Confident with the perfect dress
Fashion is not a health debate, it is a human right
© HM Studios
You don’t want to support people’s fatness with the collection. This is actually a common reason why large sizes are not produced. Since when has fashion become a health debate?
Unfortunately, fat people know it: Complete strangers mean well by distributing unsolicited weight loss advice, pointing out that another person is fat or spreading all kinds of insults. Fat people often have to deal with discrimination – because in society, being overweight is still associated with laziness, a lot of eating and inconsistency.
Even in the fashion world, discrimination against fat people does not stop
And even in the fashion world, this debate does not stop. The reality actor Jan Leyk brought out his own collection and when his fans asked why they weren’t available in large sizes, he replied that he didn’t want to support people being fat with it, Tanja Marfo alias @ockenrausch recalls in an interview with BRIGITTE. Tanja Marfo is a plus size blogger, podcaster and author and wants to create visibility for fat people with her work. At the same time, she explains health facts – it is important to her not to hide anything.
Nevertheless, she says: “Fashion and health are two pairs of shoes.” Unfortunately, Jan Leyk is not alone in his opinion – many brands have similar arguments, albeit in a nicer way. “It is so important that fashion is available to everyone. Fashion is a human right,” she says. Because only availability creates the basis for a wide selection, so that even fat people can wear what they like and what they feel comfortable in. Because: often enough you have to take what is there.
A nice outfit can make people more confident and empowered
“The availability ensures that we feel comfortable in our clothes,” says Marfo. “And if you feel good, go out, be visible and have a completely different attitude.” Fashion has often helped her to develop. With the right sportswear came the motivation to move more. The confidence to go swimming with the right bikini. “If you wear nice clothes that you feel comfortable in, then you appear much more confident and have conversations that you would never have had otherwise,” she says.
Not only that you perceive the environment differently, the people around you also react differently – often positively. “Fashion, like makeup, is superficial, but it can give you so much confidence and courage that sometimes you just need it,” says Marfo. To be able to put on the courage, it is important that fat people also have the choice. “Fashion is freedom,” says Marfo. Fashion always (un)consciously says something about its wearer. Everyone should have the right to dress the way they want, Marfo said.
Health has to be talked about – but elsewhere
“We always have to talk about health,” says Marfo, “but in a different place.” It’s just a total crux to think that when brands decide to produce plus sizes, they’re acknowledging fat people as doing so, or even encouraging them to get fatter. On the contrary, when a brand decides to make the sizes visible, they can help many people to strengthen their self-esteem and live a life with the awareness: I was thought of too!