First plus-sized fashion show

By Melissa Szymborski
September 29, 2010

It goes without saying, every woman struggles with her appearance at least once in her life. The world has come up with “the perfect body” and how a woman should look, but in reality it’s very rare to be able to perfect this look.

However, there is good news to all of us women out there, America is starting to appreciate a woman’s curves and is now flaunting them in fashion week. New York’s Fashion week held the first-ever plus-sized fashion show in their history on Sept. 9.

“It seems that a lot of girls always worry about their appearance, and having this fashion show is a way to show and help girls learn to appreciate their body,” Zachary Fortenbaugh a freshman exercise science major said.

Not only did fashion week showcase plus-sized models, there were some curvier celebrities in the front row.  Some names included Nikki Blonsky and Gabourey Sidibe. These celebrities are going to be the new influences to young women across the world proving that you can be just as beautiful and be a size 14.

However finding a woman with average curves in this day and age is getting harder, since the obesity rate is rapidly rising.

In recent statistics it’s been reported “about 31 percent, or about 59 million people, are obese, which is defined as roughly 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight. Almost 65% are either obese or overweight, 10 to 30 pounds over a healthy weight, which increases their chances of developing diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer and a host of other health problems.”

This is a big problem in the fashion world. Retail marketers have realized they do not want models who looks sickly thin, but they can’t show off their art with someone who weighs 500 lbs.

“America creates an unhealthy image that young girls need to be skinny, it is an image created by popular fashion, when in reality the majority of the women in the United States are not that typical image,” Kaitlyn Jorgensen a junior elementary education major said.

Unfortunately, it’s not just young women who have a day to day battle with their weight. Young men also fear that they aren’t in shape or aren’t as defined as they need to be. This problem is plaguing adolescents.

One of the models in the plus-sized fashion show, Crystal Renn said last year, “Women have come so far in the past 100 years but what holds them back is lack of confidence and self-hatred.” Renn suffered from anorexia and was a size 0 and now she has transitioned to “plus-size.”

So what size is considered “plus-sized?”According to an article written by Frances Perraudin for The New York Times, the official size is a dress size of 14 or higher. This number is not considered big by many people.  Over two-thirds of American women are over size 14.

“Every girl has self esteem issues, but weight doesn’t have to be the main cause. You don’t have to be a size 2 to be beautiful,” Lexus Ujobai junior criminology, major said.

What does having a plus-sized model do for the average retail market?

Nordstrom has reported that they are now seeing more plus sized merchandise come into the stores, and many of their clients do research their selection before coming in, said a Nordstrom representative via telephone.

<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} –>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
“I think that promoting to women that you don’t have to be a size 0 to be beautiful is something that’s long overdue,” Kristie Montano, junior graphic design, major said.

While people do need to maintain a healthy weight for health reasons, healthy is not 00 for everyone. Plus-sized models in fashion shows is a good step forward to showing adolescents that it is healthy to have some curves.

“it seems a lot of girls always worry about their appearance, and this could be something that helps girls learn to appreciate theri body? Zachary Fortenbaugh exercise science

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Melissa Szymborski

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Perspectives

Special Project

Title IX Redefined Website

Produced by Cabrini Communication
Class of 2024

Listen Up

Season 2, Episode 3: Celebrating Cabrini and Digging into its Past

watch

Scroll to Top
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap