As mentioned in the journey books, I talked about the #sourcedforyoursize concept being a reinterpretation of the made to order approach. However, as I have progressed through the module, I have learnt that this approach wouldn’t be viable in reality as I can only source what exists, with reference to sizes and the type of clothing available. Therefore, as I have built a social media campaign with the aim of targeting a new audience of consumers, my intention is to portray and plan for how it would look to sell size inclusive vintage clothing. As I have mentioned before, I am not introducing size inclusivity into my business right now as I am still fairly new to all of this. Having said that, since I started this business, I have been thinking ahead of time and what the next direction could be. As I identified there being a gap in this market with size inclusivity, I decided to use this gap as a possible direction that I could take next, and so, throughout this book, I will discuss and portray how it would look to introduce size inclusivity into my business.
Furthermore, with introducing size inclusivity into my business, I will be extending my size range and sourcing in as many sizes as possible to ensure that I am staying true to being inclusive. We will never achieve a sustainable fashion industry if it’s not inclusive to those that want to contribute.
My final major project of my journey on the Fashion Marketing and Communication course is centred around the lack of size inclusivity within the second-hand resale market. As I found this to be an evident gap in the market, I looked into how I could fill in this gap. For my final year on this course, I have been running a business within this market, specialising in the sale of vintage/early 2000s clothing. As I already had my business, I thought that it would make most sense to utilize it for my FMP to fill this gap. Therefore, throughout this module, I have been exploring and looking into how I could introduce size inclusivity into my business, using it to fill the gap in the market and using this project as an opportunity to trial how I could implement size inclusivity into my business in the future.
As you will have seen in my research, I have further examined this gap in the market from the research for the 360 campaign, to look at all areas within this gap and to see how I could fill it through further research.
From my research, it became apparent that the lack of size inclusivity was not the only gap in the market and that because of the size inclusivity problem, there is also a lack of representation for plus size bodies. It seems that as a result of the ideals of beauty that were determined based on how thin you were in the early 2000s, the second-hand market seems to have carried these ideals into the present day, leaving a gap in the market for that aswell. There is no representation for plus size bodies on resale sites to this day, as there wasn’t any representation in the 2000s. As mentioned in my research, the resurgence of the Y2K trend has brought back the idealization of the slim body physique. From conducting this research, I decided that I wanted to put emphasis on this aspect aswell and change the narrative of Y2K fashion and the perceptions that surround it.
Being size inclusive with the sale of vintage/early 2000s clothing is difficult as you can only source what exists, however, most small businesses within this market don’t make the effort to try and find clothes in larger sizes, which is why the explore page on resale sites such as Depop are filled with a size range of XS/S. My research indicated that a lot of consumers and avid fans of vintage/2000s fashion feel left out because their size is seldom accounted for.
Using my business to not only look at ways in which I could be a size inclusive brand, but to also use my platform to show more representation on behalf of those that feel left out and feel that their body doesn’t meet the standards to wear a mini skirt.
With the aim of this campaign making the second-hand community more inclusive, I wanted to level up this idea of my campaign being something that the audience can emotionally connect with through having an advocate/face of the campaign, who has a platform and is an influential individual whom will be someone that the audience can look up to.
After contacting and securing megan as my model for the campaign shoots, the idea of having her as the face of the campaign came to be a good solution for influencing the audience and sending the right message across. As megan states in the interview,’I always wished I had someone who looked like me to look up to. Now I get to be that person for other young people.’ Aswell as the interview questions that you will find on the following pages, I will be including empowering messages such as the one below, words that have been spoken by Megan herself in the hopes that it will help the audience connect with these messages.
‘You were born to be real, not to be perfect.’
Hi Megan, how are you?
Hey! I’m good thank you, I’m actually feeling super positive at the moment.
You advocate for body positivity on your Instagram, is this something that is important to you?
Oh yeah, this is something that is hugely important to me. Growing up I always struggled with accepting my body and my self-image. It has been a journey to say the least; when I was younger, I always wished I had someone who looked like me to look up to. Now I get to be that person for other young people, and I get to help them feel valued and worthy no matter what they look like.
Actually no, I was scouted by my agency after I did a few photoshoots for some brands that I’d previously collaborated with online. If you told me 5 years ago that I was going to be a model, I probably would have laughed in your face, but it’s now one of my favourite things. I suppose everything happens for a reason.
I noticed that you have signed to a modelling agency, was this a goal of yours all along or did the opportunity present itself to you?
Honestly shopping as a plus size person, is extremely difficult at the best of times. We’re so often overlooked and companies just don’t put in the effort to even try to make their clothing accessible to us. I have always been someone who has shopped second-hand, and I love that you can find unique pieces! I have at times even found it easier to walk into a charity shop, to find an outfit, as opposed to walking into somewhere like Zara where the size range is so limited. I think the biggest thing really, is just knowing where to look. I feel like people are scared to shop in the resale market because they worry that pieces won’t fit, or won’t sit right, but that completely is not the case!
Well firstly, representation is key. If there is a company that caters to my size, but doesn’t have any diversity in the casting of their models, or if they don’t use a variety of sizes in their advertising, I simply will not buy from them. Why would I ever want to invest my money into a company, who doesn’t represent my values or at least try to be inclusive?
I also think a big downfall for a lot of retailers is that they alter fabrics and designs (often using cheaper fabrics) as the size of a garment goes up. It feels as though they just don’t produce the same quality when it comes to the bigger sizes… Plus size girlies still want the same cool designs and accessories as every other girl!
As my final project surrounds the lack of size inclusivity within the resale market, I am interested to hear your opinion on this subject?
In terms of being a plus size consumer yourself, what do you want to see brands in the fashion industry do more of with regards to making the industry more inclusive?
As stated previously that I wanted to use this social media campaign to connect with my target audience through sending empowering messages that they can relate to. Over the following pages, I will portray these messages visually as I wanted this to be added on content for the social media campaign in the hopes that it will evoke some sort of emotion for the audience. With my campaign being something that the audience can connect with on an emotional level, it adds value to the campaign and is important for future success with implementing size inclusive vintage clothing into my business, as it has been shown that consumers are more likely to buy into a brand from forming an emotional connection with the product the brand is selling and the brand story/values.
As you can see on the following page, the aim of this campaign message is to encourage plus size consumers to wear the mini skirt no matter what society says. For so long, as a society, we have had it ingrained into us that certain types of clothing such as mini skirts only look good on slim body types, and this is a perception that has been carried on from the early 2000s to the present day resulting in many younger individuals fearing judgement from others as to what people will think about them wearing a mini skirt. Over the following pages, you will find a few examples of these campaign messages and how they have the power to connect with the audience.
“In a way, it’s like a type of rebellion against the early-2000s culture I grew up in that idolised tiny bodies. I love showing my body and creating outfits that highlight every part of it.”
During the original Y2K era, there was a lack of diversity in body types and representation, which is why I feel really empowered wearing mini skirts now. confidence is the best thing you can wear – and paired with a mini skirt, you’re unstoppable. (FORSYTH, 2023).
With the messages that I am putting out there for this campaign, it is important that the audience can connect with them, which is why I asked Megan who is the face of the campaign to think of some empowering messages to help with this. for example, the ‘be unique be you’ message signifies that we want you to be yourself in your #sourcedforyoursize fits, we want you to know that we accept you into this community, and we want to help build your confidence, and to be your advocate to encourage and to remind you of all the reasons as to why you should wear whatever you want, because Y2K fashion does not belong to smaller individuals.
Why do we strive so much for perfection when it’s just a dead end? This strive for perfection appears to be more recognizable amongst the younger generations, mainly because of social media. For the older generations, social media wasn’t present in their lives so they had no one to compare themselves to, whereas, with Millenials and Gen Z, growing up with social media has had a profound effect on the way they view themselves and how they look. Furthermore, a lot of our strive for perfection is also deep rooted in the past ideals of beauty being associated with thinness. Therefore, the strive for perfection and body image standards that are deep rooted in social media in the present day actaully originated in the 2000s and earlier, aswell as this, people were smaller back then because everything else was smaller and mass consumption didn’t exist, so plus size individuals didn’t get the spotlight. With this campaign message, I have created a strong visual to go alongside the message to further portray the confidence that comes with the message. Aswell as having these empowering messages, it is important for a brand to have a face of the campaign whom can carry confidence. Confidence is key to empowering others. Ultimately, what I wanted for this campaign was to have a face that can represent the future of my brand and who can connect with my target audience on a level that I am unable to.
For so long, cellulite has always been perceived as something to look down upon as it didn’t match the idea of the perfect body and so, it has been categorized as an imperfection.
“There is absolutely nothing objectively true about statements like “cellulite is ugly” or “perfectly smooth and toned is more attractive.” Those are just examples of a social reality we pass along to each other so often, that our brains start to believe they must be true.”
We see it on social media everyday, the influencer or model who has the body that is deemed as perfect because there’s nothing that makes their body stand out, no noticeable flaws or imperfections, but with social media we are sold a fake reality of everyones lives. Most likely, when we see someone on social media who we deem as perfect because they have no cellulite, in reality they do have imperfections, and that may not necessarily be cellulite, but they will have at least one imperfection that they will hide on social media. because lets be real, we only post the best of ourselves on social media as we are all scared of what people will think and scared of exposing our real self to the internet world. I think this campaign message is really strong and it carries a lot of confidence with it. Cellulite doesn’t yet fit into the Y2K market of fashion as this fashion still associates itself with the perfect body, but with the aim of my project being about changing this narrative, it is my intention to cover every aspect and be inclusive to all individuals including those with cellulite.
‘Don’t dress like them, dress like you.’ With this campaign, we want you to feel comfortable within this community to be yourself which is why we are sending messages like this one. With the size inclusive range we are offering, we want you to shop in your size and to pick out the clothes you would normally choose rather than the clothes society expects you to choose.
Being a plus size individual does not exclude you from this market of fashion and we are here to remind you that you should dress for yourself. If you want to wear the mini skirt or the low rise jeans, wear them because you want to, wear them for yourself, not for others. The clothes we wear reflect who we are and how we want others to perceive us. We want to help our plus size community to feel confident in whatever they wear because you too deserve to feel confident in a mini skirt or low rise jeans.
Inspired by 2000s chick flick movies, this collection has been curated with the aim of portraying the typical Y2k girlie girl who dresses in pink and wears low rise jeans and mini skirts, portraying her confidence through her applying lipstick and posing with confidence, the way the model is posing produces the impression that she feels good in herself and the way she looks which is typically how this type of character is portrayed in chick flicks. This portrayal of the model being associated with the characters in chick flicks has been redefined through the lens of a plus size model for my FMP. We idolize these characters from chick flicks for how they dress and their slim body physique, so much that we don’t see how a plus size individual could be placed under the same spotlight.
Furthermore, changing perceptions surrounding the lack of representation, with the help of Megan whom has been a plus size model for my project, I have taken this opportunity to redefine the narrative of what it means to be a Y2K ‘it girl’ in the 21st century. This new narrative focuses on the impression the individual gives off rather than what they look like. We idolize the characters from 2000s chick flicks, despite the fact that the lens we see them through is distorted. We look at them and think they are perfect because they’re pretty and have the perfect body, and that is how they are meant to be portrayed in the movies, however, the movies isn’t real life. With a focus on the new narrarive, we can idolize Megan (model), for the confidence she gives off, for how she feels confident in herself and is not afraid to be seen wearing low rise jeans or a mini skirt, despite what society may think. The reason why I have focused on the confidence that she carries as a plus size individual is for the purpose of her being able to influence the audience e.g. the plus size community, into changing how they think about Y2K fashion.
With reference to the collection itself, I have sourced the type of clothes that would best represent/portray the character as the Y2K ‘it girl’. In this case, similar to how chick flicks have their own characters, Megan who is the model for my project is the character who adds to this campaign in the sense that she is key for influencing this new narrative I have created. As you can see, the majority of this size inclusive collection is pink as that is how I have always depicted fashion from the 2000s, and I wanted the collection to have that feminine ‘girlie girl’ appeal to it as I feel like that is what consumers of this fashion are most drawn to.
To ensure the collection isn’t just all pink, I have of course featured more of the collection which you can see on the previous page, to ensure there will be a wide range of clothes for customers to choose from. With regards to selling the collection to the audience, I have painted this picture of the ‘new Y2K girl’ and how she feels confident in her outfit, giving the impression to the audience that she is embracing her confidence for how she looks. Her stance and the way she poses is exuding her characters personality.
With the introduction to the character of the campaign, I have included some character edits from the campaign film as these edits add to the story and essentially portray the characters personality.
The graphics that appear on the edits tell the story in the sense that they add to the characters personality and these graphics coincide with the action or pose that the character is performing. For example, the edit on the next page portrays that the character is sassy and loves herself, and viewers will also be able to depict these qualities through the way she is posing with her phone. For the next edit, the character can be seen kneeling down to look for her lipstick in her bag, and you can see the action of her applying her lipstick on the page after that. For the final 2 edits, the character can be seen posing in front of a camera suggesting that she is being papped by the paparazzi with the way she is posing. The final edit depicts the character to be embracing how she looks exuding confidence.
“Every Body Has a Story to Tell“ If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, why are we fed so much imagery about what we are supposed to look like?” (Allie Crewe).
In this day in age with social media present in our lives, it has become challenging to find a way to accept ourselves for how we look.
To influence my target audience and to empower them, I have decided to dig deeper into body image, and to look into storytelling as another way to construct this new narrative that I formed earlier on.
When we look at nature, e.g. a flower that looks different to other flowers, we don’t view it as imperfect, we view it as unique and special, but it doesn’t change that flowers’ worth or beauty. Flowers that look the same are boring, the same as humans, if every body looked the same, we would have nothing that sets each other apart, nothing that makes us unique, therefore, just because your body looks different in a mini skirt compared to what you see in chick flick movies from the 2000s, doesn’t mean your body is imperfect or doesn’t look good in a mini skirt.
A body is more than just a body, it’s more than just an appearance, it is a reflection of who you are.
We have been conditioned to think that mini skirts belong on individuals with slim legs and that low rise jeans belong on individuals with a flat stomach and an hourglass frame because that is what we have been presented with. When you see characters in movies or tv shows from the 2000s, you don’t see any diversity or inclusivity in the casting, you see mini skirts and low rise jeans on slim and toned women and so, immediately our minds start to believe that we have to have that figure to wear that type of clothing or we will be judged. It has since changed, and these days we see a lot more diversity and inclusivity in movies and tv shows, however, the fashion industry says otherwise. For example, Miu Miu, whom have their own micro mini skirt, have been under scrutiny for promoting these past ideals of beauty and perfection by having extremely thin models walking the runway in the micro mini skirt, which is continuing the cycle of pushing people out who don’t have that body type, knocking their self esteem as they are pushed into thinking that their body isn’t made for a mini skirt.
Our bodies are more than just the physical appearance that others see. Our bodies are a map of our histories, the narrative of our lives; they record the ways in which we were brought up, they chronicle our accidents and illnesses, our emotional experiences and our beliefs. They reflect the stories we tell ourselves, and the stories others tell about us. (Hatton, 2016).
“Our perceptions of outer appearances are profoundly affected by the inner conditioning of our minds.”
(Ricky, 2018).
For my 2 final images, I have chosen the 2 above as I felt that they were 2 of the strongest and that they tell the story best. The 1st image which will be presented at launch night, I think encapsulates the story well. With reference to portraying representation, I thought that this would be a strong image as it reveals a plus size model wearing a mini skirt which I believe changes the narrative and challenges past ideals of Y2K fashion.
For the second image which will be presented at the exhibition, I have chosen it because it also tells the story well in the sense that it reveals my business which is a part of my FMP. I created this image with the intent of it being promotional material to enhance the customer experience, so if a customer was to buy something from me, I would include this note with the image to give them some empowerment prior to wearing their purchase. It is an image that I think can be understood well.
To conclude my FMP, as mentioned many times, I have created a social media campaign with the intent of bringing in a new audience that connect with the #sourcedforyoursize concept, to build up a new audience of customers that would be looking to buy from me if I implemented size inclusivity into my business once I graduate, and finally to give the plus size community the spotlight, within the second-hand resale market where plus size is seldom accounted for.
To recap the #sourcedforyoursize concept, it is simply a hashtag I have created to build the social media campaign and to build this new community, it exists so that with the implementation of size inclusive clothing, future customers would be able to post pictures of themselves in their purchases and it would appear as user generated content in the #sourcedforyoursize community page on Instagram. There has been more emphasis on the social media campaign as the purpose of it was to see if i could build up a following of customers who would buy from me if I extended my size range.
With reference to the introduction of size inclusive clothing, as mentioned, I haven’t physically introduced it yet, as I have used my FMP to trial this as a new direction for my business after graduation. Instead of physically implementing this, I have instead, portrayed what this would look like in reality by introducing the #sourcedforyoursize collection, as you will have seen earlier in the book, creating a website where this collection would be sold and creating promotional material for the business aspect such as a press release, slogan and mission statement.
CAT FORSYTH. (2023, January 19). I asked my favourite mid-size content creators how they style a mini skirt. Fashion Journal. https://fashionjournal.com.au/fashion/styling-mini-skirts-for-midsized-bodies/
CATRIONA HARVEY-JENNER. (2017, August 25). This woman’s body-positive post about her cellulite is EVERYTHING you need for a confidence boost. Cosmopolitan. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a12094536/ jessi-kneeland-positive-message-cellulite/
Allie Crewe. (n.d.). Every Body Has a Story to Tell. Allie Crewe. https://www.allie-crewe.uk/blog/every-body-has-a-story-to-tell
Ricky. (2018, June 4). Improving Body Image: How Perception Of The Body Is A Reflection Of The Mind. Mind That Ego. https://www.mindthatego.com/improving-body-image/
Daska Hatton. (2016, July 14). How Your Body Tells the Story of Your Life. Welldoing.org. https://welldoing.org/article/how-your-bodytells-story-your-life
