Media

Sincerely, Plus-Size Women

By Carina Noyola

We are tired. Tired of the media making it “look” like plus size women are inclusive in the fashion industry, and then really just… not being fully included. Women are subjected to fit categories that are virtually impossible to fulfill. “Company’s only like to feature “plus-size” models that are aesthetically pleasing to see and that in reality aren’t even plus-size at all,” said Yulissa Arevalo, age 22. The story that they tell is with the intention to sell numbers. To put this into perspective, if you were to come across an ad for jeans, click on it - the average size that most retailers stop at is a size 14, some even 10, and 12. If you were lucky enough to be looking at a site that carries plus size, you had to switch tabs and look for an entirely different pair of jeans. Because, guess what, the cute pair of mom jeans that you saw on the ad does not come in a size 14, even though 68 percent of women wear a size 14 and above, according to the 2018 article “Size by the Numbers” from Racked. Hennesey Lopez, age 19, remembers a time where she walked into a store with the intention of buying a cute piece she saw advertised online and found herself to walk out with a completely different experience than most of the girls in there. “The store’s one size fits all did not apply to me when I was trying on clothing and made me feel horrible about my body,” she said. It was an experience that she found to be daunting. “I wasn’t considered exactly overweight for my height but I did have more meat to me.” When women say inclusivity is present, we mean it’s easy to spot. It’s as easy as picking up your phone and opening Instagram seeing ads that cater to a specific type of plus-size woman. What do you see in your explore page? Tall, thin, white (and dramatically tan), blonde Instagram models. Fine. But how often do you open your discovery page, as a plus-size woman, and find a plussize woman? Almost never. Let’s take that up a notch and add in the lack of color in these models. If you were “lucky” enough to see one, chances are you are looking at either Ashley Graham, Tara Lynn, or La’Tecia Thomas. All white females. Also known as 3 of the top 10 plus size models as named by ThePhotoStudio. com, in their article, “Top 10 Plus Size Models of 2018” (which also happens to lack color - with a total of one black model). That means 90 percent of the world’s top plus-size models are white, as if the margin wasn’t small enough. Samantha Beltran, age 17, takes a look at the statistics presented before and makes one thing clear, “The model industry needs to expand more,” she said. Remember the pair of jeans that you were looking for before? Take a look at the model, what else is similar about her and the one you saw before? Don’t notice anything? Okay, take a look at the first plus-size model

on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Now take a look at the first plus-size model to grace the cover of Vogue, or to model for Victoria Secret, or Calvin Klein. She is “curvy” in all the “right” areas: bigger breast, small waist, flat stomach, a round profound butt with matching hips and just so happens to have that perfect V-shaped jaw. “Plus-size models are shown with flat stomachs and curves,” said Crystal Klements, age 23. “News flash. Not all women look like that.” The lack of inclusivity in this industry is one that people love to hate, and hate to love. But the truth is, numbers don’t lie. And in this case, numbers are a woman’s favorite act of rebellion. For years, plus-size women were typically left with few options when shopping for undergarments, lingerie, and shapewear. The options were Lane Bryant, and Victoria secret - sister companies. Let’s be honest, good quality spoke, but so did style. Victoria secret was favored for the style, while Lane Bryant was favored for the quality. For years, intimates for plus size women were seen as less than. In fact, Victoria Secret chief marketing officer Ed Razek went as far as saying that the public “had no interest in it,” when asked about adding plus-size inclusivity in their brand’s retail and fashion show. Ironically enough, Victoria Secret later filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy following the backlash of their refusal to be size-inclusive when it came to their brand. Up until this point, it was famously known that the media along with major corporations favored the typical thin white model. That was, until Fenty Savage came along. “I feel like the plus-size community is gaining more representation in the fashion industry, but it still lacks in many areas,” 21-year-old Ariana Castaneda said, when asked about major upcoming brands that are plus size-inclusive. Companies like Fenty Savage by Rihanna are doing a major part of their advertising on social media through apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The advertising done on their official Instagram page speaks wonders. “When you scroll through the page, it’s very easy to see the size-inclusive models that are included in the campaign,” she adds. Whereas companies like Skims by Kim Kardashian West are also including a larger size range but have one thing that is noticeably absent from their Instagram page - plus-size women. The flaws that come with social media and their critique of plus-size women are clear as day in these two comparisons. How is it that two brands that were both seemingly catering to a variety of plus-size women but one (Skims) had noticeably placed “curvy in the right areas” type of models on their feed, while Fenty Savage placed “curvy wherever and whenever” models on theirs? Inclusivity is noticeably absent, and we are tired.