Fat Fashion: The Thin Ideal and the Segregation of Plus-Size Bodies

Abstract

Paolo Volonte, associate professor of Cultural Sociology at Politecnico di Milano in Italy, hits the nail on the head when he states that “As long as plus-size clothing is sealed off into containers that are separate from regular fashion, such as the Full Figured Fashion Week, its marginal position within the fashion system is consolidated rather than called into question” (1). Being fat, or “plus-sized”—if you are more comfortable with that term, I have always felt left out of fashion. Fat Fashion: The Thin Ideal and the Segregation of Plus-Size Bodies views fat fashion through a sociological perspective that is “only marginally based on independent empirical research” (viii). It explores the fashion system (emphasis in original) of the western world, which the author defines as creating, manufacturing, retailing, and communicating clothing. Volonte provides an academic-focused look into the segregation of plus-sized bodies and the plus-size clothing industry. He draws on research from many different academic fields, and the book is rich in information. It examines the paradox of nonexistent fat fashion, the tyranny of slenderness, the persistence of the thin ideal, the sizing of clothing, the segregation of non-thin bodies, and prospects for change. Volante focuses on western womenswear and does not cover children’s, men’s, nor non-western