Elizabeth Suzann has been a great model for me. I was initially attracted to her work via another blogger’s partnership. When I saw her timeless collection and her ethically sourced fabrics, I fell in love completely. Her commitment to sustainable practices while prioritizing their employees is something all companies should aspire to. Of course, the price point reflects the quality, and I have not yet pulled the trigger on making such a purchase. But since I am human, I have drooled over the images that I’ve found online and I occasionally browse the site for new products.
Recently, I visited her site and was shocked to see that half of all of the models were plus-sized women. I recognized it right away as a means to be inclusive and to change the “ideal” imagery that the fashion industry continually shoves down our throats. The impossibility of everyone being extremely tall, slender and leggy is not new news, especially for a five-foot Asian female such as myself.
So my initial thought was, “Hurrah!”
However, as I continued to scan the shop, I got more and more annoyed at the images of tall, plus-sized women. I could not imagine or see just how these pieces would fit me. I could not relate or get a good idea as to how the products fit. I thought to myself, “How absolutely frustrating this is. They hardly put up child-like figures online and I’ve already had to learn how to adjust for my short height when I look at tall elegant swans. Now I have to learn how to imagine the clothes on myself using an even farther frame of reference?”
And then it hit me.
How must these women feel, when the fashion world makes them invisible? How could THEY ever imagine how clothes would fit on them after seeing stick figures? If I cannot imagine how clothes would fall on me, how can the opposite be true? These plus-sized women have had to deal with this issue their whole lives! Talk about annoying.
By the way, do you know that the average American size is 16 or 18?! But we’ve got size DOUBLE ZERO models on the cover of every magazine!
I haven’t lived with this same problem all my life, but let me tell you how it felt to live with it for five minutes.
The shopping experience becomes very depressing. Emotions associated with shopping include frustration, anger, and pain. It feels almost hopeless to get to an understanding about the articles of clothing I am looking at. There is a self-esteem cost associated with the inability to relate.
Living with these affirmations could be detrimental to the human psyche.
Elizabeth Suzann’s embracing of different sized women is refreshing. Other sustainable companies should take stock – Everlane I am looking at you. If you are going to change the fashion industry, why only make sustainable clothing for skinny people?! In order to make ethical fashion and slow fashion a thing, we need to include everyone.
Elizabeth Suzann has made it possible to shop responsibly for more women out there in this one act. She has sizes in short, regular, and tall, ranging from XXS to 3XL.
That’s something to be proud of.
This post was not sponsored by Elizabeth Suzann. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
