I. fallen flower

II. morning glory

III. mourning death

IV. monday morning in august

V. grief is an old friend

The world of fashion has historically been predominantly white and thin – one, to fit within, and two, to set – societal standards.With the rise of the online world, social media has turned into a space that people of different sizes and backgrounds can post on and start to build and find the representation in fashion that was so lacking in the past. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the saturation of thin white women that walked runways and graced the covers of magazines has faded off into the distance, as more than half of runway models are still white and only a little more than half of magazine covers feature people of color.What it does mean, is that those women whose body type or appearance was, and still is, not often found on those runways or on the covers of magazines now have a chance to get out there and start to diversify the world of fashion on their own.

Amanda Quach
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Amanda Quach didn’t grow up experimenting with fashion. Surprising, as most of the content she posts on her online platforms focuses on showing off her style and sense of fashion.She used to fit into the stereotype that most mid or plus size women tend to, of going to the mall and not finding anything to wear since there was often nothing offered in those sizes. This led to her having negative views of her body as she couldn’t always necessarily wear what she wanted to. The blame for that used to fall onto her shoulders, but as she got older, she learned that it’s not her fault that the clothing she wanted to wear didn’t come in her size; the blame for that fell onto society and the fashion industry.It wasn't until amanda was a freshman in high school that she finally started to experiment with fashion and personal style, with the help of thrifting and vintage clothing shops. She pulls aspects of her personal style from so many different areas of life, and likes to play around and combine old with new."I don't have a specific aesthetic.”Her inspiration comes from different areas of her life, such as family and friends, 2000’s movies and tv shows, her fellow fashion influencers, and even herself.“I love seeing what everyone else is wearing. And honestly, I look at old outfits, and I just look at how I could make it different. I kind of evolve within my own experiments, like what I really loved trying out.”Amanda started posting fashion content online during quarantine; she wasn’t really seeing a lot of people who looked like her doing it, so she decided she would do it herself. it picked up on social media, so she kept up with it. while she didn’t quite doubt herself for it, she did deal with imposter syndrome stemming from the same reason she had started posting online in the first place - she didn’t look like most of the people who post this type of content. There are still days where she struggles knowing that how she looks could be a reason brands don’t send her PR or try to partner with her, but deals and gifts aren’t why she started creating content anyway.“I make content for the people that watch me. At the end of the day, if I'm inspiring another person to step out of their comfort zone and dress differently, then that's all that matters to me.”Though social media has definitely given the people who lack representation a space to find and create it, it also gives the people that are racist, fatphobic, etc. a space to spout their thoughts. Amanda has noticed that when she does an ad campaign, which goes out to the general public and not just her followers, the comments under her post and the posts of an ad campaign with a person who is conventionally attractive, are completely different.“It's crazy that people will purely come [for] me just because I look a little bit different.”Luckily, she is currently at a place where she feels comfortable with herself and her body and can disregard those comments. After the many failed fad diets and trips to the gym to try and alter her appearance left her at a really low point in her life, she decided to change her perspective and aimed to be OK with who she was and what her body looked like.“I realized that, instead of living my life wanting to look different, I might as well just be neutral about myself. I'm very much body neutral. This is the body that I've been given. I need to cherish it.”The “YOLO” mentality that she has developed has helped her tremendously in curating and evolving her style. She wears clothes she finds cute regardless of the number on the tag or what her body looks like in them - it makes her happy and expresses who she is more than her size ever will.To her, social media is “baby steps” when it comes to opening up representation and diversity in fashion. Although she has seen changes being made and has started to see more plus size models and models that look like her, she knows that there is still a lot of work left to do.“So much more representation can be done, especially in media and TV shows. I want to see real people like me in [the] media, and accurately represented, you know, I can't even think of an example to go off of [right now] because there's literally not.”She was especially reminded of that when she attended Fashion Week, and failed to find the representation that she seeks. It’s a reason her social media presence, and that of plus and mid size fashion influencers, is so important and inspiring for their followers.“Being able to see a plus size person of color be authentic and feel good in their own skin and go out in public, [that is] what I think inspires people the most.”Still, it took her a lot of time and internal work to get to this stage in her life; and she wants everyone to get there someday too.“I'd rather see people be creative and live their truth and be happy with what they genuinely love out in the world than not. I think that's what is important with my online presence, not just showing my outfits in my home and giving inspo in that way, but also living my daily life and going out in public. I'm just being authentic and being myself.”So, what would she say to the young Amanda who did not have the thick skin that she does now?“I would just tell her that society does not care as much as you think they do. And even if they do, it does not matter. Because what matters the most is your happiness, and if dressing differently is what makes you comfortable in your own skin [then] that's what you should do.”And what is her advice for the women who want to be fashion influencers but might be afraid or hesitant?“Be original. You might think that there's an oversaturation of fashion TikTokers or whatever but the thing is, a majority of them are skinny and white and conventionally attractive. The best decision is to infiltrate the space and make it what you want it to be. Even if you don't find success very quickly, just keep doing it. If you genuinely love doing it, then keep doing it.”

Naomi Hearts
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Growing up, Naomi wasn't really a fashion person, if at all. She did what was easiest, and wore sweatpants as a security blanket. It wasn’t until she transitioned that she felt able to dabble in fashion and find her personal style.“I feel like my style is just all about embracing my body.”She likes to look at the current trends and find bits and pieces that she can take and make her own. a lot of her inspiration right now comes from Lizzo, she admires and believes that the singer embodies what plus size fashion really is; pushing boundaries and not being afraid of what people might think about your body.When naomi started posting online, it wasn’t with the intention of being a fashion influencer. Her bread and butter is comedy, and most of her content centers around humor or comedic elements. but she also loves food and fashion; and it was when the content she made centered around fashion started to stick that she decided to continue with it, although it wasn’t her original plan.“I never thought that I would be a fashion girl.”That was where her own imposter syndrome stemmed from; she knew that there were influencers who really dedicated their time and craft to creating and posting fashion content, leaving her to battle with the idea of not belonging or even deserving to be in this space.“It's kind of like, am I really supposed to be doing this?”Fortunately, Naomi is a person who knows her worth, and who learned early on that no matter what she does, there are people who are going to have something to say about it. So she chooses to create the content that makes her and her followers, happy.“When I started posting, my goal, honestly, was to get my foot in the door of entertainment. And then when I saw how people were reacting to my content in such a positive way, it turned from getting my foot in the door, as a plus sized trans latina, to if I can make one person's day just a little bit better, I feel like I've had a successful day.”she considers social media as a positive, though she is aware of its various negatives."it's given platforms to people who are not afraid to deal with the hate that they're gonna get for simply existing and embracing their body. I feel like because of that, it is changing the narrative that plus size people should not have a platform."getting to watch how social media has given plus size people these platforms and opportunities is powerful to her, especially since it wasn't really possible in the past without it.still, as mentioned, there are the prevalent negatives of social media that are hard to ignore. the nature of it, unfortunately, makes it so easy for people to hide behind their screen and be malicious.when the mean comments on her posts start to get to her, naomi reminds herself that who she is and what she does is helping out a lot of people. creating and getting content out is bigger than her and fellow plus size fashion influencers; it's about those who benefit from seeing it and identifying with it."it's influencing a whole new generation of plus sized people."she will often reclaim those mean comments she gets and turns them into content using self deprecating humor, like with her "fupanza smash" or "fat fashion friday" series. turning negatives into positives helps her from letting them affect her.while naomi doesn't necessarily set out to be "the representation" she does understand how necessary it truly is and why her online presence is so important. for her, a lot of what she does is actually to heal her inner child who didn't get to grow up "seeing herself" in the media as a plus size person of color."I'm sure there are millions of people who look just like us, who think like us who are built like us, and they want to see that."what people say about her and her body doesn't have to do anything with her, and has everything to do with them. she doesn't feel that she should need to conform to the standards that society has placed on plus size people and what they should or should not wear."for me, I'm like, fuck that. I want to wear whatever I want. I want to embrace who I am. And other people should embrace themselves too. like, you know what, you're fat and you're allowed to wear whatever you want."to the little Naomi who wasn’t as sure of herself and who she was, What would she say?“I would tell her that it's okay to be different. That it's okay to not be skinny, it's okay to eat that meal. It's okay to love who you are. Because [in a] world where everyone is expected to look the same, being different is amazing.”And what is her advice for the women who want to be fashion influencers but are scared to start?“My best advice is so cliche, but it's just do it. My whole life changed by posting on social media. It's something I never would have expected [and] something that I'm forever grateful for. If I would have let imposter syndrome hold me back, if I would have let people's negative comments hold me back, I would not be where I'm at today, doing what I'm doing now.”