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It’s your fault you’re fat: Judgements of responsibility and social conduct in the fashion industry
Abstract
Examining the beliefs in the fashion industry surrounding the obese is critical to understanding discrimination issues and the resultant fit and sizing issues for plus-size consumers. The fashion industry offers certain styles in limited sizing, which in turn structures our society
in such a way that only certain sizes can participate in choosing and wearing fashionable clothing. Therefore, the need to examine the people’s beliefs who will work in this industry is critical to restructuring the sizing, fit and discriminatory issues experienced by fat consumers.
Understanding these beliefs among student designers, or the ‘gatekeepers’ of the fashion industry, may explain why plus-size women repeatedly report feeling discriminated against by the fashion industry and have difficulty finding clothing in styles, colours and fits they desire.
The results of the study indicate that fashion design and merchandising students have strong negative beliefs about obese people. This article investigates the reasoning for such disdain towards obese bodies in the fashion industry and hopes to rectify the situation by offering suggestions
to normalize fat bodies and incorporate information about plus-size consumers into fashion design and apparel merchandising courses.
... Yet, the diffusion of clothing fashion trends that have generally idealized Whiteness (Schopf, 2016), thinness (Christel, 2014), and youth (Lee, 1997) This paper's novelty is rooted in the analysis of how fashion diffusion to larger consumer segments has occurred, at what societal or environmental costs, and if, when, and how much it has enabled the empowerment of diverse consumer segments. In the next section, to lay the foundation on which fashion can be studied and using chronological history, we first start by looking at the social function of fashion before the emergence of any claims of democratization. ...
... In addition to privileging Whiteness, research has shown that thin bodies are valued more compared to heavier counterparts and represent higher social status in society (Christel, 2014). It is evident that weight and height discrimination is prevalent in society, reinforcing social rejection and causing long-term adverse effects on an individual's self-esteem (Grilo et al., 1994). ...
Previous research illustrates several attempts that consumers have made to create new markets when marketing organizations have not responded to their desires; however, individual efforts alone are insufficient to assure success in having voices heard. The effectiveness of these efforts heavily depends on the democratization of institutions. Discussions regarding the “democratization of fashion” have had some historical appeal in academia and popular media. However, an incomplete appraisal of democracy may have led to premature conclusions regarding fashion's democratization. Affirming that democracy requires acceptance of differences and empowerment of different groups as a principle, this study conceptually and critically examines the history of the outcomes of fashion consumers' attempts to have their voices heard and assesses the degree of democratization of the fashion market. Our research contributes to prior debates regarding the democratization of fashion by reviewing the pivotal chronological events in fashion history. Contrary to some previous views, it shows that diffusion of fashion to larger consumer segments across history does not automatically imply democratization of fashion, which has been greatly limited despite the potentials presented by the advents of sustainable fashion and digitalization in contemporary times. We conclude that the cycle of fashion becoming a principle of economic interest is largely the culprit for retarding democratization, and we offer reflections for key stakeholders in order to have a more democratic, sustainable, and inclusive fashion system.
... This highlights the intricate relationship women have with fashion, where they often equate it with a slim figure and strive to conform to societal standards (Apeagyei, 2008). Notably, the fashion industry tends to offer limited choices and creates a discouraging shopping environment for individuals who do not fit into standardized, small apparel sizes (Colls, 2004;Christel, 2014;Peters, 2014). The findings indicate that participants gained more confidence with fashion and clothing over time, regardless of their body size. ...
Background
Women invest in their appearance through clothes, and the way they view their bodies translates into how they choose to dress. Nonetheless, body image research often overlooks the role of clothing in fostering body appreciation. This study examined the impact of a psychoeducational feministic course on the sociology and psychology of attire, on students’ clothing functions and body appreciation.
Methods
The participants were 114 female MA students (47 secular, 67 religious) between the ages of 24 and 64 who completed the Body Appreciation Scale and Function of Clothing scale at the beginning and end of the course.
Results
The results support the contribution of the course to changes in participants’ clothing functions and improvement in their body appreciation F(1,96) = 32.33, p < 0.001, partial Eta squared = 0.25. Surprisingly, religiousness had no impact on the results.
Discussion
This research contributes to the field of positive body image by presenting the potential role of clothing in fostering body appreciation among women. It demonstrates the benefits of investing in clothing that are less driven by external standards and more by the expression of valued aspects of the self.
... One such type of work relates to clothes shopping and getting dressed. A growing body of literature has drawn attention to the limited clothing options for heavier adult women, although literature is lacking on whether clothing options for larger girls are equally limited [27][28][29][30][31]. Girls' and women's weight work when shopping is socially organized by texts, such as Smith's aforementioned "reed thin" woman ( [1] p. 136). ...
Background
For decades, dominant weight discourses have led to physical, mental, and social health consequences for young women in larger bodies. While ample literature has documented why these discourses are problematic, knowledge is lacking regarding how they are socially organized within institutions, like fashion and media, that young women encounter across their lifespan. Such knowledge is critical for those in public health trying to shift societal thinking about body weight. Therefore, we aimed to investigate how young women’s weight work is socially organized by discourses enacted in fashion and media, interpreting work generously as any activity requiring thought or intention.
Methods
Using institutional ethnography, we learned from 14 informants, young women aged 15–21, in Edmonton, Canada about the everyday work of growing up in larger bodies. We conducted 14 individual interviews and five repeated group interviews with a subset (n = 5) of our informants. A collaborative investigation of weight-related YouTube videos (n = 45) elicited further conversations with two informant-researchers about the work of navigating media. Data were integrated and analyzed holistically.
Results
Noticing the perpetual lack of larger women’s bodies in fashion and media, informants learned from an early age that thinness was required for being seen and heard. Informants responded by performing three types of work: hiding their weight, trying to lose weight, and resisting dominant weight discourses. Resistance work was aided by social media, which offered informants a sense of community and opportunities to learn about alternative ways of knowing weight. However, social media alleging body acceptance or positivity content often still focused on weight loss. While informants recognized the potential harm of engagement with commercial weight loss industries like diet and exercise, they felt compelled to do whatever it might take to achieve a “normal woman body”.
Conclusions
Despite some positive discursive change regarding body weight acceptance in fashion and media, this progress has had little impact on the weight work socially expected of young women. Findings highlight the need to broaden public health thinking around how weight discourses are (re)produced, calling for intersectoral collaboration to mobilize weight stigma evidence beyond predominantly academic circles into our everyday practices.
Women with larger bodies experience a range of psychological, affective, and behavioral factors that may influence their physical activity (PA) experiences. This study explored women’s satisfaction with plus-size exercise apparel, affective experiences related to their bodies and activity, experiences of body surveillance, social physique anxiety, and motivation to avoid PA. A total of 130 women, Mage = 40.46 (SD = 10.55) who engaged in PA at least two days a week and wore US size 14 or larger clothing completed an online survey with items related to exercise clothing satisfaction and affective experiences, body surveillance, social physique anxiety, exercise avoidance motivation, and two open-ended items about how exercise clothing influences their PA engagement and experience. Clothing satisfaction, body surveillance, and social physique anxiety were significant predictors of women’s motivation to avoid exercise. Responses to open-ended items supported the quantitative results and revealed complexities in women’s experiences. Primarily, women perceived a contingent impact of exercise clothing such that when satisfaction is high, women experience greater body confidence and less concerns regarding their appearance; however, when women are dissatisfied with various aspects of their plus-size exercise clothing, they have negative experiences and feel a desire to avoid activity. Clothing may play a role in women’s experiences during exercise and their motivation to avoid exercise.
This research brings in the voice of underserved and underrepresented women of various racial or ethnic origins and social classes, who have differing buying powers, sexual orientations, body shapes, and physical appearances, into the conversation of fashion diversity. Through a qualitative inquiry with 38 semi-structured in-depth interviews, the researchers analyzed the consumption experiences of diverse women to expose what the fashion scene is lacking. The study's main contribution is the depiction of overlooked diversity categories in fashion, such as the non-White and non-Black women of color, women of average sizes, and women with characteristics that the fashion industry has long seen as flaws. For women's physical and psychological well-being, the authors of this study hope to lead fashion producers and researchers into a new era of diversity and minimize certain consumer groups' exclusion through discrimination, isolation, and segregation.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Purpose
Previous research in sociology, psychology and fashion studies has investigated the concept of diversity in the fashion context, but the topic remains largely understudied within the realm of consumer research. This study aims to examine the reactions of underrepresented women to the fashion industry’s lack of diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 38 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted among a sample of female consumers who were diverse with respect to racial and ethnic background, socioeconomic class, religion, sexual orientation, age, body type and physical appearance.
Findings
Using Bourdieu’s forms of capital – social, cultural, economic and symbolic – the findings shed light on the process of virtual community formation on social media in response to the lack of diversity in fashion; reveal fashion consumers’ power to enact institution-level change, compelling the industry to become more diverse and inclusive; demonstrate the outcomes of capital accumulation and illustrate how all forms of capital are produced by and reproduce each other.
Originality/value
This study proposes a new outcome of capital accumulation on virtual communities, termed “transformative value,” in addition to the social and information values identified in earlier scholarship.
Through remote wardrobe interviews with five self-identified infinifat participants, this paper explores how those existing in a body larger than a US dress-size 32 access fashion. The majority of research that has occurred at the intersection of fat studies and fashion studies has focused on the fashion and dressing experiences of women who fit the conventional definition of “plus-size.” Commercially available, mass-produced fashion options drop off dramatically for women larger than a US dress-size 28 and become almost non-existent for those who are a size 32 or larger. By focusing on infinifat or superfat people who exist beyond a size 32 I draw attention to the impact that the lack of access to fashion has on the subjectivities infinifat people can perform. The findings in this paper build from existing literature on plus-size dressing that focuses on limitations in identity construction and performance experienced by those who are able to access commercially available plus-size fashion. Without readily available, situationally-appropriate clothing, infinifat and superfat people are limited in the subjectivities they can perform and are excluded from specific social spaces. This exclusion serves to remarginalize an already marginalized group and is felt most acutely by those who embody additional marginalized identity markers, such as those who are racialized or living in poverty. In this way, the findings presented in this paper further address the infinifat-sized gain existing literature on plus-size dressing and lay the foundation for future work that engages with the infinifatshion community.
Everyone has the right to exercise their body, but does everyone have the same opportunity when it comes to exercise apparel? Are women of all shapes and sizes allotted the same shopping and purchasing experiences when it comes to exercise apparel? Are all yoga pants, bras, and tank tops created equal? This chapter aims to explore size inclusiveness in the exercise apparel industry and illuminates a viewpoint that all pants are not in fact created equal.
Women competing on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour recently began wearing clothing that diverted from historic norms. Some LPGA stakeholders found the attire to be distasteful, resulting in the implementation of a dress code dictating what participants could wear. LPGA members and outside stakeholders were somewhat taken aback by the dress code, declaring that the guidelines were essentially policing the women’s bodies and that the LPGA was showing a lack of trust that players will wear athletically appropriate attire. Our findings uncovered divergent reactions to the dress code and indicated the female athlete paradox still significantly impacts women’s professional golf.
Western fashion is constantly evolving and in order to obtain notoriety, brands need to positively connect with consumers. Individuals who wear plus-sizes are acutely aware of their reduced clothing choices and rely on language cues to find clothing. Unfortunately, the categorisation of plus-size consumers is fraught with discord and frustration. Fashion communication should consider consumer needs and preferences. However, the language used to classify plus-size consumers has yet to be examined. Plus-size women were recruited online to rate twelve terms associated with plus-size women’s clothing. The survey collected a total of 324 responses of age, height, weight and ratings of terms used to classify plus-size apparel, such as Women’s, Curvy. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance to compare differences considering age and body mass. This study revealed 96% of the sample ranked the classification Women’s higher than Plus-Size. The study offers insights into how plus-size consumers view sizing communications. It also offers a useful ranking of terms that fashion companies can adopt to ensure they are communicating in language that the intended consumer prefers. This study contributes to research on social identity of clothing size, plus-size consumer experiences, and further validates the multidimensional challenges faced by plus-size consumers.
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