TIKTOKERS ARE EXPOSING THE ‘DARK SIDE’ OF PLUS-SIZE FASHION
In a rather biting TikTok video, Devon Elizabeth scrolls through H&M’s website, tallying up the number of Mickey Mouse garments marketed to plus-size shoppers.Get more news about
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“Not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE pieces of clothing with Mickey Mouse that are not sleepwear,” the 29-year-old law school student counts.
As for daywear options featuring the character available for straight-size women? Just one — a striking comparison, Elizabeth notes, considering that on average, H&M offers over 5,000 articles of clothing for straight-size women and carries just around 350 items for plus-size women.“We can’t be discussing brands’ insistence that plus-size shoppers crave Disney characters on their clothes without discussing the main offender — Torrid,” she says in the video, before showcasing fourteen garments and accessories emblazoned with Mickey Mouse listed on the company’s website.
The shortcomings of retailers in regards to plus-size fashion have been lamented by shoppers for years.
As brands continue to push toward greater size equity, many consumers are finding that the style, design (sorry, Mickey), and quality of plus-size clothing on the market pale in comparison to the more stylish options widely available to straight-size customers, who can freely shop for trendy clothing, while plus-size shoppers are often confined to buying wrap dresses, cartoon T-shirts, and, of course, billowy, shapeless garments.
Elizabeth told In The Know that she first started experiencing the “dark side” of plus-size shopping when she began fitting into a size 18. She quickly realized that although 70% of women in the U.S. are a size 14 or higher, most stores were only offering up to a size 16 — and the few options they did carry were seriously lacking for one reason or another.The industry is choosing fatphobia over profit,” she explained. “Plus-size women are expected to cover and hide their bodies as much as possible, and so much of that is reflected in the options available.”
“For young plus-size shoppers, this is incredibly frustrating,” she added. “We want fashion-forward, edgy, sexy, clothes and the options we are provided are giving us early-bird special.”The problem is prevalent enough that Elizabeth, who regularly creates body acceptance and fat liberation content on TikTok, has an entire series where she asks her over 308,000 followers to guess whether a garment is “sleepwear” or “just plus-size fashion.” (Hint: The answer will surprise you.)
Elizabeth, who describes fashion as one of her favorite pastimes, says she got the idea for her series after scrolling through ASOS’s plus-size section and realizing that “item after item looked like pajamas.” She visited a few other websites and realized the problem was more widespread than most would imagine.
“It made me think about how plus-size women are constantly given leisurewear and sleepwear and told it is our fashion,” she explained. “So, I decided to ask people if they could tell the difference (between daywear and pajamas) — and so many could not. I just wanted to challenge the way people think about plus-size fashion, and I found that comedy was the best way to do that.”
