Eye for Ebony

An Open Letter To Plus Size Fashionistas–Thank You!

To all the plus-size and curvy fashionistas, style bloggers, and TikTok stars:

Thank you for showing us how we can dress for our bodies.

So many stores that carry โ€œall sizesโ€ only have models with smaller figures showing off their fashion. The problem? Our bigger bodies are shaped differently. What looks good on a thin model might look awful on us. Thanks for being a real life example of how good our bodies can really look.

Thank you for reminding us that we can feel cute.

Thereโ€™s this idea that if you have a bigger body, if youโ€™re fat, you should be hiding. Drown yourself in large sweatshirts so no one has to look at you. You showed us that was far from the case. We can dress our bodies and look cute while doing it. We donโ€™t need to feel undesired, unwanted, less-than.

Thank you for calling out the peep shouldersโ€“theyโ€™re hideous.

Like me, youโ€™re sick of all the super ugly fashion that some plus size brands keep pushing on us. No, we donโ€™t like peep shoulders. Even when they were trendy a decade ago, most of us still hated it. Thanks for writing blog posts and articles about this. Hopefully the brands will start to listen!

Thank you for standing up to problematic plus size brands.

Some think we should be thankful for any clothing we can get that actually comes in our size. Nope! If we donโ€™t hold plus size brands to a high standard, the fashion will never get better. Thanks for making TikToks and blog posts calling out the terrible pieces of mismatched cloth that some brands are trying to pass off as โ€œfashion.โ€

Thank you for your voiceโ€“without it we wouldnโ€™t have the fashion we have today.

For so many years, we had to make do with baggy t-shirts and ill-fitting mom jeans. You couldnโ€™t exactly call it โ€œfashion.โ€ Now, with the help of plus size fashion bloggers, weโ€™ve got all sorts of clothing thatโ€™s actually cool.

Thank you for wearing all the things that weโ€™ve always been told we canโ€™t pull off.

The fashion rules for fat people have been bunk for ages. Donโ€™t show skin. Donโ€™t wear anything form-fitting. No bright colors. No horizontal stripes. Youโ€™ve shown us that we can wear all those things and more. No muumuus or caftans for us unless weโ€™re going for the beachy flowy vibe.

Thank you for showing some skin.

Every year, itโ€™s getting more and more popular for plus size babes to show some skinโ€“and thatโ€™s all thanks to you. Thank you for enduring the nasty looks and comments by wearing your bikini with confidence. Because of you, I will never wear a one-piece again. I wear see-through clothes and crop tops proudlyโ€“and I look great. Thank you for showing me, all of us, that we could.

Thank you for taking up space.

Fashion isnโ€™t just for the thin. Fashion is for everyone. Thanks for using your voice, for showing your pictures, for being an example. We are not invisible.