Fashion-for-all cannot be a trending topic for a select few

As much as I love covering fashion trends, a new trend is starting to catch my attention, mainly due to the harm that could take place not just in the fashion industry but in the beauty industry.

For me, the main reason I even started and asked the Record to let me have a fashion column is that I am a plus-size person who loves fashion.

I often find myself wanting to speak on different aspects of fashion because I want to show that fashion exists outside of a mainstream understanding of needing to look a sure way to fit into and wear fashionable clothes.

Often, trends appear in cycles, so the idea of needing to be skinny is not a rare thing. Throughout history, this can be seen through having corsets in the Victorian Era. The flapper women brought on this idea again of being skinny, now focusing on a flat chest.

The point is that skinny is not a new trend that has just surprised everyone. In the 1990s, there was the rise of heroin chic as a popular buzz phrase. This was for several reasons, from heroin being a drug that was easily accessible and started to grow into the idea of the heroin chic trend in fashion and several films.

Then, there was a push for body positivity and body neutrality movements, starting back up in the 2010s and moving forward.

The main idea was to respond to this idea of beauty standards and how harmful some could be to society. However, this does bring us to the present day.

There is now a rise of Ozempic, and this idea of thinness is re-emerging as the body standard.

Ozempic is often used for anti-diabetic medication and as a treatment for type two diabetes; additionally, it is now used an anti-obesity medication used for long-term weight management.

Of course, not everyone uses this one drug, but it is the one that is trending the most.

My take on this is if you need the drug, take it. However, a fine line exists between healthy and unhealthy understandings of bodies.

For me, for example, I am plus size; however, I know with the way I work out, run, and so on, I am majority muscle rather than just fat.

I also struggle a lot with how I view myself and with uprisings, one can see where the concern comes from knowing how this could affect other people.

I would also point to this idea of keeping body standards in check in order to keep certain narratives in place. For cis-women, there is this level of being thin that is disabled, and historically speaking, there is this relation to thinness and power. When women rise in power or boldly move to gain power, it is followed by a rise in thinness.

When Roe V. Wade was passed in 1973, there was a decade in the Reagan era that was heavily focused on women’s bodies.

Alongside cis-women, cis-men are also met with certain body and beauty standards as well. With the rise of this concept of being a strong man, there is a large inclination for men to be strong and fit to attract others. This doesn’t mean your body is less than because you fall into these standards, nor does it mean that if you don’t.

I think all bodies are different; there is never a perfect image if that image constantly changes, and no human body could ever keep up with that. I always have the motto of: if you are healthy, you are getting enough food to survive college and not feel like you are actively harming yourself, then there is no need to try to force your body to fit in with a trend.

I promise there are clothes that are out there in your size and make you feel the best.