I love clothes. I didn’t always. For most of my life I have stayed away from the fashion world because as a fat girl I just wasn’t part of the conversation. There were not that many plus size shops. Of the ones that did exist the offerings were sad and boring. Lots of polyesther, lots of black, all of it matronly. Not appropriate for a teen. So it didn’t make sense for me to follow that world.
Well, imagine my glee at seeing an explosion of plus size fashion designers of late and thank god eh. A fashion minded fat girl can now find all kinds of clothes to fit her body and personality at affordable prices in most cases. Want a pencil skirt that isn’t a polyesther patterned nightmare? You got it. Want a soft jersey knit dress with bell sleeves, a cowl neck and a cinched waist? Check. Want bright blue thights in a funky print? Yes, please. I love being able to look at a garment and know that not only will it fit, but that it will look good.
Despite the many options that have opened up, I’m still feeling a bit left out of the conversation. Why? Well, what I’m noticing is that while fat girls are being catered to, there is still a limit to how much. That limit is about 250lbs. Any higher and you are well, treated like the step sister that the family forgot. Sure you can get a pretty dress, but you will only have 5 choices instead of 15 choices. And you better hope that one dress was designed for your shape.
Not only am I now held up to some skinny girl standard, I’m also being held up to a fat girl standard. What these taste makers of fashion are telling me is that my body is still unacceptable because I am not an hour-glassed shaped size 18. The excitement I feel about finding a new shop is immediately extinguished after I notice that dress I started drooling over only goes to a size 24, but so do all the other ones. What now? Find another shop and repeat.
I never imagined that I’d still be denied the right to participate in this conversation that’s going on about my own damn body. It makes me angry - maybe I should change the name of this blog to “angry fat girl who.” HA! Seriously tho, I just want to be able to find a dress that fits my personality and makes me look and feel good when I’m wearing it. Is that too much to ask?
0 comments:
Post a Comment