Plus Size Brides Don't Need A Designer's Approval To Wear Deep Neck

Fashion designer Falguni Peacock is being criticised on social media for saying that plus-sized brides shouldn’t wear clothes with deep neck. When designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee posted a picture of a plus size model wearing an outfit from his Winter 2019 bridal collection, Peacock commented on it, “Sorry but did @falgunipeacock say 'no deep necks' for plus-size brides? Here's your answer.” This isn’t the first time peacock has made comments on plus size women, which have raised a lot of eyebrows. Infact, people are now sharing a video clip on social media, in which Peacock advised plus size brides to “work on themselves”. She said, “I won't blatantly tell her to lose weight, but you have enough time and you can work on yourself. It is pretty easy to lose a couple of inches if you want to.”
When asked what kind of clothes would she suggest to the bride if she can't lose weight Falguni said, “Long blouses, more flared lehengas, and not fitted because fitted won't really work when you're a little big, and no deep-necks for them.” So the renowned designer's stance on plus size women and deep necks is not a one-time thing.

SOME TAKEAWAYS:

• Designer Falguni Peacock said in an Instagram comment that plus size women shouldn't wear deep necks.
• Her comments have earned her a lot of criticism.
• There was a time when we used to look at designers, to tell us what will look good on our body type.
• Not anymore. Women today exercise their agency to wear what they want to and designers must learn to work around that.

“I won't blatantly tell her to lose weight, but you have enough time and you can work on yourself. It is pretty easy to lose a couple of inches if you want to,” said fashion designer Falguni Peacock.

This is a bad year to be a fashion designer who is active on social media. Just some days ago, Sabyasachi Mukherjee was trolled for saying that that “overdressed” women are wounded inside. Before that, the designer received criticism for shaming women who didn’t know how to drape a saree. What’s with this policing of women’s clothes and bodies? Were these designers always so discriminatory, and we have only begun to see their views as problematic today, courtesy our own new-found wokeness? Or has body and dress policing of women become haute couture?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0lPHXej8U5/

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While I agree that it is we who have given fashion designers the right to make a commentary on what looks good on which body type, and what doesn’t, in 2019, you can’t tell a woman what she can’t wear something because of her body type, because that’s plain body policing. For long women have worn clothes on basis of what others think is appropriate for their physiques, age or even complexion. Telling a woman not wear deep neck because she is plus is size as regressive as telling her not to wear red lipstick because she is above a certain age, or telling her to not wear a certain colour, because it doesn’t ‘agree’ with her skin colour.

So today, fashion designers don’t get to make the call on what women should wear, they are simply there to improvise according to their customer’s demands.

Until last decade we would turn to fashion designers for all sorts of advice on couture. We wanted them to tell us what was in vogue and what not, what suited a body and what didn’t. We had placed the agency to decide what to wear in their hands. But today, women are more in-command and confident about their bodies. They have reclaimed the agency on their clothes, make-up and accessories. They don’t want approval from fashion designers, they simply want their demands met.

Image credit: MangoBaaz

So today, fashion designers don’t get to make the call on what women should wear, they are simply there to improvise according to their customer’s demands. Couture is a business transaction, and they have to pull themselves up to meet women’s expectations, not the other way round. Perhaps fashion designers like Peacock and Mukherjee will pay heed to that lesson, before posting something on Instagram the next time.

Also Read: There Is Just No Escaping Body Shaming, Even For Deepika Padukone

Image credit: Hauterfly

Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are author’s own.