Fashion for all: A look into the summer experience of plus-sized women

By Anna Walnoha | Staff Writer

Most people look forward to summer, the hot weather and the sun on their skin. However, others have to prepare themselves for the weather before they can leave the house.

Summer is a great time because there is no school, you get to see your friends and stay out much later without worrying about that paper you have to turn in. Some people, though, do have things to worry about during this time of year.

In the summer, “plus-sized” girls have to think not only what to wear to stay fashionable and chic but how to stay comfortable throughout the day.  On the topic of summer fashion for “plus-sized” woman, I feel as though I have to say what is really on my mind — and on other’s minds — when it comes to getting ready and buying clothes for summer.

As a bigger girl myself, I can relate to some of the problems that arise in the summer. While the weather is hot and humid, you want to be fashionable and cute while still staying comfortable.

“I like to buy “Midi” shorts that come to mid thigh, rompers, and ‘flowy’ cotton shorts. However, I feel so limited, some stores are better than others, but why do we need separate sections or stores for our clothes” said freshman political science major Kristin Scipione. She also commented, “I feel worried or angry during bathing suit season. I don’t feel comfortable, especially when you have bigger boobs.”

“I like to wear high waisted shorts. I wear crop-tops and I don’t care that my boobs are big, I try to wear tank tops but it constricts my chest, so I don’t wear too many tank tops, also because of sweating,” said sophomore Ashley Brown. “Finding shorts is also hard but it’s alright, but I hate buying T-shirts because when you try a size large on, it looks like a small.”

To the fashion industry, we are labeled as “plus-sized,” but so what if we have a little extra to love? It makes us who we are.

Some people don’t mind, and are comfortable with how they were made, but what about the people who don’t have that level of confidence? They don’t feel comfortable talking about their bodies and what they wear because they don’t want people to know that they shop in the “plus-sized” section.

“I don’t understand why it has to be separate from the other side of the store. I think it would be easier if all the sizes were together. I feel weird when I walk over to the section and workers look at me,” Brown said.

“I think that we need to get rid of the word all together, it creates a distinction. We’re all women, just different sizes,” Scipione said.

Fashion alone is one of my favorite subjects to talk about. It moves me and inspires me. Fashion allows you to express yourself, brings out your true personality and to tell people, “this is me.”

How can not only girls, but anyone who is uncomfortable with themselves, show and express that to people when they feel as if the industry is against them or just putting them on the back burner?

The topic that no one wants to talk about or bring up is why bigger girls — or anyone for that matter — gets nervous when bathing suit or short season comes around: chaffing, chub rub, and those little hellish dots that irritate and make you want to cry out a little every time you take another step.

To prevent this evil curse from happening, you prepare yourself before you leave your house. You make sure what you wear will not irritate your skin especially if you sweat, you take extra precaution and you put either Vaseline or something that will help with the constant rubbing of your inner thighs.

What even is the word “plus-sized?”  Everyone is different, and if you don’t fit into certain sizes you have to shop on a different side of the store “labeled” for you. I myself am five feet seven inches tall and weigh 170 pounds. Some might think I was crazy for sharing my weight, let alone have it in print, but why? Why can’t people share their weight without feeling in the back of their mind that people will think they are overweight, lazy, obese or the worse thing you could think: Fat.

So when you ask someone who is “plus-sized” what they wear, in the back of their minds they’re thinking about not only what they will wear but what they will be feeling when the season comes around.

Instead of calling a group of human beings “plus-sized,” why don’t you just call them people? You don’t need to call anyone by their size or weight, and I think it would help by starting to get rid of the “plus-sized” sections and the word itself.

I am only one person — a woman — but I am writing on the behalf of those who think they don’t have a say or a voice.