Last week I was lucky enough to join a Man Repeller Roundtable on Plus Size Fashion in which members of the MR team, fellow blogger Kellie Brown and I got together to chat about the plus size fashion world and our experience in it.
It’s no surprise that finding clothes that fit is something I’m passionate about, and while I love to talk clothes and shopping, I wanted to get serious (ish) for a minute and reflect on where all that passion comes from.
Like so many women, I always felt kind of bad about my size and like there was something wrong with me. Because society and fashion refuse to celebrate or really even acknowledge women with different body types beyond what’s been popularized in the media, I can see now that I felt bad because I felt alone. All I saw was the same body type everywhere I looked, the stores I loved didn’t carry my size — after a while these things can really chip away at a person and make them feel like they’re somehow flawed or not good enough.
What’s been amazing about working on this blog and what was so amazing about last week’s roundtable is that now I can see I’m not alone, and I’m certainly not the one with the problem! Far from it in fact. With the average American woman being a size 14 and over 65% of the ladies in this country wearing plus, it’s clear there’s nothing wrong with me — something is broken in the industry and for once in my life I’m actually normal, lol.
It was really great being among similar and sympathetic company last week — so many points from the conversation really resonated with me. When Kellie and Emily touched on how plus size ladies get stuck with the style that fits – as opposed to making our own style – I felt like, yes! With so many stores dropping off at a size 10, or only carrying extended sizes online as Amelia pointed out, it’s that much harder to develop personal style. And like Leandra said, when there are serious barriers to participating in fashion, it’s easy to feel like there’s no choice but to opt out.
That brings me back to what I’m trying to do with this blog in the first place: help and encourage all ladies to come together and OPT IN when it comes to fashion. Do I wish there were more options out there for us? That we could walk into a cool ass store and have our pick of the floor? Absolutely. But in the meantime, I’m up for the challenge. The next time a saleswoman hands a size 8 over the door with false assurances it will fit, I hope we can all remember we’re not alone, and we’re certainly not the problem.
Thanks for reading this hopefully not too annoying pep talk and thanks for your support over the past 6 months. More fashion to come later this week! xx
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