It’s a debate that’s been raging over on plus size blogs, magazines and Facebook pages, and even though Wingz aren’t a plus size brand exclusively, we’re proud to have a fashion range that caters for women of all shapes and sizes. Most of our amazing reviews have come from plus size bloggers so we know that Wingz designs are appreciated by plus size ladies. That’s why we’re going to say our piece about the ‘Drop the Plus’ campaign.

Drop the Plus was started by Ajay Rochester, a former Biggest Loser winner from Australia. Her first  post on social media just said,

“I am a woman FULL STOP! We are all women and need to love ourselves in all shapes and sizes. We are not a number on a scale! Let’s support each other using #love and lift each other up! #droptheplus.”

Admirable sentiments – but is calling yourself plus size really about not loving yourself? Do women who shop the tall or petite ranges consider the labels an insult, or just a handy way of knowing whether the clothes they are looking at will fit them?

Is dropping a label that helps women find shops and online retailers that carry clothes in their size really reducing women to a number? Like it or not, numbers matter when you’re buying clothes.

Other bloggers have said this is more about modelling than ‘normal women’ – Ajay doesn’t want to be described as plus size anymore, and the other face of the campaign, plus size model Stefania Ferrario just wants to be a model. Fair enough, but that’s also pretty impractical. Like it or not, most mainstream fashion ranges use ‘standard’ size models, and for standard, read ‘thin’. It’s what the designers and retailers want.

If you’re a size 12 upwards, you won’t be considered for high fashion ranges, you’re a plussie. You’re not likely to get picked for a catwalk, unless a designer is trying to make a point, and I’m making no judgement on the rights and wrongs of that, because that’s been done to death. The fact is, plus size models ARE more in demand, but to model plus size clothes.

There’s a wider issue here too; is plus size really such a bad thing to be called? A lot of fashion and lifestyle bloggers have deliberately started using the word ‘fat’ in their writing because it’s just a description, like ‘tall’ or ‘freckled’ and they quite rightly don’t think it’s an insult. If fat is no longer an insult, why should plus-size be seen as anything other than a useful term that tells you whether you, or a model, will be able to wear clothes from a shop or designer?

As for the social media campaign – call me cynical but I think it’s more about giving Ajay Rochester some attention. With everything else that women have to worry about, is being described as plus size really worthy of all the fuss?