Thick Girls in Fashion
Updated: Apr 22, 2021
Let's make one thing clear from the start. I do not look like the girls that model the clothes on Fashion Nova or any other clothing website for that matter. I happen to fall in a pretty weird space when it comes to fashion. I'm Thick.
And no, I'm not talking about Brazilian Butt Lift Thick or work out five days a week thick... I'm talking about cornbread and collard greens thick. Born thick. The kind of the thick that comes along with a jiggly stomach and a Triple D (DDD) bra size. The kind of thick that you only get from your mother or eating out everyday.
Being shaped this way can put a person in a peculiar spot when shopping, especially when doing so online. Literally no one looks like me. The clothes (very obviously) look amazing on whoever models them but once I buy the clothes, almost always, something is off. The waist is too big, the bra cups are too small, the pants don't rise high enough, the shirt shows my love handles. The list goes on.
I know what you're thinking... "Plus size models and women are being well represented in fast fashion right now". And you are not wrong. At all. But... I'm not plus sized. Did I mention I'm 5'2? Plus size models are typically 5'9 and up. And to be fair, a lot of plus size models don't have the same amount of gut/stomach that I do. I'm somewhere stuck the middle, at the tail end of regular sized clothes and the beginning of plus size.
I tend to wear a size 10 dress. Most fashion websites represent one size in their pictures, and the highest I have seen is a size 6. Nowhere near a 10. That gives me little to no idea how the clothes will look on me.
While I am curvy (like most plus size models), not every thick and/or fat person is. It's the the truth of it all. Everyone is shaped differently. Everyone's weight distributes differently. If you ask me, I think when websites post their clothing, they need to take the time to have multiple models (of different sizes and shapes) pose for them. I know every single body shape/type cannot be represented but it is a step in the right direction.
Just because people are not the standard skinny person, it does not mean they don't get to wear trendy clothes or feel good in what they wear. And no, telling someone to "just lose weight", is not the hot take you think it is. If we're keeping it a buck fifty... fashion companies would make 10x the money they make now if their consumers could see themselves in their clothing before they buy it. I know they'd get my coins.
Don't get me wrong, I still buy clothes and make it work because looking (and feeling) good is important to me. I just wish it wasn't such a struggle. I wish it was as easy for me as it is for someone who wears a smaller size.
For an example of a company who is getting it right, look below:

Ms. Rihanna Fenty is giving the girlies from other lingerie companies a run for their money! As she should! Lots of body types are represented across genders and it makes it sooooo easy to shop. If you've ever been on the Savage x Fenty website, then you know the deal.