Best Dressed List Spring 2024
by Keri Emme
When the NYTimes released their annual Best Dressed list for 2023 it was zero surprise to no one in the fat community, that there were no fat people included on the list. Would you like to know who was included on the list?
A congressman, simply because he wears bowties.
A cockroach on the red carpet at the Met Gala
A Las Vegas Arena (The Sphere) covered in LED lights
An AI iteration of the Pope (Not the real Pope, just a digital picture someone created using the Pope’s likeness)
Movie characters who A) Are not real people, and B) didn’t have any say in their wardrobe (b/c they are fictional characters portrayed by an actor)
The topless wooden woman at the front of Jeff Besos boat (can you be best dressed when you aren’t wearing clothes?)
And still, even though NYTimes has a veeeeery loose definition of what “best dressed” means…
(I mean bow ties? Is that all it takes to be top tier fashion? At least the cockroach had the good sense to walk the red carpet at the biggest fashion event of the year)
…Not a single person, fictional character, or inanimate object was fat.
I can already hear the naysayers out there trying to logic their way into why fat people wouldn’t be on a “best dressed” list with nonsense like
“fAt BoDiEs ArE hArDeR tO dReSs”
Or
“tHeRe ArEn’T eNoUgH fAsHiOnAbLe cLoThEs iN bIg SiZeS fOr sOmEoNe tO bE cOnSiStEnTlY “bEsT dReSsEd”
Yes, it is harder for a fat person to find quality fashion than it is for a thin person; on the whole designers don’t cater to larger sizes. And yet fat people continue to express themselves through fashion, they continue to show up and impress and dazzle with the options they have. (And they look waaaay better than the fake Pope in a dated puffy jacket).
A few famous fat people I might put forward for the best dressed list:
Kathy Bates, she’s always extremely well put together
Lizzo, full of glam and the power of MORE
Melissa McCarthy, the embodiment of fun, playful, and flirty
Chrissy Metz, always finding unique outfits to help her stand out
Not including fat people on a list like this is because fat people weren’t submitted as options. If by some chance a fat person managed to be in the running, they were quickly dismissed because we are taught from a young age that fat bodies are shameful, that people should look away from fat bodies. “Don’t stare, it’s rude!”
But what if that fat person is wearing a killer outfit? It deserves to be stared at right? So how do we move away from a world where we shove fat people into the shadows, treating them as an embarrassing blight on an otherwise perfectly thin society?
The answer is surprisingly simple: By giving our attention and support to fat people who are out there sharing their lives publicly
It’s time to get real and ask yourself, how diverse is the body size of the people I follow?
I encourage all of us to spend time throughout 2024 (and beyond) seeking out fat people that are doing things we want to amplify.
I promise you, they are out there in abundance, but they are more easily ignored because they aren’t conventionally thin, and society has taught us that a person's value (their worthiness of attention and support) is inversely proportional to the size of their body.
Listen to our Podcast with Intuitive Personal Stylist Susan Padron
Let’s break the weight stigma and start actively seeking out fat people that create the kind of content you enjoy. Whether that’s crafting, yoga poses in public places, poetry, social activism, fashion, mental health awareness, makeup tutorials, or whatever else floats your boat (looking at you Besos). Find fat people that are creating the content you like and give them a follow.
Seeing a variety of body shapes and sizes in your daily scroll will help you unlearn the narrative that fat=shameful, and in turn it can help influence the content that we demand from the mainstream media.
Here’s a few accounts I’ve really been enjoying to give you a jump start:
@lizzobeeating
For all the BTS content of a musical queen.
@neoqlassicalart
Crystal Water reimagines Disney characters in larger sizes and her art is such a treat.
@yrfatfriend
Aubrey Gordon is a writer, filmmaker, and podcaster that is tackling weight bias head on!
@kamsendoo
An account of pure love, Msendoo Mbachilin holds nothing back, helping us pick out fashion and showing off her joy unabashedly.
@bodyimage_therapist
Ashlee Bennett is an Art Therapist and Author that is a strong voice in the fat positive movement.
@kenziebrenna
A Canadian writer who reflects on body image and consistently challenges the status quo.
@alexlight_ldn
While Alex Light falls in the straight size category, her dedication to body confidence and finding comfort in the skin you're in, dimples, cellulite, birthmarks, and all puts her on this list! (Plus, she’s not afraid to call out the media and trolls for their fat bias).
@louisegreen_bigfitgirl
A fitness girly who shows the world that exercise doesn’t come in just 1 size.
@jill_grun
A self-described Fat Queer Xennial Witchy Writer, Jill Grunenwald is filling the world with cozy, snarky vibes.
These people all make great, interesting content and have a more diverse body shape than what the media likes to present. Many of them speak specifically to body image and their size, but there are a whole slew of people out there who simply exist, are fat, and make great content about the topics you care about. Go find them.
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