I think I am starting to hate the phrase “style beyond size.”
It’s trying too hard. It ought to just be “style” but it has to insist that it is style that transcends size because size itself is not stylish.
And on one hand, yeah, size is not an indicator of whether or not something is stylish. But it should not have to be transcended either – I am not stylish IN SPITE of my size. It is not a hurdle over which I must leap.
It’s also a phrase that seems to be stretching out a hand to stroke the fat woman’s ego. Oh, I don’t need to pay attention to trends – after all, my style is BEYOND size.
Which is not to imply that we all become trend-monkeys or anything, because, hey, that’d suck. But come on. I don’t need to be pandered to with feel-good slogans. I need pants that fit my ass. I need a shirt that will button closed over my boobs. Pander to me with well-made clothes that I like, people. That’s the sort of pandering I crave!
I also hate the whole “real women have curves” thing because it implies that thin women aren’t real. Yes, they are real. Yes, 0 is a size.
No, we can’t tell if that super thin woman on the street is super thin because she is anorexic or if it is because her metabolism outpaces her.
She, too, is a real woman. And why would I want to be beyond whatever style she has? Maybe I want to borrow her style. Maybe I want us to be style friends, so that I can borrow the cut of her skirt and make it my own and she can steal the detailing of my shirt and we can both be happy.
Pander to me with a quality product and save the money spent on copywriters. You still want a slogan? How about this: Style that fits YOU.
14 Comments
I have also always despised the saying “real women have curves” for that same reason. What is a thin woman? A fake? A robot? No, she’s a “real woman” too. Body size shouldn’t matter. Big or small. We’re all just people trying to live our lives.
A very thin woman might be ill rather than anorexic or at her default weight.
They just won’t let you forget why you’re shopping there.
In France we have a clothing brand for fat people called “taillissime” which is “size-issimo” in english(rough translation). How cringing is that?
I love your slogan. Expect some corporate trend troll to find it and steal it utterly. Hopefully, you’ll be the start of a great new line of thought!
There used to be a brand of pantyhose, i think, called “just my size”. I liked that slogan, though i think it should have applied to ALL sizes, not just those above 16. If i was a size 20 or perhaps even a size 0, i’d still want something “just my size”.
Nancy, I think that’s part of the point. We don’t get to make sweeping statements or judgments about other people’s sizes because of how much we don’t know. Is she ailing, anorexic, or healthy and genetically skinny? We don’t know, so we don’t get to call her unfeminine or imply she’s not “real.” Does she overeat, does she have PCOS, does she have an eating disorder or fat genes? We don’t know, so we don’t get to call her disgusting or imply that she’s a glutton.
In fact we just don’t get to pass judgments on people’s bodies because it’s none of our damn business, but it can be easier to approach this through the lens of “there’s so much that you don’t know, that you’d have to assume.” :>
Great reference, Madge. I’ve many a “just my size” piece in my wardrobe, and the thing that always bothered me about that slogan was that it did separate me from the rest of the fashions, the same way that “plus size” does. I can’t just have a size..I’ve got to be “plus” or it’s “just my” size. I suppose “Miss” and “Junior” sizes might feel singled out, too, but I’ve always felt like “plus size” means “banned to the back of the store, with a poor selection of merchandise.”
My problem with this whole “real women xxx” business is that it is another(in a seemingly unending script of) case of the whole “women on women bashing” that goes on in the world which seems to be based in competition for acceptance and male approval. Until women understand that this exists and refuse to play the game, we will continue to see it everywhere. The bottom line is: Women Can’t Win. No matter how hard you try to live up to society’s expectations, whether it’s for size, weight, wrinkles(or lack thereof), hair color, athleticism, staying at home/going to work, etc….no matter what choice you make — you can’t win since the ultimate measure of success in society is based on whether or not you are deemed someone who men would find attractive (whatever that means). If you do not currently meet that measure, then you are a failure. Period. Since women unconsciously know in their bones that this is the measure, they also know that they are in competition with every other female within reach for that scarce commodity: successful men. And that is why we constantly see this sloganeering and media bashing going on. My two cents.
The “real women have curves” thing has always bothered me because it implies curves “in all the right places”. I’m one of those fat women with a large upper body and almost no waist or hips to speak of. So, does that make me not real?
Although, I often feel invisible when out in public. So, maybe it should be “real women have an hourglass shape and fit into a certain, restricted range of sizes. All others don’t exist.” But that’s kind of long for a slogan.
Yes. And Fat women are no expection to this sort of thinking either. How many have you heard saying, “Oh that skinny bitch said…” or “That twig was saying…” It is no better and really only continuing the problem. You can’t point the finger at one group and ignore the ugly judgemental side of yoruself. My girlfriend is very thin and tall. I am the opposite. I have referred to her as a twig before, but only when she complains that Lane Bryant doesn’t have her size! I try to keep my venom in check, but we all have to work on this! Style that fits YOU!!! I love it! As long as we can love each other’s style while loving ourselves! Yes!
“I need a shirt that will button closed over my boobs” …that wasn’t made for a man. How come they’re allowed to have chests wider than 36″ and we’re not? Please let me know if you ever find one! (A women’s boob-friendly button-down shirt, that is – not a wide-chested man. Got one of those already, thank you.)
We’ve got the ‘plus size’ thing over here too(UK), there was a time when it was outsized!
Just My Size, or JMS, has an entire catalog. It’s one of the ones I’m bombarded with on a regular basis because I had the temerity to order a piece of plus-sized clothing through the mail from somebody once. (If you’re considering this and have never done it before, be forewarned!) They’ve got bathing suits, jersey separates, all kinds of stuff, and while they’re not the most exciting threads, they’re comfy and prices are mostly reasonable.
But I do keep buying their trouser socks in the store — which, weirdly enough, are different from the ones they sell in the catalog and, I think, vastly superior — because they actually stay up all day long on my liberally sized calves without choking off my circulation, and I’ve yet to find any others that will do so.
Yeah, you know, I went through my “real women have curves” and “your mama’s so skinny” phases a while ago. I’m more likely to say now, “Women with curves are real women TOO,” as that’s a lot more inclusive, but I do understand the initial defensiveness of that phase. We do come in for an awful beating out there, we of maximal dimension.
What Toby Wollin said.
Times infinity.
Until we get that, we’re not going to get anywhere.
When we do get it …