Taylor 1

Dominique Taylor

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115

3 October, 2017

Fashion Industry Creates Unobtainable Expectations

The fashion industry should be a space that promotes positivity, acceptance, and self-

love, but a lot of times that isnt the case. Being someone who has a passion for fashion and

majors in fashion merchandising, I have heard, seen, and been exposed to a lot of the negative

aspects this industry comes with. The fashion industry is a space where there is unrealistic

expectations of women, whether its within the modeling, designing, or marketing side of it. This

becomes monstrous when something that should be good, turns into eating disorders, body

shaming, and mental instability. Since these high standards are seen as monstrous it shows how

women have fear of not being perfect, while also illustrating the value society puts on looking a

certain way.

If someone were to ask you what beauty looks like, what would you say? The industry of

fashion is such a huge space with so many different avenues, which is what makes it so amazing,

but it also creates more room for corruption. When it comes to the world of fashion, the way you

look is the biggest priority; of course the clothing is important, but whoever is wearing the

clothing seems to be just as important too. Whether there is someone physically telling you what

is wrong with you or what you need to fix about yourself, (for example, models deal with this

daily), or it is subconsciously through tv, magazines, or media, women and people in general are

constantly being told what beauty is and how they should look. We have to remember that this

doesnt just go for those that are working in this industry, it goes for everyday women as well.
 Taylor 2

Women and young girls are continuously compelled to look a certain way and be a

certain size, it is extremely dangerous and toxic, and it is completely evident that a lot of it stems

from the fashion industry. In the article My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather

Undead the author Chuck Klosterman states, The principal downside to any zombie attack is

that the zombies will never stop coming; the principal downside to life is that you will never be

finished with whatever it is you have to do. This can relate to the fashion industry and the things

that are monstrous within it because, the downside of the fashion industry is that it will never

stop telling women how they should look or are supposed to look, and the downside of listening

to them is that you will never feel as if you are good enough and never fully accept yourself as

you are. This is a huge issue because it can cause females to feel really low and insecure, making

it easy for women to consider doing drastic thing to change their looks.

When it comes to designers and making clothing, something that most people wouldnt

know is that almost all designers make fashion items in one size, and majority of the time the

sizes they create are very small. In the article 'They told me my hips were too wide': Teenage

model exposes the dark side of the fashion industry with brutally honest Instagram posts. a

model by the name of Jazz Egger said Beauty standards are hella stupid. And what's going on

behind the scenes of the industry is even crazier. For example, most designers only create

fashion pieces in one size; usually US size 0-2 (UK 4-6). So when they go on the hunt for

fashion show models, they look for girls who have a 0-2 size. To most females that size is

unobtainable, and the fact that even the slimmest of girls that model are being told that theyre

still too big is wrong and unhealthy. Things like this is what causes women, primarily young

girls to develop eating disorders, It causes girls to feel as if the only way they can be beautiful is
 Taylor 3

if theyre a certain size. This is wrong, and needs to be something more people in the industry

address.

When I was younger, I didnt have the knowledge about all of the different fields of

fashion that you can get into. In that case I thought I wanted to be a fashion designer, which

comes with having an idea, sketching it out, and then ultimately making the clothing item. When

I was about 12 years old I was asked by my dads friend what I wanted to be when I grew up, I

of course responded a fashion designer, and I will never forget his response. He replied by

saying What kind of clothes would you make? Would it be for smaller or bigger people?

Because now days they have the models for clothes looking like twigs. I didnt know how to

respond to his comments, but it did make make me think. I wondered why it mattered so much, I

wondered why these days it was common for clothes to be made small and the women

modeling the clothes to be small too. It was the first time I realized that maybe everything is set

up that way because that is whats considered beautiful. The response by my dads friend just

goes to show the standard that not only society but the fashion industry has put on women. The

scariest part is that this high standard of women is now worse than it was when I was twelve.

In recent years , Ive had quite a bit of people tell me that I could model, because of my

height and beauty. There has been multiple occasions where they also include the fact that if I

were to model they would make me lose weight. Even though this is something I already know,

it doesnt stop me from thinking well maybe I should lose weight. It doesnt change the fact

that it makes me self concious about my body, and second guess myself-confidence. Despite

that, I am personally very fortunate and grateful that I have not had to deal with any type of

eating disorder, because I know a lot of people struggle with them. In the last 10-5 years eating

disorders have become way too common and it breaks my heart, knowing that so much pain and
 Taylor 4

suffering could be prevented if society and the industry where to change some of their ways. Its

statements like youre too big or you need to lose weight that show me how ugly the fashion

industry can be. It shows me how it has caused the majority to have the mindset that perfect is

beautiful, therefore causing womens fear of not meeting these high standards to increase. I

believe that no matter how challenging it is, women should be aware of the fact that they are

beautiful just the way they are, because if we give in to our fears, we face the real possibility of

the permanent loss of liberty (Genoways 132).

When youre looking to purchase something majority of the time you will be drawn to

something that is appealing to your eyes. Things have to be presentable in order to sell. The way

things appear to people can determine whether or not they are interested in a product or not,

which is something I can understand completely. Being someone who wants to pursue fashion

merchandising as a career, I know that the appearance of a clothing item or product is a crucial

factor of how well it will sell. With that being said, yes, I do believe that clothing should be

advertized in a manner that is attractive but when it is taken too far it becomes a problem. When

they resort to photoshopping someone that clearly doesnt need it or changing the look of a

model to look better then it starts to become unrealistic, because people are fooled into

thinking that they should look like that mean while the model doesnt even look like that

themselves.

The never ending push that us women have to look perfect is difficult and unfair to

handle. Being constantly bombarded with images and expectations can be way too

overwhelming, and ultimately dangerous to one's health. Its time for change to happen, time for

the fashion industry to be more sensitive to the fact that they are creating a space that isnt

positive or supportive for women at all. Its time for women to be more conscious of the fact that
 Taylor 5

no one is perfect, and that just because they dont look like the girl on TV or in the magazine

doesnt mean theyre not beautiful.

Work Cited
 Taylor 6

Klosterman, Chuck. My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead.

Monsters: edited by John E. Sullivan 111 and Leah Rang, Macmillan Higher Education, 2016,

pp. 40-44.

Mailonline, Unity Blott For. 'They told me my hips were too wide': Teenage model

exposes the dark side of the fashion industry with brutally honest Instagram posts. Daily Mail

Online, Associated Newspapers, 23 Nov. 2016, www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-

3964254/Model-Jazz-Egger-exposes-reality-fashion-industry.html.

Genoways, Ted. Here Be Monsters by Ted Genoways from The Virginia Quarterly

Review, Winter 2005, Vol. 8, Monsters: Article, edited by John E. Sullivan 111 and Leah Rang,

Macmillan Higher Education, 2016, pp. 130-133.