What do you know? Plus is NOT a season.
I'm already the ignored style icon.
If you were paying attention, and you probably were because it was just that shocking, you'll recall that a couple of weeks ago I publicly scolded Zulily for what was a completely absurd tagline promoting their plus size offerings.
Completely absurd image:
I wrote that first piece in what can only be described as a Very Emotional Time. Very emotional because I already shop in the back corner of the store, I'm already the ignored style icon, I already cry in my closet. It's already hard enough for me to find my "season" of style without Zulily telling me it's now. Or not now.
Some years ago I starved myself — because I was sure skinny would fix it all. It didn't. When I was skinny, one of my favorite things in the capitalist universe was shopping at J. Crew. Two reasons: 1. Their khakis run a little large (size 4, some sort of deluded arbitrary goal), and 2. You can't shop at J. Crew when you're fat.
I'm already the ignored style icon, I already cry in my closet.
Have you seen J.Crew? It's not lost on me that J. Crew is about as basic as you can be in the fashion category. At the end of that day, though, it wasn't about J. Crew. It was about walking into a brick and mortar, going into a beadboard-paneled dressing room with stainless fixtures, stripping down to your undies, and having a relative stranger deliver pants to you over the top of the door. It wasn't the feel of the smooth cotton or the optimal lighting or the full-length flattering mirror, it was just being there. It was the knowledge that fashion exists that was for you.
It was just being normal.
Normal is a relative term, of course. But when you're fat, and your clothing options are the darkened back right corner of Target or Dress Barn, walking into J. Crew feels like a pinnacle.
All of this is to say, seeing the original Zulily ad was a painful reminder to me that I can't shop at J. Crew and it was an even more painful reminder that my size is secondary, an afterthought, a season.
I wrote that first piece, primarily fueled by anger. I shared it on social media, fueled by my grieving the clothes I can't buy. And Zulily tweeted back.
And then, as evidenced by the top photo, they did something. I mean, they used the same photo, but they changed the language.
I still can't shop at J. Crew, but I think Zulily has my back.
Next up: Stop calling me plus size...
