Tag Archives: plus size fashion

Interview With Plus Size Model Sara Alloy-Part 2

September 22, 2011 By in Fashion and Clothes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Photographer Roberto Ligresti, Makeup Rene Court

I’m back with the smart and beautiful plus size model Sara Alloy, who was nice enough to talk to me about modeling, body image and all sorts of things. Without further ado…..

Let’s talk a bit more about the plus size modeling industry. What advice do you give to aspiring models?

If somebody writes to me, I say I’m not an agent, and it’s completely subjective so it’s hard for to say. I could say “you’re beautiful” and they could go to an agency and get turned down, so my opinion is only worth so much. I ask them how tall they are and what their measurements are and let them know the basic requirements. If they’re 5’9″, that’s a great starting point. Next I say that it’s important how proportionate you are. The taller you are the bigger you can be. So if you’re 5’11” being a size 16 or 18 is more acceptable. If you’re 5’8″ or 5’9″  they want you to be a 12 or a 14. I tell them examples of the type of work I’ve done and expect to do. A lot of them get the wrong idea from shows like America’s Next Top Model as to what you can do.

Where do you tell them the most opportunities are?

Mostly print and web work, some editorials. There are very few runway shows for us these days, which is why Full Figured Fashion Week is so great.

I went to Full Figured Fashion Week and one of the retailers there was talking about how they would use smaller size women and then pin the clothing in the back to make it look like it fits. Have you seen that?

Absolutely. They want to show the clothes as fitting who will be wearing the clothes. Sometimes they can’t get a sample that will fit the model, so they will pin the clothes. I don’t think pinning is as controversial as padding to size up.

Women at Full Figured Fashion Week said that they had done research and plus size consumers don’t want to see plus size models that look like them. Instead they want to see smaller models that give them something to aspire towards. Would you like to comment on that?

I think most women idealize a slightly smaller size, whether or not they admit it. I might be a size 14, but often times I’m shopping where the models are much smaller. Naturally you envision yourself reflecting what you see in the advertising. I’m putting on my advertising hat when I’m speaking like this, but honestly, what they are doing is good marketing. You are ultimately selling people a dream. Even if you are comfortable with who you are, it’s so drilled into our heads that we should be thinner than we are that when you go shopping you automatically look at a mannequin or model and see yourself reflected in whatever advertising you’re looking at.

So do you think that a size 20 wants to see a size 20 or that a size 20 would rather see a size 16 or 18?

They say they want to see a size 20 but honestly every time they try to use a size 20 or other bigger sizes they don’t sell the clothes. If a company books a size 18 model and the clothes aren’t selling, they aren’t going to book the model again. I’d like to see more diverse models used, but the retailers aren’t going to respond to what customers say, they’re going to respond to what their sales say. As consumers we all need to be better about voting with our dollars.

What do you think would change that?

I think the shoot Steven Meisel did for Vogue Italia was very helpful. Rosie Mercado who was the face of Full Figured Fashion Week 2 years ago, she’s larger but she’s so beautiful. She’s tall and carries herself with such confidence that clothes look great on her. They could use someone like her, and have Steven Meisel shoot her and put her in a high fashion spread and show that ideal of beauty.

Do you think the change will come from retailers or designers or consumers improving their body image so they want to see models that look like them or a combination?

I think it’s a combination because on the one hand you have imagery drilled in our heads from the time we are little girls, you’re seeing the actresses on TV from  the time you start watching it, you’re seeing them in magazines, you are being told everywhere that you need to be a certain way. So that is a problem, that girls are being bombarded. We’re conditioned to think that skinny is beautiful.

On top of that designers don’t cut clothes for bigger girls. Agents won’t book bigger girls so it seems as if they feel it’s a waste of time to put bigger girls on their boards. So there are no bigger girls to shoot campaigns should they decide to use bigger girls. It’s a cyclical thing. Continue reading →

TLC’s Big Sexy-A TV Series Not to Be Missed!

August 31, 2011 By in Books and Media, Fashion and Clothes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

I waited for TLC’s three part Big Sexy series with a combination of hopeful excitement and trepidation. I loved the concept-five plus size, confident and intelligent women making their way in fashion inNew York City. On other hand, I worried about its honesty, and whether it would be an exploitative three ring circus like so many reality television shows. Happily, Big Sexy did not disappoint.

This show features five friends-plus size model Nikki Gomez, fashion stylist Leslie Medlik, makeup artist Audrey Curry, fashion designer Heather Roach and plus size model Tiffany Bank. I loved their vibrant personalities, strong voices, and their willingness to stand up and be heard.

New York City Fashion Week Show and Nightclub

In the first episode last night, the women attempted to go to a New York City nightclub after attending a fashion week show (in which they saw some emaciated models, but none that looked like Nikki and Tiffany. Tiffany approached a designer, told her she was a plus size model and asked if she would ever use a plus size model in her show. The designer’s hesitation and insincere “yes” was demonstrative of the bias that exists in the fashion industry.

Outside the nightclub, the women stand on line to get in, only to be pushed aside as they reach the front. The bouncer pulls thinner women from further down the line and lets them in for free. The women then watch as the bouncer confers with co-workers as to what to do with them. Finally, the bouncer deigned to allow the women to enter, subject to a 30 dollar cover change, stating that it was “club policy.”

There were a number of ways the women could have dealt with this situation. Being pushed aside and made to wait to see if you would even be allowed to enter is painful and embarrassing, particularly in front of a line of onlookers. Some women might have retreated from the situation by slinking off. Others might have paid the cover charge unhappily and tried to put the incident out of mind and enjoy the rest of their night. But the women realized the bouncer was the one who should be ashamed. They refused to be pushed around or mistreated. Instead, they told off the bouncer and left. That’s when I was hooked.

Adventures in Dating

The show also dealt with the issues of dating for plus size women honestly and realistically.

Speed Dating

The women decided to go speed dating for the first time. Speed dating, for the uninitiated, is where men and women talk for around eight minutesminutes, a whistle blows, they mark on their scorecards whether they are interested in each other, and move onto a new prospect. Afterwards, you find out who was interested in you. I’ve been speed dating. It’s a shallow and silly process.

Tiffany asks one of the men whether he’s ever dated a plus sized woman before. He admits he would only date a plus size woman when he is drunk. The conversation afterwards centers on the refusal of many men to date plus size women. Many men are embarrassed to be seen with a plus size woman. Some men view plus size women as an easier mark with fewer options. The women discuss how some of them have dated and stayed with men they weren’t into because they were worried they couldn’t find anyone better who would want them.

I’ve gone speed dating. It’s superficial and silly. The rejection can be brutal. I dated a few men in the past from speed dating who I turned out to have nothing in common with. What else can you expect in eight minutes, which allows someone to do little more than look you up and down?

I could completely relate to these women. In the past, I dated with guys I wasn’t happy with for far too long. I was afraid I couldn’t do better. I didn’t want to be alone. I remember things now, and think to myself “What the hell was I thinking?” When they broke up with me, I thought there was something wrong with me. Meanwhile, deep down I didn’t even want to be with them. Finding a show like this that is so honest and real is hard and great when it happens. Continue reading →

The Pulse of the Plus Size Community

June 25, 2011 By in Fashion and Clothes, Speak Out Against This! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

 

During Full Figured Fashion Week, I attended the Pulse of the Plus Size Community Panel, which discussed the challenges, trends and future of the plus size community. It was hosted by comedienne Erica Watson. Panelists were Jill Hutchison, Publisher and General Manager for Sonsi.com, Katheryn Finney, founder of the TheBudgetFashionista.com and CEO of TBF Group, LLC, Madeline Figueroa-Jones, editor of PLUS Model Magazine, Jennene Biggins, Founder and CEO of Voluptuous Woman Company, and Leslie Medlik, who works for Re/Dress NYC.

The “Plus Size” Label

The definition of “plus size” is a fluid one. Some designers consider anything over a 10 or a 12 to be plus sized. Considering the “average sized” woman in the United States is a size 14, this label is misleading. Jill Hutchinson said she gets asked all the time “am I plus size”? She stressed that “plus size” is wrongfully given a negative connotation, and that you are what you are regardless of the label put on it.

The panel had a variety of opinions as to the labels put on the “plus size” woman. Leslie Medlik‘s opinion was not to sugarcoat it, a plus size woman is “fat” and women should take back the word proudly. Erica Watson too had problems with euphemisms, noting that a “curve” is often a “fat roll” and that there’s nothing wrong with that. Jill Hutchinson preferred to focus on terms that will make a woman comfortable with herself.  Madeline Figueroa-Jones stressed the community should be focusing on the real issues rather than words.

Too often people get so bogged down in nitpicking over words that the substance gets lost. While I believe in “telling it like it is,” I don’t see any benefit in trying to “take back” a word with negative connotations. Many weight-acceptance activists who do great work and have wisdom to impart call what they do “fat acceptance.” While I appreciate how they bring attention to important issues, personally I’d rather see derogatory terms and slurs eliminated rather than “redefined.”

Plus Size Models

Plus size designers frequently fail to use models that look like the female customers who will ultimately be wearing the clothes. Madeline Figueroa Jones asked a manufacturer why it didn’t use plus size models of color. The manufacturer’s response? Customers don’t respond to “bigger, darker” models. Their research was based on a study they did in 1998.

A woman from Catherine’s was in the audience. She asked her employer why they don’t use models truer to their customers’ body types. Catherine’s told her they conducted a study and determined customers wanted smaller size models that they could aspire to be like. The size of this focus group panel? Only 25 women.

Charging More for the Same Thing

Retailers often charge more for plus size offerings that are exactly the same as their regular size counterparts. Katheryn Finney listed the litany of excuses retailers give: pattern changes, different models required (which they often aren’t even using), more fabric, and less volume in sales. She stated that the solution is to “support those who support us.”

The woman from Catherine’s noted that Catherine’s charges more for their larger plus sizes. Ironically, Catherine’s sells more of these larger, more expensive clothes than the smaller plus sizes.

Considering the large number of plus size women in the United States, the excuse that there is no clothing market for them is a feeble one. A woman who works for Fashion Bug stressed that the buying power is definitely there. The problem is that manufacturers make unattractive, ill-fitting plus size clothes. Understandably, women don’t buy them.

Stefanie Cunningham of La’Grace International, who is launching a plus size bra line in Fall 2011 put it eloquently: “Bras are supposed to support, lift and fit, not bankrupt you.”

Katheryn Finney opined that success in high-end fashion offerings has a trickle-down effect to lower-priced offerings, and encouraged the audience to support high-end independent plus size designers. The panel as a whole noted that designers and retailers should work together to make plus size clothing more readily available and economically viable. Continue reading →

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