Free Fashioning Fat: Inside Plus-Size Modeling by Amanda M. Czerniawski Page A

hurdles in establishing themselves as legitimate models. Velvet’s presence in the fashion industry was a statement and not the norm. If the industry considered Velvet a “larger than plus-size” plus-size model, where was the lower bound of plus size?
Between a Fat Chick and a Skinny Bitch
    Struggling with these questions myself while I went through the modeling process, I mentioned this project to my close-knit group of fellow academics from non–social science fields. While I stuttered to explain my position within the field of modeling and fashion and the difficulties I faced in conducting my fieldwork due to my “smaller” size, my friend explained matter-of-factly, “So, you are somewhere between a fat chick and a skinny bitch.” While everyone’s chin hit the table, I understood that this summation aptly described the cultural climate that I was investigating and unveiled the stereotypes that underlie the everyday existence of my subjects. In a society where fat is undesirable and carries with it connotations of sloth and unattractiveness, the expression “plus size” is either misunderstood or unknown. What is “plus size” and how is this term understood among different groups within the fashion industry? Is plus size equivalent to fat?
    To elucidate this general confusion with the term plus size, I point to the example of Whitney Thompson, the declared first plus-size model to win the coveted title of
America’s Next Top Model
in the television series’ tenth cycle in 2008. Since her appearance on the show, viewers debated throughout the blogosphere whether she should really be referred to as a plus-size model since she did not embody their image of a fat woman. Yes, viewers agreed that she was larger than the typical fashion model,but, when comparing her body to their own, they considered Whitney “average” and “normal.” Whitney was tall at a height of five feet ten inches and possessed a well-toned physique, but, on the show, she was the “big” one amidst, as she described it, a house full of “skinny little toothpicks.”
    If the visual image of Whitney’s body did not seem to fit the plus-size label given to her by the show’s producers, what about using a more objective, quantifiable measure such as clothing size and body measurements? While on the show, Whitney herself stated that she wore a size eight or ten, depending on the clothing designer. In her
Seventeen
magazine editorial spread, part of her prize for winning the modeling competition, the accompanying article noted that Whitney wore a size fourteen. On Elite Model Management’s website, Whitney’s profile page posted her measurements as 36-inch chest, 32-inch waist, and 43-inch hips. Was Whitney plus size?
    It was clear from audience reaction that viewers did not perceive Whitney to have the traditional body of a fat woman; however, from the fashion industry’s perspective, she was, indeed, plus size. Tyra Banks, creator, host, head judge, and executive producer of the television series, alluded to the distorted body standards ingrained in the modeling industry when she argued during a judging session that Whitney was not considered “big” except when judged as a fashion model. Whitney was a woman with curves and a “juicy booty,” whose mere presence classified her as plus size.
    The dichotomy between Whitney and the other contestants (none of whom were considered plus size) competing to be
America’s Next Top Model
was striking in their coexistence during training sessions, photo shoots, and judging. The judges applied the same criteria in their evaluation of all the model contestants—the ability to take great photos and walk the runway like a model. Whitney demonstrated her comparable skills in these areas, but it was her differing body shape that made her stand out. Whitney stood out as plus size because she was cast against thirteen other potential models, all of whom possessed the body type more similar to