My mother tells a story from her childhood, somewhat mournfully, about a dolly she wanted. There was a doll that pre-dates Barbie with dark hair and dark eyes, that was just like my mother. Instead, my grandmother bought her a dolly with blonde hair and blue eyes, since that’s what she herself looked like. My mother desperately wanted something to identify with, and instead she was given something that made her feel like an alien in the middle of her family.

When plus size stores use traditional - and even anorexic models, like ThatsHotPlus does -  it alienates their market base. I’ve read somewhere the argument that people want “glamorized” images of products, and the implication is that the buyer will associate “feeling thin” with the images of thin models. This philosophy really insults the intelligence of the plus size buyer. Even though we want that dark haired dolly to identify with, businesses are proffering the blonde, blue-eyed doll instead.

All my digging through lingerie posts has really brought home the importance of seeing plus clothing on a plus body. It’s also revived my education about gender politics in the media. Use of plus size models for plus size clothing is a first step. The second step is showing the plus models with respect and dignity - there’s sexy, and there’s trashy.  Buyers need to know that the businesses they frequent are supporting them, not exploiting them, especially since in plus and all other garment markets, there’s a growing movement towards independent creation. If established businesses don’t respect their customers,enough customers can sew and design for themselves - and will establish their own businesses that do serve a market instead of simply taking advantage of an opportunity.