'Plus-size model' reveals fat suit secret, explains why plus-size models have slim faces in photos

The fashion industry has played a huge role in shaping 'beauty standards' that have irrevocably harmed the body image of people all over the world. Recent years have seen fashion brands become more inclusive and diverse, in an attempt to do away with the unhealthy beauty standards and as a way to repair their own image. While some brands may be honest in their inclusivity, a 'plus-sized' model has revealed that most progress is hollow. The model who goes by the name Ronja Quinn on TikTok revealed that some brands are getting thin models to wear fat suits to present them as 'plus-sized models' and thus pushing an unrealistic body image. Quinn explained that the brands do this to portray a thin neck and a defined jawline.

Ronja Quinn posted a video on the platform, explaining what goes behind the scenes of a shoot for plus-size clothing. Ronja Quinn has revealed that in her ten years, she has seen the industry evolve but not enough. When she started out brands didn't want to do inclusive and were "less accepting towards different sizes and ethnicities." Quinn says the progress has been very slow. "The biggest difference being a plus model is that there is no pressure on keeping skinny anymore. For me for example, it would be better work-wise to be bigger, because then I would get more plus-size jobs, but my agency doesn’t pressure me on this, it’s just up to me,” Quinn told Bored Panda.

As people rallied to have more realistic-looking people model clothes, some brands got devious. The video shows Quinn explaining brands hiring standard-sized models and asking them to use padding aka fat suit, to model plus-sized clothes. "I'm going to reveal a secret. I sometimes work for plus-sized brands. These typically carry 44 and up. If you have eyes, you can see I'm not that size. So, how do you fix that? I have to bring something called padding, which basically is a fat suit, in pieces," she said. Quinn then proceeds to pad herself up with those pieces to bulk herself up.

"So you just stuff it, which makes you look a lot bigger. If that isn't enough, you just pin everything from the back. If the clothes look good from the front, it probably looks like sh*t from the back. It's because they want the neck and face to look really slim and sharp, which doesn't just unrealistic standards but impossible ones. My suggestion is just to use real plus-sized women because there are so many gorgeous plus-sized women out there," she said. Quinn said that most brands use plus-sized models. “Most plus brands do not fake the bodies. But for those who do, I think they would only care if the sales go down because, in the end, that’s all that matters. That’s why I wanted to make the video so that consumers could make better choices since I believe the power is in their hands,” she said.

An overwhelming majority thanked her for revealing this and slammed brands for pushing unrealistic standards. Many were offended by what brands do. "This is so not okay and I feel really violated for some reason?! why do they do this to us?!" wrote one person. Another model added, "Model who left her huge agency for this here 👋🏽 they also photoshop thin women to look larger in swimsuits bc they want no cellulite/rolls/stretch." Another commented, "Oh, of COURSE, they don't want to use an actual plus-size person 🙄 that's so shallow, especially the slim neck reason." 

You can follow Ronja Quinn (@coolquinn) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.

This article originally appeared two years ago.