I’ve been reading plus size fashion blogs and they range across the spectrum in terms of how relevant they are to plus size women and their clothing options.
If you’re writing about plus size fashion, here are a few guidelines:
- 1.If you think that plus size starts at size 4, you shouldn’t be writing about plus. If you think it starts at 14 (it doesn’t) you should go and actually look at some people who are size 14. Plus sizes start at 16, and a larger clothing size does not automatically equal “fat.”
2. Get familiar with multiple body types. I admit I often shop for myself here, but I do try to keep an eye out for what would work well on other body types.
3. Plus size fashion is still mostly consumer-based. So you actually need to spend some time hitting Google and mining online magazines and forums to get a good grasp of what’s out there, because you’re not going to see it on a runway (with the notable exception of Velvet d’Amour.)
4. Quit fishing for celebrities. One “plus” blog actually brought up Kim Kardashian as a “plus role model.” I was furious; it isn’t the first time I’ve thought that blogger was unqualified on the topic. I also see a lot of references to America Ferrerra as a plus size cover girl. Both these women are around size 6-8 - which is most definitely not plus sized. While Queen Latifah, Beth Ditto and Nikki Blonsky are true plus-sized fashion anchors, there just aren’t enough plus celebrities around for women to use a “celebrity role model” as is recommended by some fashionistas. Plus women are carving their own styles, template free.
5. If you find a private/indie designer targeting the plus market, make sure you give them some attention, somehow, even if it’s just a link on your blog.
6. Learn about clothing. I’m in the process of learning more about sewing and clothing construction so I have a better idea of what’s reasonable to expect from consumer clothing - and what’s not.
7. RESPECT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. Don’t regale people with diets and “motivation.” Just respect that you don’t know who is really reading or what their motivations are, and keep to the topic/overall ideology of your blog.
Comments
This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Comment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
While I agree personally that plus size doesn’t start at 16 (or even 18 - I worked with a size 16 a few years back and she couldn’t find clothes to fit her in regular or plus size stores). I normally go by 14 because the stores I worked in started at that range. I have also gone by 10 because the “fashion industry” works from the standard that it is plus but I refuse to go to their 8 which is just ridiculous.
As for America I think plus size people like to claim her because she doesn’t necessarily fit the Hollywood mode especially when she made Real Women Have Curves (she’s lost a lot of weight since then).
I also read the post on Kim Kardashian as a “plus role model” and thought “not”. That’s really stretching.
I “dugg” your story.
I like the point about different body shapes. It makes such a huge difference in what someone can wear and seems to get looked over even in the regular-size marketplace. Haute couture is aimed at women with very boyish figures (ew) and you really have to go down-market to find clothes aimed at hourglassy women — to say nothing of the frustration that must be having a pear shape.
Maybe the focus shouldn’t be so much top-down (from the celebs/personalities) but bottom-up (local designers driving trends up to MadAve). It would take more work of course, but isn’t being a trend-setter always more satisfying? Yes, it is.