Buying into Beth Ditto
Beth Ditto for Evans. [source]
As I know a number of stateside women did last night, I stayed up a bit late waiting for Beth Ditto for Evans to launch. The line has created quite a stir around the fatosphere. Ditto’s designs are some of the first plus-size clothes to be trotted out as part of a celebrity brand by an actual fat celebrity (Jessica Simpson jeans, briefly available at American retailer Avenue, made just about zero sense, and plus-size supermodel Emme’s brand was just plain pedestrian). The collection for Evans is full of nods to late ’80s/early ’90s style, which is pretty true to form for Ditto, who appears in the advertisements for the line, including the one above.
What becomes of the line will be interesting, and I suspect that the powers that be in the retail world will be watching closely to see how quickly the clothes are snapped up. There’s been increasing clamor for more stylish clothing for plus-size women, and the Beth Ditto collection is a strong step in that direction. While I could do without the cat t-shirt (couldn’t we all?), most of the pieces hit a good mid-point between Ditto’s over-the-top outrageous personal style and plain wearable.
Charlotte Cooper of Obesity Timebomb bought a skirt from the line this morning, and refers to the launch of Beth Ditto for Evans as “a queer fat cultural moment.” Her post on the shopping experience is informative, but I would particularly draw attention to the final paragraph:
I’m not sure that liberation and social change can be brought about through shopping, although in capitalism I can see that shopping has a complicated role in such human processes. Beth Ditto is a brilliant person and an important icon, may she go far and influence many of us. Fat fashion events such as The Fat Girl Flea and the wonderful Re/Dress in Brooklyn, and many other small businesses, have clear roots within rad fat communities, and are actively supportive of those spaces. But Evans? Owned by a guy who can’t even read the word C-H-U-B-S-T-E-R but would like to exploit it? I’m not sure what that’s about. [source]
I share Cooper’s ambivalence, and, like her, ultimately found it too hard to resist the seduction of a chance to buy actual clothes designed by an actual fat woman who’s actually ok with how she looks. Beth Ditto is an outrageous activist for fat women, and in a world filled with role models like Kirstie “I was Disgusting!” Alley and Oprah “How did I let this happen again?” Winfrey, we need as many Dittos as we can get. We need to reframe health as something less appearance based, and we need to reframe fashion as something that could conceivably fit onto an average female body.
If you’re interested in these kinds of issues, I recommend some of the following:
- Gabi writes about fat fashion at Young, Fat, and Fabulous. [link]
- Fatshionista’s LiveJournal community is full of fat fashion across the spectrum. [link]
- For more on body image, check out Kate Harding’s Shapely Prose. [link]
- And, for fascinating writing about the way the medical field and media distort health and nutrition studies related to fat, try Junkfood Science. [link]
Edit to add: Fat Girls Like Nice Clothes Too! has an excellent picture post covering most of the items in the collection. [link]