Imagine entering a store to look for your size and realizing that only one size, size small, can shop there. That's the reality created at Brandy Melville — a teen clothing retailer — otherwise known as the hottest teen clothing retailer in the USA. Yep. You read that right.
A store full of clothes made for one body type: thin.
And as if that's not bad enough, it's one of the brands with the fastest-growing popularity among teen girls. WHAT THE WHAT?
A quick flip through Brandy Melville’s Instagram account tells pretty quickly that the Brandy Melville girl is young, thin, white and long-legged. I CANNOT EVEN. But, you know, aside from that... this is a brand THAT ONLY SELLS ONE SIZE. ONE FUCKING SIZE.
I’ve been on the verge of an absolute rage blackout since learning about this one-size bullshit for a number of reasons… the least of which being that this is what makes me hate the fashion industry. This makes me hate society. It makes me want to lock my son up and never let him experience the ridiculously unrealistic ideals that hurt the young men and women in our society.
It’s brands like this that are the reason why I spent the better part of the last 15 years thinking about what size jeans I wore and how many calories went into my body.
Did you know that approximately 1.5% of Canadian women is living with an eating disorder? Did you know that the onset of disordered eating (which I still totally live with every day) and strict dieting usually sparks at age 14-15. Isn’t it a fun coincidence that this is the target market for a brand like Brandy Melville.
In an interview earlier this year, Jessy Longo — an executive at Brandy Melville — told USA Today that if customers can’t fit into the clothing, they can still buy an accessory.
"We can satisfy almost everybody, but not every body," Longo said. "The one-size-fits-most clothing might turn off somebody if they don't walk into the store, but if you walk in you'll find something even if it's a bag."
Even if it's a bag. How cute. Excuse me while I bang my head on a wall. "It's OK you're not a size 0. Just buy a bag, and you can be fat but well-accessorized." PLEASE.
*RAGEBLACKOUT*
When I was a teen, the it-clothes were the ones that cost the most. The ones we begged our parents for and saved our allowance so we could buy just one thing for the new year. With Brandy Melville, you don’t need a lot of money – just a real low total body fat percentage. I’m so disgusted I could cry.
Of course, this isn’t the first brand to promote thin as the ideal body type (though it is the first I’ve heard of to offer only one size). Lululemon’s sizes range from 0 – 12. Abercrombie and Fitch essentially says fat women shouldn’t wear their clothes. With approximately 50 per cent of teenage girls already skipping meals to try to fit into this unrealistic ideal, this all seems nothing shy of reckless. And it's fucking disgusting. I keep hoping our society will get its shit together, but I keep being disappointed.
I’m sad that this post gives a brand like Brandy Melville any more publicity, but I hope that you will join me in inviting them to fuckRIGHToff for their blatant disregard for the hundreds of thousands of young women (and men) who are harming themselves to try to fit into a pair of $30 pants that only come in size 2.
Don’t wear a size 0-2? That’s great! You may love this awesome company that believes beautiful bodies come in all shapes and sizes. Let's celebrate the oodles of different shapes, sizes, colours, abilities, and every other minute detail that makes one body different from the next with campaigns like this one, too. XO.
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