If you’re a plus-size lady shopping for the latest fashion trends, there’s nothing worse than retailers feeling the need to remind you of the fact that you’re a couple of sizes bigger than the models in Victoria’s Secret fashion show.
So when e-commerce app Wish suggests clothing items such as ‘Fat Lady Printing Slim A-line Dress’ or ‘Fat Lady Knee Length Elegant Floral Dress’, it makes sense to be offended.
But as anyone who spends more than three seconds on the site will realise, it’s not just one or two items labelled as ‘fat lady’. No, the ‘fat lady’ label extends to cover dozens of search results, somehow even including accessories like necklaces.
The platform offers cheap prices on clothing and accessories by putting consumers directly into contact with “Chinese manufacturers,” according to a Recode interview with Wish CEO Peter Szulczewski, so perhaps the repeated use of the ‘fat lady’ phrase can be blamed on translation errors.
But with 50+ employees in the San Francisco head office, it’s a bit of an embarrassing oversight.
Really? #Fat #Lady in description? Coulda said #PlusSize or #GoddessSize! #Wish #ShameOnYou #ImNotFat #NoMoreOrders pic.twitter.com/bnfMA9tpR2
— ♥Fefi Lockheart♥ (@Fefi428) February 12, 2016
@WishShopping really wish, fat lady listings?! Despicable. pic.twitter.com/WEbSB1Bp5t
— Jaunna (@Jaunna) March 4, 2016
@Fefi428 Should we refer skinny people as “Anorexia Lady” ?
— Cynthia M Giles (@CynthiaMGiles1) March 10, 2016
It comes in a tumultuous time for the plus-size model, from praising brands who embrace it to putting a glamorous plus-size model on the cover of Sports Illustrated, to listening to old past-their-prime models whinge about the plus-size trend sweeping the world.
Hell, even Barbie has had a makeover to embrace ‘fat lady’ style.
