Forever 21 declared bankruptcy over the weekend and announced that while some stores will stay open, all of its 44 Canadian locations will close. In my mostly leftist social media circle, the news was shared with captions like “good riddance” or “karma stings,” referencing the brand’s status as a staple of fast fashion, putting out garments at low prices by using environmentally harmful materials and exploiting workers. I agree, since I like fast fashion as much as the next anti-capitalist, but then I saw another caption: “Where am I going to shop now?”
The friend who posted that caption is intelligent, charismatic, thoughtful — and fat. And Forever 21 is one of the only places she can reliably find affordable, fashionable clothes; she knows they’re not exactly ethical, but she doesn’t have many options. Because fat people are still an afterthought in the fashion industry, it can take a long time for trends to trickle down, especially into higher-end plus-size lines. If you’re thinking “So what?” I wouldn’t blame you — fashion can seem frivolous. But this problem has real ramifications for fat people.
Fat people face a distinct type of prejudice and discrimination, called sizeism or fatphobia. They are, according to numberous sociological studies, seen as stupid, lazy, mean, and dirty; they’re less likely to be hired, get worse medical treatment, and often deal with more mental health issues than thin people because of the stigma associated with their weight. When the stakes are this high, the ability to access clothes that help you portray yourself as professional, intelligent, and charismatic — somebody worth knowing — can be very important. Also, fashion is just fun to play around and express yourself with.
What’s frustrating is that thin people can wear basically anything and call it fashion; “normcore” is a fashion movement predicated on looking like someone’s dad in a photo from 1993. Ill-fitting pants, white T-shirts and polos, grey sweatshirts, and frumpy button-downs are staples. These are things that fat people have been wearing for years, often because they’re all that are affordable and that fit, but it wasn’t fashionable until thin people started doing it. Models for androgynous and minimalist styles are almost always distinctly plank-shaped. These movements are, at least in theory, based on rejecting gender essentialism and materialism. These have nothing to do with size, yet fat people aren’t seen as viable participants – perhaps because of their perceived unintelligence and lack of discipline.
I’ve never been thin but I’ve always loved fashion (despite what all photographic evidence may indicate). I feel this every time I wear an oversized shirt or my beloved denim Hammer pants: the fear that people are going to think I’m frumpy, or worse, clueless about the fact that I don’t look the way my clothes are supposed to look. The fashion industry is part of the problem, but the reason the plus-sized gap in the industry matters is the perceptions that fat people have to battle against, so it’s also about thin people. Examine your biases, support size-inclusive brands, be critical of trends that are only new because of the body shape of the people promoting it — and tell your fat friends they look cute today.
