Would the Fleabag jumpsuit have gone viral if a fat actress wore it?
Fleabag is a near-perfect television show about an imperfect woman.
OK, wait — the main character (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), is more than imperfect, she’s actually quite terrible at times. But she’s working on it! And Waller-Bridge’s portrayal of a human-in-progress is so captivating that Fleabag alleviates some of the guilt I feel for supporting Amazon in 2019. (Which is also terrible, but, like Fleabag, I am working on it.)
Anyway!
Since Fleabag’s second season premiered on May 17th, a staggering amount of pop culture-related conversations have revolved around two things: the hot priest and the hot jumpsuit.
The hot priest is played by Irish actor Andrew Scott. While he doesn’t mind being referred to as a hot priest, a real priest does take issue with it. The hot jumpsuit is a black polyester/elastane number designed by a company called Love. It’s currently on backorder at Silkfred.com, where it’s sold for a reasonable $50.
This jumpsuit, now commonly referred to as “the Fleabag jumpsuit,” is stunning in its simplicity — it has a high neck, an open back and a keyhole opening in the front that gives a purposeful peek of the chest. And it looks comfy as shit, too — the cut of the pants is wide and roomy, much like the pajamas I am currently wearing.
Articles and essays about the jumpsuit have been featured in Vulture, The Guardian and Longreads and Twitter has declared the jumpsuit “a movement.” That Waller-Bridge’s character is so relatable, and Waller-Bridge is so goddamn gorgeous while wearing the outfit, surely hasn’t hurt its popularity, either.
The problem? The jumpsuit is only available in US sizes 4-12.
Wear a size 14 or larger? Have a waist that reaches beyond 34 inches? You don’t get to buy the Fleabag jumpsuit. I don’t get to buy the Fleabag jumpsuit. Sixty-eight percent of American women don’t get to buy the Fleabag jumpsuit.
This is hardly the first time I’ve been excluded from a fashion trend, but it’s worth asking: Would that jumpsuit have gone viral if a fat woman were wearing it? Not that TV gives plus-size actors the opportunity to become fashion icons. If there’s one thing rarer than a fat woman starring in a TV show, it’s a fat woman starring in a TV show while wearing a covetable wardrobe.
Kate, Chrissy Metz’s character on This Is Us, is almost always covered in boring basics — as Kate struggles with her body image, she hides in forgettable layers of cardigans, jackets and shawls. (Offscreen is another story — Metz wears one-shoulder gowns, form-fitting sequins and red latex. HOT.)
Becky, Gabourey Sidibe’s character on Empire, has worn some great pieces — this leather skirt and this cape coat, both from Eloquii, for example — but Becky’s never been referred to as a mainstream style icon. Twitter never called her clothes “a movement.” Her outfits are barely mentioned online, including on those weird websites devoted television wardrobes. And why not? That cape coat is legit great!
The lack of fashionable fat characters, and society’s ability to recognize them as such, is starting to change — when Shrill premiered on Hulu in March, Aidy Bryant wore all kinds of cute clothes while portraying a writer named Annie. But those on-screen outfits — which were praised by outlets including Teen Vogue and Buzzfeed — were all custom-made by costume designer Amanda Needham partly, because Needham says, it’s nearly impossible to find plus-size clothing that’s fashionable, affordable and well-made.
As refreshing as it was to see such a great plus-size wardrobe on TV, viewers couldn’t order that long-sleeved sequin mini dress Annie wore to that art opening, or that cute pink-and-white button-up dress that looks like an old-school candy striper uniform. Those clothes don’t exist in real life; fashionable, affordable and well-made plus-sized clothes don’t exist in real life.
The Fleabag jumpsuit is amazing. I love that so many women are buying it and feeling hot as hell while wearing it and sharing their pics on social media — but it’s a shame that its popularity excludes so many people.
Fat women deserve that experience, too. But a fat woman’s outfit can’t go viral until we put more fat women on TV in desirable, buyable clothes and we can’t put fat women in desirable, buyable clothes until more designers start offering inclusive sizes and consumers and costume designers alike support them. It’s a maddening circle, but one we can break if we're willing to look beyond the straight sizes when searching for and celebrating our future fashion icons.
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