Fat on Fifth

Since yesterday, my blog world has exploded with the news that Saks Fifth Avenue, some time in the near future will  carry plus sizes (in some cases up to a size 20) from several high end designers. Not only are they carrying plus sizes, they are also not separating them into a plus section. I'm so excited, not only from a fat fashion fan standpoint but also as an academic.

To explain, I've been frustrated that fashion culture within the U.S. has been rather reticent to acknowledge the fat fashion phenomenon. While in comparison, European publications like Italian Vogue, French Elle, and French Glamour have been making a concerted effort to include women of all shapes and sizes. As a result, I'm a bit shocked that this huge move is happening here in the U.S. And while the fat fashion community has expressed excitement over the news, I don't know if the community that I follow so religiously and have become so obsessed with over the past year or so, realize how much they have had to do with this breakthrough, how much it may mean for the future of fat fashion and the implications for generations of fatshionistas to come. It is clear that the online presence of the community has become too big to ignore. I began to notice the industry responding when ASOS, put out a plus range, it became clearer still when Gabi of Young, Fat and Fabulous garnered the attention of plus sized retailers and pulled together yffcon and the power of the community was made even more apparent by her success in the MTV TJ competition. Ella Baker, a grassroots civil rights activist, said of her community organizing:

"The major job was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use."

 

This is exactly what I have witnessed within the community. Popular fat fashion bloggers empower other fat women to change the way they see themselves as well as the way they are seen in society. Then they start a blog, they begin to demand more from retailers, they demand visibility from mainstream fashion culture, they refuse to accept the ideas that are fed them: that they cannot be fashionable, that fat is ugly and lazy and all things bad. And over time, change happens. And it will continue to happen (and it better or I'm out of a dissertation topic). It is truly inspiring. As a result, this post is written as a congratulations, to the very brave women of the fat fashion community, who are changing the world, one fat girl at a time.