We won't stop asking this until the issue becomes obsolete: why is it still hard for plus-size women to find fantastic fashion?
Actress Chrissy Metz, star of the hit series "This Is Us," spoke candidly to Yahoo! Style about the difficulty of being a plus-size actress in Hollywood come award season.
Speaking about the green dress she was wearing at the 25th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards party on Sunday, Metz said, "A lot of designers won’t work with plus-sized people, period, and I know a lot of plus-size women feel like they have to avoid jewel tones or colour in general, but I love bold colours."
Chrissy Metz attends the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation's Academy Awards Viewing Party at The City of West Hollywood Park on February 26, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for EJAF)
Metz sported a floor-length custom gown by a friend of hers, who's a seamstress and House of Cyndarella designer, according to Yahoo.
"I am not going to pick only black just because I am a plus-size girl," she added. "Hopefully it will encourage other women [to follow suit].”
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've heard similar complaints from plus-size actresses.
Last year, "Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones tweeted she was having a hard time finding designers to dress her for the premiere of the film.
"It's so funny how there are no designers wanting to help me with a premiere dress for movie. Hmmm that will change and I remember everything," she tweeted last June.
Fortunately, designer Christian Siriano stepped up to the plate and outfitted Jones in a smokin' hot red gown for the "Ghostbusters" premiere.
Leslie Jones arrives at the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Ghostbusters" at TCL Chinese Theatre on July 9, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)
Siriano even took it a step further, proclaiming on Twitter that he shouldn't be called a hero just for dressing a person who isn't a size 2.
"It shouldn't be exceptional to work with brilliant people just because they're not sample size. Congrats aren't in order, a change is," he tweeted in response to the praise he received.
And although we're seeing more plus-size women enter the mainstream fashion industry (see: Ashley Graham) as well as better-looking clothes for plus-size women, there's still a long way to go.
However, stylist Jessica Paster, who's dressed celebs such as Emily Blunt, Olivia Munn and Miranda Kerr, told The Hollywood Reporter that it was Jones' fault for not being able to wrangle a designer dress.
"I’ve had clients who are not sample sizes, for example Nia Vardalos. Designers are more than happy to lend to her. Unfortunately, she’s not a sample size. So the production company gave me a budget to buy her clothes," said Paster. "Christian Siriano saved the day by pulling non-sample sizes, and he himself, the weekend of the premiere for 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,' did the final fitting with Nia.
"This is nobody’s fault except Leslie’s," she continued. "She should have known four to five months ago the date of premiere, and said, ‘I’m not a sample size, I need to go to designers early or buy myself a dress.' Don’t be blaming designers and saying they don’t like you."
Actress Nia Vardalos.(Photo by Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic)
But not everyone agreed with Paster's argument.
Elaine Lui, the Canadian gossip blogger and co-host of "The Social," took issue with Paster's words, writing on her site Lainey Gossip that it was wrong to call Nia Vardalos' size "unfortunate."
"Please note the inadvertent but significant use of the 'unfortunately' when mentioning the fact that Nia Vardalos is 'not a sample size,'" she wrote. "It’s 'unfortunate' is it? When someone isn’t a sample size, it’s unfortunate? Well, that’s exactly the problem."
"I don’t buy that Leslie’s height is a problem. It’s not a problem for Charlize Theron. Or Nicole Kidman. You’re telling me that those two are planning their dresses four or five months out? That if Charlize or Nicole needed a dress next week, it wouldn’t happen for them? And I also don’t buy that it’s the combination of Leslie’s height and her 'size' that’s a problem. Because how is it that pregnant celebrities of a certain ilk are able to find designer dresses for major events when their sizes are changing week to week? They’re not calling ahead with four or five months notice for fittings because, guess what?, they wouldn’t know their goddamn measurements and the rate the baby is growing. How come it’s possible for them and not possible for Leslie Jones? Is it really a question of inventory? Or is it actually a matter of selective effort?"
Preach.
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