!” while another breathlessly exclaimed, “THANK YOU FOR ADDING BIGGER SIZES!!!! AND INCLUDING BIGGER GIRLS IN YOUR VISUALS!! I’M LITERALLY DYING WITH EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!” Concurrently, news outlets variously lauded the expansion as “progressive” and “empowering.” Still, devoted fashionistas quickly latched onto the significance of her slightly-larger-than-modelesque figure among a sea of size zeroes. ![]() With a 33-inch waist and 36-inch bust (making her a US dress size 10/12), Duval is several sizes smaller than the average woman in the United States. A post shared by Madewell on at 2:58pm PST ![]()
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