Hello Readers, Thank you for taking the time to read the first edition of Rogue Zine! We wanted to create this zine because we noticed that while body positivity continues to grow in mainstream popularity; visibly fat bodies also continue to be left out of the conversation. We hope that with this project, we are able to provide representation to people that don’t always see their body shape or size in magazines or in campaigns particularly those size 22+. With all of the hashtags and buzz words designed to celebrate plus size people, there is still a lack of diversity when it comes to models above a size 16/18 and those without an hourglass shape. When we first announced this project, we got some pushback saying that we were being exclusionary but while there are plenty of places that showcase bodies sizes 12-18, there’s nothing for women over size 22 and that’s where we hope to help. With this zine, we hope to grow to provide better representation and a platform for your voices to be heard. With each issue, we only hope to grow and provide you articles and content you want to see. To get involved in our next issue contact us at roguefashionzine@gmail.com or @roguezine on Instagram. Sincerely, Jessica Hinkle, Gabriella Flores, and Alysse Dalessandro
Creative Director, Managing Editor Jessica Hinkle @fatfashion_ Arts Editor Gaby Flores @grabyflowers | Articles Editor Alysse Dalessandro @readytostare Lead Designer and Layout Jon Mayfield @jmarmay jmarshallmayfield@gmail.com Cover Photography Ostyn McCarty @_ojae ojendayi21@gmail.com
In This Issue Gigi
Autumn
Cover Girls
The Death of Body Positivity “...many fat women have abandoned the concept of body positivity. It is impossible for bloggers with small platforms and no financial support to compete with these new body positive giants...”
Jonquel Norwood
Outfit of the Day
Fashion (R)evolution It’s so upsetting to see body positive language and ideas co-opted for profit but not actually being represented
My passion for nail art and appreciation for art in general, started in the art classes I took in Chicago’s public schools as a kid, then into doing graffiti and being in my high school’s air brush club. An acrylic kit given to me by my mother while still a high school student inspired me to do my own nails. It being the 90’s at the time, when I could get air brushed designs at the neighborhood nail shop, I would. Sifting through all the pages of stencils til I found the most unique ones; paint drips, floating geometric shapes, and silhouettes of women’s faces being amongst my favorites. Later on in life, catching glimpses of nail art in japanese street magazines and print reinvigorated my passion. Seeing the way in which nail art had grown to incorporate 3D and strucural elements to be custom designed and styled to work for people no matter what social standing or sub-culture was inspiring. So after spending years doing nails as a hobby, I decided to get licensed so that my passion could also become my career. I’m continuously learning and immersing myself in as much education as I can about art techniques and tools and always wager to give my friends, family, and clients nail art that is custom suited to their interests, lifestyles, and personal aesthetics.
Gigi Jiggles @thegigijiggles
Even as a little girl, I loved to draw. I think Art was my favorite subject. At the age of 14 I started going to get my nails done and all I wanted to get was nail art. Back then airbrush was popular and I use to spend all my little coins getting a design on darn near each finger. Once I switched over to an African American salon, I discovered my love for freehand nail art and decided “I can do that”. At the age of 21, I really focused on learning the art of doing nails, which is way beyond nail art. Art has always been my passion and once I added it to the technical side of manicuring, I can honestly say I love what I do. I’ve been doing nails full time for about 10 years now and everyday I enjoy making women live “The GlamLife”. The best is yet to come!
Autumn @glamlife25_8
The Death of Body Positivity
are already excluded from the fashion industry, and are more interested in challenging wider societal norms that come from everywhere – yes, the fashion industry, but also the media and the medical profession. In 2015, to be considered a ‘body positive pioneer’, there are still standards you have to meet. You must be conventionally attractive, feminine, have average or larger sized breasts, have hips that are wider than your waist, and have no visible stretch marks or cellulite. Reproducing standards that are impossible for many women to meet is not body positivity, it’s just harmful beauty standards in sheep’s clothing. Erasing the fat women and women of colour who paved the way for me to be even writing this piece because their bodies don’t meet the aforementioned standards is not body positivity, it’s doing exactly what wider society does day in and day out. It’s demanding that we conform to impossible standards, and then ignoring us when we can’t.
by Catherine Bouris Like most social movements, it was bound to be watered down to appeal to the mainstream, but I don’t think anyone expected body positivity to lose this many teeth in what feels like such a short amount of time. A movement that was founded by fat (above a US size 16) women, a movement driven by the efforts of countless women of colour, a movement that encouraged radical self-love and challenged existing beauty standards, has become completely whitewashed. i-D recently published a list of the ‘new generation of body positive pioneers’, and the majority of women listed are below the average US dress size, and fair skinned. The one woman listed who would actually be considered fat is Tess Holliday – she’s become the token fat woman for mainstream body positive advocates. No longer are fat women the focus of body positivity; instead, we get just the one representative, and fat women of colour get no representation whatsoever. I don’t blame these women personally for their becoming role models – it was inevitable. In a society that values thinness, conventional beauty, and fair skin, movements that don’t actively and continuously seek to challenge those standards are bound to fall into the trap of privileging those with ideal bodies above those without. The women that have now become the most prominent representatives of body positivity have bodies that may deviate from the norm in one way, but rarely in multiple ways – they’re either bigger than a size 2 OR of colour OR disabled, but rarely all three. And very rarely are they bigger than a US size 12/14, which, again, is the average size in the US, the UK, and Australia. The norms that these ‘pioneers’ are challenging are the fashion industry’s norms, which are widely considered flawed to begin with – just because a fashion designer calls you fat, it doesn’t actually make your size 4 body a fat one. Most fat women
For this reason, many fat women have abandoned the concept of body positivity. It is impossible for bloggers with small platforms and no financial support to compete with these new body positive giants, so many are finding it easier to simply let them keep body positivity. As my friend Ariel/@kiddotrue put it: “‘Body posi’ has been completely neutralized. It means nothing now. It is literally “all bodies matter” & not in a good way.” Body positivity stopped being radical a long time ago, but it’s hard to let go of something you nurtured from infancy. It’s hard to finally find a movement and a group of people who acknowledged that your body deserved better, and see it be neutralised to the point where it’s unrecognisable. For the women who have been writing and speaking about body positivity for years, I can’t even imagine how hard it’s been to see others receive credit for your blood, sweat, and tears. Unfortunately, this has become standard practice in social movements; just look at how women of colour have been erased from the historical narrative surrounding feminism, and how the new ‘leaders’ of intersectional feminism are largely white women, rather than the black women it was originally created to empower. Instead, many are turning to fat acceptance. Fat acceptance is still dominated by women who are properly fat, not fat-by-fashion-industry-standards fat, and it will likely stay that way, because the name ‘fat acceptance’, and indeed the entire idea, don’t go down as easily as ‘body positivity’. Being positive about your body is something everyone can get behind. Accepting fat bodies as valid and worthy of respect just as they are is less palatable, and therefore less likely to be whitewashed and taken over by the mainstream. Which is just fine with not-solittle old me.
@catherinebouris
Body positivity to me means accepting and loving your body the way it is. Too often we allow outside forces to define what our bodies should look like. But, what we forget is to celebrate and love our differences. Everyone is made beautifully whether they are a size 2 or 32. Don’t let a scale or dress size define you, you are so much more than that. Ralonda @ralondag
I wanted to be a part of this project because I knew this would be a chance to challenge myself. It was completely out of my comfort zone and just what I needed. I hoped this would inspire not only myself, but others who crave to see someone they can relate to, feel confident and empowered. I’m new to the “body positive” community and I love the concept. We can be beautiful, confident and happy just the way we are. Not giving a second thought to the demands and pressures of society that bring us down. Jamie
I wanted to be a part of this awesome project to show the world that being a plus size model is not limited to a size 16-18. I want to show people that you can be a size 20 + and still be confident, beautiful and grace the cover of a fashion zine! I hope to inspire other women to feel confident and love the skin they are in. Don’t be afraid of societies “rules� because there is no right or wrong way to be you! Sydney @aussieplussizebarbie
I’m the mother of a beautiful baby girl and I did this for her. I’ve always been a big girl. I’m the biggest girl in my family. I’ve tried dieting but learned over the years that this is my body and I wasn’t made to be small. No matter what size or shape I am, I am beautiful, sexy, and pretty. I’ll always encourage my daughter to do the same. My daughter is a minime, and I’m sure she’ll grow up to be similar build, which is perfect. I want her to know the only time you are ugly is when you feel that way, when you stop seeing your own beauty. I want her to know she’s in control of her self esteem and confidence. Nikki @kitavela
@jonquelart
Fashion (R)evolution
by Jessica Hinkle Anyone that’s over a size large has probably felt like the fashion world either didn’t care about them or straight up hated them. It’s true that the fashion world has never been welcoming to people with fat bodies. There has been debate over the size of runway models used in fashion shows for as long as I can remember. High fashion seems to set “ideal” body types which look like hangers for the clothing to drape from. I was obsessed with watching runway shows as a child. I would sketch clothing, filling up pages and pages with my designs. I would then hide the books, because I never felt that world was for me, as I’ve always been fat. That idea stayed with me through high school and beyond. I finally had the courage to sign up for a design class my senior year, but let the advisor talk me out of it. Beth Ditto was my first fatshion icon, like she was and still is to so many others. However, it wasn’t until I started reading about body positivity on tumblr that I ever started to own my style, and feel at home in my skin. I spent a lot of time being scared to really pursue a fashion related career but after feeling like I found community that empowered me, I felt like I deserved to do whatever made me happy. Body positivity was a whole new world. It saved my life. I spent roughly 24 years hating my body, not feeling worthy or deserving of any happiness, feeling like less of a person. My eyes were opened when I started to witness other fat women having fun with their style, creating original designs, or just being outspoken about radical self-love. I finally felt like I could start living my life instead of waiting for my body to stop making other people uncomfortable. My first step was to learn to love myself and get into a place where I felt confident. Eventually, I started an online vintage shop which led to offering new plus size and some original clothing. I’ve loved finding clothing for fat women, styling photo shoots, and working with plus size models. Body positivity and fatshion have such a special place in my heart. If it wasn’t for this community,
I would of never pursued my dreams. This is why it’s so upsetting to see body positive language and ideas coopted for profit, but not actually being represented. There are those that got into fashion because they had a foundation in the body positive community or vice versa. Then there are those that got into body positivity because they saw an opportunity for personal gain. Those that really want to empower people of all sizes to own their style and don’t project the idea of “flattering” or old fashion rules are really the future of where the industry is headed. It’s time to change the narrative, to demand representation, and move forward. Because fashion is art that we wear, and fat people deserve to express themselves with the same tools that a thin person can. Anyone that is co-opting the movement for their own opportunistic reasons, isn’t helping to further the progress that we seek. And it shouldn’t be where we spend our money. I’m tired of seeing hash-tags with empowering messages used to sell tee shirts and tote bags when a company doesn’t actually practice the ideas of the community in which it’s profiting from. It’s amazing that there are more fashion-forward plus size lines, that there is more representation in the media, and that we are finally starting to have the conversation about fat acceptance. Dialogue is so important when it comes to initiating change and we still have such a long way to go. However, when I see big box stores like Lane Bryant using body positive language like #plusisequal but only using size 16 models to sell clothing, I have to wonder, does anyone behind this campaign actually care about size diversity? They sure do want our money, but they don’t want to advocate for us. This is such a catch 22. People will tell you how clothing sells better when it’s shown on a smaller model. But really it’s lack of representation that tricks people into feeling that a smaller body is ideal. The more exposure that people with larger bodies receive, the more we will accept that all bodies are good bodies. I don’t want to see retailers profit off of a community that is so important in empowering people to love themselves, when they will turn around and further project the message that actually, your body isn’t “ideal.” There are no ideals. I hope that we can at least provide some representation of different body types and sizes, because all bodies ARE good bodies. Not only does everyone deserve respect and happiness regardless of size, but they deserve to feel stylish, accepted, loved, and represented.
Natalie Johnson @hentai.hunnny
t fi t u
f o
e th
D
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Kat Stroud @CurvyKatPSM
Ashleigh Rhoades @aboutashleigh
Lisa Schoenberger @mustangsallytwo
Maggie @shesmzmagz
Natalie Johnson @hentai.hunnny
Lei-Loni Greenhow @clotheyourcurves
In case you need to hear this today....YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. You are worthy, you are doing great, and you are where you are supposed to be right now. Don’t waste your time hating yourself, putting that energy into putting yourself down. Life is too damn short to spend being your own enemy. Always remember that there are multiple billion dollar industries built on your insecurity. They do not want you to love yourself! So do it anyway. Anyone that tells you you don’t deserve it, or that you aren’t good enough...tell them to go fuck themselves. That voice inside your head picking you apart? Tell it to go fuck itself! Push back. Look in the mirror and think about what you like about yourself. If you have to start with a freckle then do it. Look at others and think about what you like about them. If it’s too hard to compliment yourself then compliment someone else. If you need a compliment to get you started today let me know. Be the light someone needs. Lift people up. Empower yourself. Let’s get back to that. To get involved in our next issue contact us at roguefashionzine@gmail.com or @roguezine on Instagram.