One of the worst parts of Project Runway, in my opinion, is when they work with “plus size” models (even ones who aren’t actually that big- say, size 8 or so) and complain about how the model’s bodies are so awful, problematic, and inconvenient for them.
Sorry to have to tell you this, but if you only know how to dress for one very specific, and quite frankly rare, type of body, you suck at fashion design.
There are millions of types of bodies out there. If you want to design clothes, you should be able to design for a variety of people, not just extra-skinny, super tall women with no boobs.
Short women, fat women, curvy women, big busted women, women of unique or uneven proportions, women of all shapes and sizes, deserve to feel attractive too. They deserve nice clothes too.
And if you can’t figure out how to design for someone who isn’t a model, the problem isn’t her body. It’s you.
Sewing is not an easy thing and I have to give props to people who can. I understand it’s a challenge and I do think it takes a lot of skill and talent to do what these people do.
But you know what? Hard or not, they could learn how to design for bigger bodies if they wanted. They have the skill, the time, the money. Instead, they just attack women for their bodies and make people feel bad for their size.
Most of these people have had training. They’ve had time to practice, to work with different kinds of women, to style different types of bodies. Many just flat-out refuse. Fashion designers need to be held accountable for that; they need to know how what they are doing hurts people, how it affects people, how it makes women feel and what it makes them do to their bodies. The pressure to change your body to fit your clothes is huge, but it’s really your clothes that should fit your body. Designers really don’t get that, and that’s a problem.
Listen. Plus-sized women, fat women, curvy women… they aren’t inferior. They aren’t flawed or broken or lesser than thin women. They aren’t “wrong bodied” or “problem sized.” They’re just normal people and they don’t deserve to be treated like issues just because they don’t look like a dress form. So instead of complaining that it’s “too hard” to work with a fatter model, how about you actually fucking try? And if you can’t do it, you don’t deserve to be on Project Runway.
