Why This Famous Woman Wants to Be Called Fat
At size 20, Beth Ditto has faced a lifelong struggle of finding stylish, quality clothes to fit her body. The singer, who is currently working on a new solo album, has been forced to seek out custom pieces for red carpets and photoshoots and admits to spending a lot of money shopping at Walmart. As a reaction to the lack of accessible plus-size clothing, Ditto created her own line, Beth Ditto, which just launched its spring collection. The collection includes 11 classic, bold pieces in sizes 14 to 28, ranging in price from $65 to $395, and is available for sale on BethDitto.com. We spoke with the singer about the inspiration behind the clothes and why she prefers the term “fat” to “plus size.”
Yahoo Style: What was the inspiration for doing a clothing line?
Beth Ditto: Need. I’ve wanted to do it for so long just out of need. The accessibility just wasn’t there—walking into a store and finding what you needed or what you wanted in the moment. What we’re doing is of a different quality and a completely different approach and process. There’s nothing like it. Obviously there’s a lot of different places to shop, but there’s nothing that’s going to stand the test of time and is made in America and is something you can wear for whatever it is you’re doing that day. It’s not based on a trend. That doesn’t really exist for us. And I had a long period of non-activity with The Gossip not being on tour and having the time to do this. You can’t just stand around forever and hope people will make the clothes of your dreams.
How did you determine the best range of sizes for the pieces?
I started with what was easy and accessible to find in other sizes. We wanted to go higher rather than lower. Size 12 is easier to find than a 14 or 16, and up and up the harder it gets. I’m a 20 or 22—sometimes an 18—and I often find that those are harder to find. And there’s so many people in my size. So we tried to focus on the sizes that were harder to get and not as accessible. We wanted to go as big as we possibly could do and afford.
How many times in your career have you been in a situation at a photoshoot or a fitting where nothing fit you?
Oh, many times. I can’t even tell you how many times. And you’re also talking awards shows, appearances. Everything has to be specially made. When I see this jumpsuit we’ve made, when I look at that, I’m like, “If that was around before, so many times that would have saved my ass!” I would have worn that so much that it would have paid for itself. It’s so discouraging because there just isn’t anything like that. I would imagine that happens for so many other women. I can only imagine what Monique went through to go to the Oscars. And of course the designer will make something for you but even that feels difficult. What if it was just already there and you could shop for it? When we get ready to go to fashion week designers will see and send you pieces and they want you to be there and you genuinely know that, but you don’t have this ease of just slipping into a dress, throwing on shoes and going. That doesn’t happen for us. There’s always this scramble and you have to be resourceful. There’s a lot of tee-shirts involved. It pushes you to be creative, but sometimes you just want to put something on that you can trust looks amazing and is interesting and go out the door. Sometimes I don’t want to have to sew!
What sort of woman is this collection targeted to?
I think it’s for anybody. There’s a lot of black because I feel like everyone loves black no matter what. There’s a lot of bold prints, but for every piece that there’s a bold print there’s two solid colors too, including black or gray. So there’s always an option for someone who isn’t up for wearing something crazy and colorful. So I didn’t have one person in mind at all. And we tried to make it as inexpensive and accessible as possible with what we had to do. It’s all made in America. It’s all made with incredible fabrics. It’s the best we could do with what we were working with in terms of price. So it embraces a lot of different aesthetics and is for people who care about where things were made and can invest in it to care.
Did you learn a lot during this process?
Oh my God. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about factories. I learned a lot about what goes in to putting a line together. You struggle with your conscience. You struggle with deadlines. It’s so crazy. There’s so much going in to it. I have a really good business partner and we both really learned a lot. Even different terms, like, “Oh, that’s what that’s called!” But it’s a fun thing to learn about.
Do you plan to continue the line beyond this collection?
Absolutely. There’s a term—which I did not learn—for when you introduce pieces between seasons and we’ll be doing that. So people will see a couple new pieces soon. And we’re working on winter clothes right now. It’s definitely going to be ongoing and we’re going to keep doing it as long as we can.
How do you feel about the term “plus size” in fashion?
I don’t care! I don’t really use any words other than “fat” or “big” so I don’t get caught up on the terminology. I don’t let it define me. And it might be because at this point I’m 35 and I’m old-school. Maybe it’s a thing I’m not catching on to because it’s grown and it’s progressed. But just don’t call it “encore” or things like that. When people try to sweep it under the rug and not call it what it is bothers me more than anything else. I get that right now, because we’re in this time of flux, why does it have to be this special thing? Why do we have to be marginalized? We’re all one body. We all have bodies and they’re all just as valid. We’re not some extension of normal. But also it’s just another thing to get caught up on and I’m going to keep my eye on the prize. I still prefer the word “fat.” I think it’s the coolest, most empowering word. And “plus size” isn’t the worst thing that I’ve been called!
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