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How Tim Gunn Got it Wrong

  1. Sabrina says:

    Hear, hear! Why should any of us feel we need to dress to “flatter” and create an illusion of thinness? I am a “straight-sized” woman myself, but have a very curvy lower body and shorter legs. I am really tired of never finding jeans that actually fit my waist but will accommodate my larger thighs and butt, or reading stupid fashion articles that tell me I should wear nothing but A-line skirts to draw attention toward my smaller waist and away from my thighs, or that J should wear heels and tailor my pants to just graze the floor in those heels to create the illusion of longer legs. I like my big, powerful thighs, dammit! I want to show them off! And I hate wearing heels! No way am I going to hem my pants so that I have to wear them, or risk tearing up the hem when they drag on the floor? And why should I have to hem all my pants anyway? Why can’t women buy pants according to waist and length, like men do?

    The truth is that ALL bodies are different. It’s not like one size 4 has the same body type as another size 4, any more than one size 18 has the same body type as another size 18. We’re all differently shaped and proportioned. And we should all get to wear fun clothes that make us feel fabulous, regardless of size, shape, or what someone else thinks we “should” wear.

    • GlenysO says:

      I wholeheartedly agree! MOST women have different bodies and no two bodies wear the same pair of pants the same. I kind of feel like there are probably just a lot of “straight” sized women going around wearing ill-fitting clothing because that’s all there was that season – their size, but fits another body type. And totally agree that we should get to pick clothing by measurement the way men do!!

  2. mmapes2 says:

    You mentioned including a list of fashion bloggers you love, but I don’t happen to see it. Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks!!

  3. I get the feeling he was saying don’t design clothes that make women look fatter, life a parade float… But then he said the naked thing. I can’t help but feel my best in clothes that render me feeling naked: loose, allow movement, nothing tight. To be naked all the time is the dream, clothes–the enemy. If he’s working from the perspective of hiding the naked body in the best way possible, he’ll never get it right.

    • GlenysO says:

      I agree he was saying don’t design clothing that makes women fatter, but why not? We can only go one direction with this? If you buy the “fat is bad” idea then this would seem like a good idea, but I’m rejecting that idea completely and I want him to too. So what if we look wider?? And then yes, he hammers it all home with a naked insult. I love near-nakedness too! I can’t wear anything constricting anymore. I think this is something that happens in middle age, if my mother’s polyester stretch pants and my addiction to jersey are any evidence.

      • I see what you’re saying now! I guess the way I think if it is I want to look exactly like me, no bigger or smaller, so a parade float isn’t me. But you’re right, he’s implying (and saying) wide is bad.

        • GlenysO says:

          Right! The way I see it is, some clothes will make me look thinner, others fatter, and yet others exactly the size I am (of which I am not a good judge anyway) – and I want to have the opportunity and choice to wear them all!

  4. I hear you. But given the perspective that’s certainly been drilled forcibly into his head for decades, I think he has a decent start – and a good base to build on. Hard to fix it in a day.

    • GlenysO says:

      Usually I’m in agreement with that line of thinking, but the problem is that if he’s the one making the suggestions for this brave new world of fat women’s clothing, all we’re going to end up with is separates with vertical stripes on them (an exaggeration, but you know what I mean). Even worse, he doubled down on his “fat is ugly” sentiment on NPR recently saying (and I’m paraphrasing but it was essentially this) “Long and lean will always look better than short and fat.” Yes, if we buy into the BS that society has us investing in. I’m just afraid his way of thinking will reinforce the idea that “fat is bad” and improve nothing.

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