Fashion can be a very unforgiving industry.
There has been this impression that fashion is only for the slim and wherever this notion first came from, it has been propagated over the years until it’s hard to see whether it’s the industry or society itself that favors such a trend. That’s why models have traditionally been forced to slim up or undergo rigorous exercise regimens to maintain their figures.
But that has changed over the years with more and more women willing to challenge the norm and shout out to the world that plus-sized women can be just as sexy and alluring as their slim counterparts. One such model is Denise Mercedes and the size 14 model from the Dominican Republic has teamed up with her friend Maria Castellanos to launch a TikTok challenge called “Style Not Size.”
As the title implies, the two friends put on matching outfits despite their differences in body types and then share the videos to their 1.7 million followers. Their message is the same: beauty can be seen in all shapes and forms. And a lot of people agree, having amassed a whopping 30.6 million likes.
When Denise was 16, she was a petite size 8. But despite that, modeling agencies didn’t take her in because she wasn’t tall enough for industry standards. She continued modeling as a side hobby until age 21 when she grew to a size 14.
As a firm believer in body positivity, Denise started putting together outfits and sharing them on social media. Her campaign #becauseitsmybody is dedicated to honoring women of all shapes and sizes. Since then, many fashion brands like Forever21, Target, and JCPenney have collaborated with her.
Real-life women measure an average of size 16 on the waist in America. But if you look at the fashion ads, it’s easy to see there’s a huge gap between industry standards and reality. It’s boggling that 68% of fashion shoppers are plus-size women but only a small number of them work in the fashion industry.
Ashley Graham became the first plus-size model to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit edition in 2016 and this opened the door for more curvy models. But Ashley admitted that she doesn’t like the term “plus-size” because it’s “so divisive to women” and puts them in a box.
Still, a lot of women are happy that more diverse body types are getting represented in media. A study by Florida State University discovered that plus-size models generate deeper body satisfaction among women and better retention compared to thinner models. It added that pushing “unrealistic-sized media models” negatively affects a consumer’s “mental and physical health, including experiencing lower body satisfaction.”
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