So, I’m posting this in the middle of the night and you know that probably doesn’t bode well for my sentence construction but still.
I finally got to watch the episode of the Fashion Show where they had to design for “real” women. I’m not actually going to set aside my loathing for the phrase real women, Bravo, Fashion Show, because maybe you’ve not had any exposure to why this is a problematic phrase. Really, though, it’s a bunch of bogus bologna (thank you, Oscar Meyer, for giving me a way to spell that word every time). The models? Are real women. The not-models? Are real women. Fat women? Are real women. Also, transwomen are real women, infertile women are real women, butch women are real women if they choose to identify as such, and so on. “Real” is not determined by pants size. Can we please all agree that this phrase is very Lane Bryant marketing circa 1994 and move on?
Thank you.
I was interested in this episode specifically because Isaac calls someone out on being sizist. And it was so good. And she knew she was busted and that her actions were unacceptable no matter how much she tried to cover it up. CRYING INTO YOUR HAT because your customer is not a clothes hanger is unacceptable when you are trying to be a clothing designer.
People of all sizes need clothes, bitch.
Yeah, I said it. It’s after 1am, Bravo and the Fashion Show, so please forgive me, but, well, I’m getting really frustrated with this idea that, oh, fashion is a pure art form that bodies above a certain BMI cannot possibly understand.
Because you know what? YES, fashion is an art form. But part of that art is making garments to fit all sorts of bodies. It would be a serious damn work of art if someone could design a pair of off the rack high-waisted pants (shut up, I love the sailor look) that fit me both standing and sitting. It would be a serious damn work of art for someone to design a dress that actually fits my bust instead of being tragically too small or laughably too big.
Bravo, Fashion Show, you want to challenge your designers? Have them design for fat people. Have them design functional and beautiful clothing for women who wear above a US size 20. Hell, make them design for a size 24, and then see who has real understanding of garment construction in a 3-D environment.
In the end, it isn’t Daniella that makes me angry. It’s that other kid, the one who said having to use everyday women as models is like asking Jesus Christ to work with Satan.
You know what my response to that was? Well, it’s at least marginally a family blog so I hate to spell it out but seriously. My response was, “Fuck you.” Fat people are not Satan.
At the end of the day, what I am taking away from The Fashion Show is that up-and-coming designers right now can’t actually design clothes to save their lives (well, I make exception for Reco because he was not even fazed). Because you know what? It isn’t easy to design amazing looks for clothes hangers – which is how the designers have referred to the models on your show – but it’s even harder to design clothes for people to wear and no one seems to have any interest in doing that at all.
At one point during the judging there was this lamentation that no one had made a dress or outfit to celebrate the supposed figure flaw. No one said, “Hey, here’s a big butt, let’s rock that.” That’s what I want to see. As a fat woman, I want to see clothes that are not about minimizing figure flaws as Cosmo or Vogue would perceive them. As a fat woman, I want to live and move and wear awesome clothes and I want to do that without popped collars and cinched, boned waists, and the like. I want to wear black because I am goth and not because I have no other choice.
I want to see designers being challenged – not just one time, one time that they’ll inevitably blame on the women for whom they had to design, but on a consistent basis – to create clothes that are wearable art, that can be worn by many different bodies. I want someone who can pad a dress maker’s dummy, dammit. If *I* know how to do that, why don’t these professional designers have a better grasp on it as a skill?
Bravo, Fashion Show, it isn’t that I don’t love you. I really do. It’s that I am fed to the teeth with watching you fall into the same body fascism that is everywhere else in our society – the same body fascism that is so freaking unavoidable everywhere. If fashion is supposed to provide a fantasy escape, why don’t I ever get any access to that?
Love,
Marianne
21 Comments
So tempted to just leave “BRAVO!” as a comment, but instead I will just tell you that I almost did.
And say FUCK YEAH, this is only one small part of why I heart you, Marianne.
Excellent post! This is why I don’t watch those shows. What Not to Wear is size friendly though, I remember the hosts mentioning something about wanting to help everyone look great, no matter what their size. That they also have an understanding of how difficult stores make it for fat people to shop. So if you want a fashion fix, I’d suggest you watch that show instead. It’s on TLC, I think.
“Fat people are not Satan. ”
And he sure as hell ain’t Jesus Christ….
Actually, I think that one blonde girl they call barbie had that short black chick with the booty and she was all about playing it up (which I appreciated, being gifted with an epic behind myself and since she looked so cute).
In the first couple of episodes I was OK with the kid who made those stupid comments, but after hearing that come out of his mouth I don’t care what awards you’ve won or how pure your inspirations are or whatever-the-crap you want to say about yourself, if you can’t step out of the fashion box and you don’t know how to create your “art” to fit even THOSE women, ones I would consider skinny any day (and oh my god, daniella, your model was SOOOOO fat I can’t even believe there are clothes that exist on earth that will fit her… wait, what???) then you aren’t an artist and you aren’t a good designer. I can understand it being a challenge if you’ve never worked with women above a size 2, but bitching about it makes you look incompetent and like a stupid bastard to boot.
I really like Reco, I’m calling this one early.
Very very nicely said. I hope you send this letter to them for realz.
I would buy Reco’s outfit in a hot minute, especially if it came in black or a darker grey. I’m all about wearing underbust vests/bodices outside of the Ren Faire, and I’m not being sarcastic.
As for Daniella, I hate navy and black together. And someone on one of the non-fat forums I frequent was dead on when they said it looks like something from IGIGI 2 years ago.
I really think you should redraft this as a letter to Bravo and Mr. Mizrahi. They might acutally take you up on the challenge. Lord knows, I would watch it.
No, you’ve got it backwards! What that kid meant was, he was Satan. Everyday women are Jesus Christ.
And with that, I can fully agree.
(in the interest of full disclosure, I have not seen this episode, nor in fact any episode, of The Fashion Show)
I was sort of rooting for James Paul until he started spouting all that body hate and smugitude about how his ‘art’ can’t be interfered with by (ick) bodies.
Has nobody explained to these baby designers that the human body in all its variations is PART of the design?
Well, since at least two of these baby designers have informed us that they weren’t taught anything about mere sewing at their fancy design schools, I’m actually not surprised they haven’t learned about the body thing, either.
Seriously, if bodies and technical skill don’t interest them, what are they doing designing clothes?
Thank goodness at least one designer displayed both technical skill and a refreshing lack of hatred for bodies. If it weren’t for Reco, I might have hurled my entire shoe collection (such as it is because apparently needing a wide width means that nobody in the Bay Area needs to provide me with attractive, comfortable footwear) through the TV screen.
I actually really don’t like What Not To Wear. I think it is way way way too invested in “disguising” figure “flaws” and making people conform to arbitrary rules. It actually makes me kind of irrationally angry to watch it.
*laugh*
Jasmine – was that the orange outfit? Because, weird collar thing aside, that outfit was totally kicking. It was bright, it was unashamed, I dug it.
And, you know, I didn’t like Reco’s black dress in the shoe challenge but I loved his dress for this challenge. And I love that he is an excellent technical sewer as well – he gets his stuff DONE. None of this panicking because his hem isn’t finished. That ruffled blouse was perfect, too. I’d love to have that outfit.
I’m working on a draft of this letter that is a bit more polite, to send to Bravo. *grin* Perhaps we should all let the channel know how we feel?
“The models? Are real women. The not-models? Are real women. Fat women? Are real women. Also, transwomen are real women, infertile women are real women, butch women are real women if they choose to identify as such, and so on. ‘Real’ is not determined by pants size.”
This is beautiful. Thank you for including *everyone*.
Did you ever see the *Kids in the Hall* episode where a fashion designer was interviewed about his new line for “fat women”? It included things like a hat that was a railroad spike (that would be hammered into the head) with some flowers on it. It really seemed to sum up the attitude of a lot of designers when it comes to larger women.
You know, there’s a possibility that Jesus may have been a bit heavier than other people of his day. He did, after all, get fed by lot’s of people. Practically half the gospels have to do with him eating.
Hi!
Long time reader, first time commentor (& Fat-o-Sphere book lover!)
I just love this post. I love fashion, and I love Project Runway and its ilk, but I always cringe when they do the inevitable “real woman” show. The attitudes these designers are deplorable, but with what’s going on in the actual fashion industry, not surprising.
Here’s the thing. Fashion isn’t simply an art form. Fashion is artisanal work. You’re not just sketching something, you are CONSTRUCTING it. I say this as someone who sews for herself (BECAUSE I CAN’T FIND CLOTHES THAT FIT ME). The concept is art, the actual making of the garment is more like sculpting or pottery or what have you. Artisanal. So stop saying that you need a size 00 to wear your “pure vision” because you’ve missed fully half the POINT of good fashion if you only have the art part down.
It’s just part of one super frustrating thing: As fat people we’re just…left out. We’re left out of fashion. And much as I love Fatshionista, and fashion in general, the fact that I have to work SO HARD to be fashionable, well, it makes me not want to bother at all. And this kind of thing just justifies that position.
Regarding “real women,” http://community.livejournal.com/statements/100717547.html
Regarding the rest, amen fifty times. And yeah, I am not big on What Not to Wear because personal style seems to be such an afterthought to social acceptability and conformity. Hide your flaws, hide your personality, hide everything that makes you imperfect and then maybe you can trick people into thinking you are perfect.
All this talk of Jesus and Satan makes me think of Fat Satan!
You made a great point about how obnoxious and offensive the notion of a “real woman” is. As a man, I find it offensive, and its usage is actually an insult to some men as well. I am a man that happens to be somewhat curvy. I don’t celebrate that (not that there’s anything wrong with men who do), but I realize that it doesn’t make me any less of a “real man” that I have curves.
I realize that saying “Real women have curves” is not the same thing as saying that “real men” don’t technically, but that is the implication. The notion tries to distance both women without curves and men with curves from their gender identities. The whole notion of gender authenticity is problematic. It excludes large numbers of people, and fails to take into account the spectrum of gender diversity.
Can we please all agree that this phrase is very Lane Bryant marketing circa 1994 and move on?
Delicious. Just delicious.
When my boyfriend watched the show with me and saw these “real women” who were supposedly noooooothing like models, he was so shocked that anyone would consider them too flawed to design for. And I imagine that’s how most men felt watching the show.
Wow, talk about synchronicity. Etsy just tweeted a link to a fantastic designer:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7363840
And zomg, those models have some ATTITUDE. Love the punk/classic blend.
There are high-waisted things! I thought of you when I saw this gorgeous saffron skirt: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25940241
(salutes) You got it, m’lady. I will get on the designing right away. You like fringe, right?
In all seriousness, I have been toying with the idea of designing and making clothes for ‘California’ (i.e. hot weather) goths for a while, and my recent awakening to the dearth of clothing options for fat people is urging me to start working with that. There are so many ways to emphasize those juicy hips and bouncy boobies, not to mention the soft tummies. It’s all so fucking gorgeous, and my lover is helping me with ideas–fringe being one of the Big Ideas we’ve come up with in the past six months.
I’m a goth, too, and I run the gamut from ‘basic’ fishnets and bondage bottoms to corsets and lace, to fringe and sequins. I’m so glad there are places for my potential clientele to find things I couldn’t possibly make (like shoes and socks), but I am definitely very enthused about learning to cater to my personal ideal body type (fetrtility goddess).
Okay that is enough ranting out of me.
~Melanthios
Bravo to you dear! your words or wisdom so eloquently sprinkled throughout your post after 1am is so on point!
When I saw the preview for this episdoe, my response was, WTF! Who the hell does she think she is!!!
Very nicely put!
Get it girl!
What I would love to see is a fashion show challenge for the Curvy.Confident.Chic. Fashoinistas… how about that one?
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