After a swim and OA meeting, I was probably looking a hot mess when I ran into fashion editor and stylist Nolé Marin at Gristedes this morning. But since stumbling across a friendly neighbor / fashionisto in the UES isn't a regular occurrence for me, I ballsed up and asked him his thoughts on the plus market and whether or not he believed it was ever going to get its fair shake of real coverage in the fashion industry.
"It's not," he told me, plainly. "I wish I could lie to you and tell you it's going to change."
What can I say? Homeboy was honest. That is, until he graciously "guessed" I was a size 20. You just have to love a man who knows how and when to give a girl a compliment.
"It's unfortunate," Nolé said as a fellow shopper passed us in the produce aisle. He nodded at her, adding, "See, she's a size 16. The average woman is nowhere near a size 2 or 4. She's a 14, 16, 18. Even 20, 22, 24 is the standard now, but [the industry] isn't going to change... They're selling the fantasy."
In all honesty, I love the fantasy. I only recently took down the pictures on my wall from Versace's last ad campaign featuring Kate and Giselle. My concern, which I shared with Marin, isn't that I necessarily want to see overweight women on the runway or in the magazines. What matters more to me is having equal accessibility to the same high quality, high fashion as women who are half my size.
It wasn't a complete bitchfest though. While cruising the meats section, Nolé did share one little interesting tidbit with me: Apparently he's been working with a team on a super secret new shopping website due to launch in upcoming months. And according to Marin, us fationistas are "going to love it."
I'm already giddy in my girdle with anticipation! Stay tuned...
P.S. Looking for a model workshop? Check out: www.nolemarin.com
