Over the last two decades, the fat community has experienced a lot of socio-cultural shifts. As the body positivity movement blossomed from the ashes of Y2K and Heroine Chic, the community witnessed tides changing in all areas of life, particularly fashion. Stores like Forever21 and American Eagle expanded their plus-size offerings and marketing campaigns, social attitudes towards body image became more flexible to engage conversations around fatness, and more and more influencers and models in larger bodies gained visibility on social media and runways.
Seeing these improvements gave the community hope that a brighter, more size-inclusive future was on the horizon, but little did they know that wouldn’t last long. After the turn of the decade in 2020, a world that was once encouraged to expand its views on fatness regressed into shrinking itself, giving way to a community and plus-size fashion industry in rapid decline.
Restriction quickly became the new normal. Brands promoted shapewear as clothing while social media platforms became teeming with exercise content, plus-size influencers on their weight loss journeys, and the incessant “big back” jokes that signaled the end of a progressive era.
“Brands that once celebrated size diversity are quietly cutting back their plus offerings or only stocking extended sizes online,” says Ashleigh Nicole Tribble, a sex coach based in New York City. “It’s harder to find bold, fashion-forward pieces in plus sizes, and what is available feels more basic, limited, or like an afterthought.”
And seeing this repositioning of thinness as a gold standard was a quick and harrowing reminder that times were changing, but not for the better. For many who are mourning the loss of community and infringements on our survival and self-expression, they found themselves wondering how they got here. According to model and human rights advocate maya finoh, it’s important to consider how COVID-19 plays a key role in the doubling down of diet culture and fatphobia.
“I think it [starts with] this societally forced mindset shift from the pandemic to being ‘post-pandemic’, which we know is not true because the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing,” finoh shared. “Wanting to move past COVID also meant wanting to get back to normal, which is trying to find safety in thinness and whiteness.”
What propelled the creation of this socially constructed haze of life after COVID-19 was the constant push for everyone to lose the “COVID 15,” or the average weight gained during the quarantine, and the barrage of weight loss media coupled with the refusal to adjust to a new normal created the perfect conditions for yet another prominent influence–the rise of GLP-1 medications.
Originally used to treat diabetes, injectables such as Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy started being marketed as weight loss drugs with quick results, and these medications are peddled to the fat community as a golden ticket to a better life under the guise of improving health. A 2023 report by UC Davis Health states when Ozempic is used to treat diabetes, weight loss is a common side effect.
Fat activist, visibly fat model, and content creator Saucye noticed that the writing was on the wall when the GLP-1s were being marketed for more insidious reasons beyond their intended use.
“The introduction of GLP-1, as well as people taking advantage of bariatric surgery in the name of health, made this shift very strong, and it was fast,” she says. “We had a momentous opportunity to ride this new wave of inclusion and accessibility so that everyone [including super-fat and infinifat folk] could start being included in this experience. But the plus-size community did not want to see past itself,” she says. “They didn’t care if people who were larger than a 4x had clothing. We went from seeing people who were changing the game to them being super anti-fat, and that sent us in a spiral as a community.”
Weight loss drugs are not the only contributing factor to the ongoing shifts in fat spaces. Saucye notes that the ever-changing political landscape is to blame.
“The current [conservative] socio-political climate is in a state of loud and apparent anti-fatness,” she says. “We are being inundated with ways we need to shrink ourselves and, again, with health at the forefront of the conversation.” This constant promotion of thinness has not only emboldened people to engage in fatphobic behavior both on and offline, but it also directly impacts how we are included in (and excluded from) the fashion industry.
“Fat folks are increasingly invited into fashion spaces only when we’re deemed marketable or palatable, [and] it’s clear that without a politicized foundation, inclusivity was always conditional. It feels transactional now—if you’re not working to shrink, conform, or perform confidence in a specific way, you’re not welcome,” Tribble tells ESSENCE.
One of the most disheartening consequences of existing in a jarring resurgence of “thin is in” is the absence of versatile clothing that varies in style and size. Brands like Pretty Little Thing have rebranded into the “clean girl aesthetic,” focusing on shapewear, loungewear, and athleisure in muted and neutral tones, and overall leaving fat folk with even fewer options to shop. As finoh states: “There are a lot [fewer] clothes for fat people who want to just have a personal style in the same way that a skinny person might want to be.”
Despite the challenging shifts, there are still brands that serve as bastions of fat fashion, inclusion, and style. Saucye names Copper Union, Rebdolls, What Lo Wants, and Connally Goods as options that she reaches for the most when she is ready to step out. Tribble buys her clothing from stores like FashionBrandCompany, Selkie, and FashionNova. finoh recommends Wray NYC, Universal Standard, and Tamara Malaz for size-inclusive and fashionable options.
Despite having fewer clothing options, Tribble encourages fellow fat folks to carve out space to find affirming fashion.
“Fashion is a form of self-expression, and your body is the perfect canvas for it. Don’t let anyone make you feel like you need to fit into a specific mold to express yourself. If you feel like fashion doesn’t represent you, seek out independent brands, small creators, and communities that prioritize inclusivity,” she says. “Every time you choose to wear something that makes you feel good, you’re sending a powerful message: fat people deserve joy, beauty, and self-expression.”
The future of plus-size fashion and the fat community is uncertain. As the number of size-inclusive brands continues to dwindle in tandem with larger-bodied representation, it’s clear that body positivity wasn’t a movement created to promote long-term change to make life more equitable for fat folks but one that brands and influencers capitalized on for a brief moment in time.
“While body positivity opened doors for fat people to feel somewhat seen, it also became commodified and watered down in a lot of ways. Mainstream brands and influencers started to use body positivity to sell products rather than challenge the systems that actively harm fat people,” Tribble says. “It became more about ‘feeling good’ about your body in the context of consumerism, without necessarily confronting the social, political, and systemic forces that harm fat people.”
In truth, the fat fashion industry will not see the impactful and lasting change it needs until brands, influencers, and the broader public prioritize the needs, care, and bodily autonomy of fat people. To do this, it is important to look beyond body positivity and turn to fat liberation, or the intersectional advocacy of fat existence and empowerment, to dismantle anti-fat bias and fatphobia, which not only liberates fat folks but also all people.
“Fat liberation is a very particular politic, and to be fat liberationist is to be antiracist, and anti-ableist because the foundation of fat liberation is collective liberation,” finoh says.
While the ever-changing landscape of fat acceptance has been triggering and disappointing for fat folks, Saucye urges fellow community members to continue uplifting one another.
“I want to tell the fat community that it isn’t over,” she says. “There are people on the backend that are still fighting for our rights. There are people you may not see in your feed who are doing the work. Follow people who inspire you and unfollow people who don’t. It’s ok to get in these brands’ comments and ask questions and express how you feel, even when you don’t think they are paying attention. Continue to put on the clothes, continue to support brands that reflect you,” Sauceye added.