As body positivity for women continues to expand every day for women on the internet, in stores and just in everyday conversation the conversation hasn’t necessarily shifted towards talking about body positivity for men. While more and more plus sized women break into the world of fashion and modeling the landscape is still not set for plus sized men to make their push into the forefront. When it comes to covers of magazines and runway shows this most recent New York Fashion Week incorporated a decent amount of plus-sized women’s models the men were somewhat nonexistent with only about one being featured for Asos. Asos already has a section of their website dedicated to plus-sized men and women and are taking strides in giving them fashionable options without shaming them for their bodies.
The importance of men’s body positivity when it comes to fashion is that in the fashion you want clothes that will fit cleanly and look good overall different types of body types, because you are marketing not just to people who are into fashion that are thin. A lot of people personally struggle with coming to terms that the fashion they may love and admire may not be something they can never wear. When you create a collection or a product most designers want whoever appreciates their art and image to be able to purchase and wear their product. This isn’t always the case though when it comes to high fashion designers who mostly model their clothes not just after women that are far thinner and taller than the average woman but for men that have unachievable body standards. For men, I feel it comes in a much different light than for women but male models usually consist of two different body types lean and muscular or just very thin. This becomes an issue for plus sized men when they are online and in-store shopping because they see a product on the rack or on a website and immediately know that this garment will not drape over their body the way the designer intended it to.
The whole stigma that comes with being plus sized in the world today is one that can be very degrading for people. It is something that will affect one’s confidence and the way they try to portray themselves too the world and the least they deserve is to feel confident and comfortable in the clothes they wear. The responsibility of promotion of a positive outlook on plus-sized men and women comes on that of the designers, magazines and clothing companies to find a niche for these people who still definitely have a huge voice and impact on the world of fashion. What companies like Asos providing fashion-forward options and opportunities to not just plus sized women but men even including them in their fashion week runways is something a lot of companies should take notes from. It’s going to take the effort of not just one company to change the outlook on plus-sized men in fashion and just body positivity for men in general, but I think with the trend of body positivity when it comes to women things are moving in the right direction.
