Fatty Fashion.

Obesity is one of the most pressing health problems facing Great Britian. Over the past twenty years, obesity has doubled in adults and children and tripled in teens. Two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese.

Chanel legend Karl Lagerfeld said that, “Fashion is the healthiest motivation for losing weight.” While maybe not the healthiest motivation, fashion is still a strong motivation for dieting. However, with the recent plus-size clothing launches, that motivation may be slipping away.

Many critics are asking the same question: Do plus-sized lines promote obesity? MeMe Roth, president of the organization National Action Against Obesity seems to thinks so: “When you look at the human cost, what we’re doing is we’re on the Titanic and rather than forcing our children into the lifeboat, we’re telling them to join the band.”

Stacey London told the Washington Post that “she’d like fashion designers and retailers to broaden their scope to include women from all points on the weight spectrum.”

" XL sizes would sell out of them so quickly,” Heidi Canalizo, a regional manager at Forever 21 told CNN. “Our customers have been asking for this for so long and in the past few years we’ve really decided it’s time to get into it. Not everyone is a size 2.”

Forever 21’s plus-size line, Faith 21, launched last week, yet some obese shoppers are still not pleased:

Jai, of fashion blog The Fat & Skinny wrote, “I am so not amused. They still alienated a whole bunch of people, my size 18/20 self included. I can’t wait for Target’s new plus size line to come out. It is supposed to go up to at least a 30. Even Wet Seal’s plus size line goes higher than Phony 21’s. Some shirts go up to a 3X, but the pants go up to a 24.”
“These brands don’t want the consumer to aspire to be a plus-size, they want them to aspire to be that mini-consumer, that slim model that walks down the runway, that’s a size 0.”

Roth warns “worrying about fashion rather than worrying about the food is a horrible message that we’re sending these kids.”

It is fair to say that as a consumer, and a constant consumer at that, the desire to drop a dress size is prominent everyday. Everyone is on fad diets and super fitness schemes in order to shed those bellies. we are all in this pressurising environment, however I don't feel amongst my fellow students that I am being targeted as a bit 'chubby'. I think it is lucky that we don't experience this at Fda as I'm sure many other university students do.

I think that companies that cater for plus sized lovelies are not adding to the problem at all. They are a business after all trying to broaden their clientelle and their profits. Why should larger people not have access to a stylish wardrobe? The disregard of plus sized fashion is some berserk, communist-esque sort of regime for goodness sake.

Fashion IS an incentive to live a healthier lifestyle, it is the 'role models' within the fashion industry that have the negative effects on body image.