Plus

There seems to be a trend at the moment for fashion magazines to produce a plus-size special feature or edition. Apparently I'm supposed to be pleased about this, but in actuality it just makes me cross. Leaving aside the issue that most of these models are only about a size 14 anyway, why does their inclusion have to be 'special' thing?  A one-off parade of plus-size models doesn't break down the taboos the fashion industry has about the larger lady, it just serves to emphasize them. These women should be included as a matter of course. Once upon a time it was a big deal for a black model to appear in a mainstream fashion magazine. Now models of all races are included as a matter of course. Why can it not be the same with plus-size models? It seems absurd to me.
It's a safe assumption that shops want to sell clothes, yes? If I see a dress on an anorexic 13 year old then it's possible I'll think 'pretty dress', or even 'nice photo', but I'm unlikely to go and buy the dress. If it looks good on said underfed pre-teen then chances are it's not going to look good on me. However, a pretty dress on a pretty woman who actually looks like a woman is an aspirational image. It's something I can look at and imagine myself in. It's still a fantasy, but it's one my logical side is prepared to accept, and the chances of me heading off to purchase that dress are greatly increased. Now, I'm the size of the average UK woman. That means that approximately half of the women in this country are the same size as me or larger, and I bet most of them would react in the same way as I do to those two images. So why does the clothes industry choose to alienate such a huge portion of the potential market? It doesn't make financial sense.