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The fashion world seems to have finally clued in to an obvious fact - we all wear clothing. Yes, even fat girls. Elie Tahari, a very upper-end designer has a new line of plus size fashion that are actually attractive, and sold in Bloomingdale's (how pretty is that jacket below?), and this year, the New York Times Magazine covered the second Full Figured Fashion Week, hosted by former plus size model, Emme. Founder, and former plus-size model, Gwen Devoe, said what we all already knew - that, "Every curvy girl that has a dollar is willing to spend that dollar,” while, the New York Times' Business Day section regarded the event almost sarcastically, remarking that, "the fattening of America is a big business opportunity."
Of course, with designers like Nanette Lepore making their largest offering a size 12, there's an argument to be made, that many of the women excluded from fashion are not necessarily "fat" so much as tall, larger-framed, or muscular. The narrow sizes offered as "regular" or "normal" cut a thin swathe through the much larger population of women with money to spend on clothing. And guess what - we all wear clothes. Devoe herself pointed out that, "I’ve been told several times that no one fantasizes about being a plus-size woman, and that’s probably true, but the fact remains that you have to work with what you have.” Up until now, though very few designers have connected the giant, neon dots - in fact, as far as fashion goes, in many ways, it's cheaper to be fat.
Of course, it's easy to see how so many retailers could miss something so obvious when the fashion advice made available to women through magazines and other traditional media tells plus size women to either squeeze into too small clothing, or just stay home. Ashley Falcon, who professes in her blog and Marie Claire column to provide advice to "big girls" routinely shills items that are available only up to a size 14 or 16. In my own brush with the fat-bot (I'm still not convinced that 'Ashley Falcon' is a real person - because even a totally fashion ignorant fifth grade boy would be able to figure out that recommending clothes that stop at size L or 14 does not help the girl who wears size XL or, a real plus size, like size 2X, or 16...or 18 ... or dare I say, even 22 or 24) she tweeted at me "plus size women vary in shape and size and I aim to service them all... Many if not all of the items I suggest go past XL" Well yes, Ashley. Plus-size women range from size 16 and up - size 12 is not a plus size. Clothing that fits sizes XS to L is not going to fit someone who is plus sized. If it fits you, then you are not plus sized. Yes, it really is that simple. Another fat-bot tweet, when I pointed out her tendency to recommend items that would not fit anyone plus sized : "Sorry you think this! I shop everywhere... plus size or not, if it fits and looks great I suggest you pick it up!" I don't know what size Ashley is - she claims to be plus sized, but if she fits into the teeny rompers she blathers about, then she needs a reality check. My suggestion that she check her sizes - and offer of Life: Forward's recaps on some of her more outrageous "plus-size" offerings was met with Twitter silence.
Since she didn't feel the need to actually attend Full Figured Fashion week (held in her own city), we can only hope that the silence was due to an epiphany that telling plus size women to wear clothing intended for
