Body positivity has been trending for a while now, with more and more images of different body types promoting the clothes we buy. But whether you’re shopping on the boulevard or scrolling online, the last time you saw an ad for menswear on someone who didn’t have a gym-polished physique was when?
On TikTok, a small group of plus-size influencers are trying to make menswear more inclusive. They’re using the platform to ask for different size options, shattering even the idea of what menswear is.
“There’s been an eye-opening moment in the plus-size womenswear fashion world…we should be more open. No matter what your body looks like, be more creative with your clothes,” says Nikhil. Kapoor said: Plus-size influencers.
“But it hasn’t changed to the point where men’s clothing is also included.”
Kapoor is a law and science graduate student at Northwestern Law School in the United States. In between classes, he’s also the creator of an apparel line called “PoshHeat,” accompanied by his TikTok account with over 226,000 followers.
The aim of both is to “represent plus-size menswear and plus-size clothing in general” and to provide examples of how people can be creative with fashion and avoid limited choices.
Many of Kapoor’s videos focus on recreating the looks of skinny people he sees in advertisements.
On one of their TikToks, “Pinters of plus size men’s fashion**Inspo Kapoor first showed the audience an image of the model on Pinterest, then recreated it in his apartment.
In some, he films himself while shopping and takes the audience into the store. He also creates costumes for specific events, such as school orientations, night outs, and fancy dinners.
But in almost all of his videos, there’s a general idea that he and the viewer can wear cute clothes that bring joy, regardless of what’s easy to find in stores.
“[Menswear in stores usually go] Extra, up to extra large. If you’re looking for something more than that, 3X, 4X, 5X, you don’t have a lot of options, so at that point it’s kind of jaded,” Kapoor told his Euronews Culture.
He also added that the plus-size section of menswear has limited “cute” options.
Instead, when I shop in person, I usually go straight to the women’s plus size section and the “especially sale section.”
“It’s virtually impossible to buy your own clothes. If you want the usual essentials of clothing, you’re forced to go to the plus-size women’s clothing section.”
He claims to have purchased about 90% of the clothes in his closet from the women’s clothing section.
According to a report by Allied Market Research, the plus-size fashion market is growing, with experts forecasting it to surge from around €461 billion in 2019 to €669 billion in 2027.
But according to Jacqueline Windsor, a retail fashion industry expert at PwC, the womenswear market for plus-size fashion is larger than the menswear market.
Because the womenswear market is generally larger than the menswear market, it’s not just a “plus-size phenomenon.”
“Womenswear has a larger share than menswear in the overall apparel market,” she said.
“I think the same can be said for plus sizes, but there are several reasons for that. For example, women tend to make more purchases per year than men.
“So it’s never going to be equally represented on the high street. But having said that, I think the men’s market is underserved.”
As a result of that imbalance, there aren’t many options in the menswear section for people like Kapoor.
And he’s not the only one using TikTok to talk about this or try to make menswear more inclusive.
Like Kapoor, Mina Gerges is a Canadian influencer who focuses the majority of his content on plus-size activism and fashion.
“Shopping for plus-size men is always a very difficult task because when you walk into a mall, there are very few sizes available for larger men, and the sizes available are usually plain t-shirts. Everything is clear,” Gerges told Euronews Culture.
“And if you’re like me, wanting to try new things and like dressing a little spicy, you’re kind of left in the dark.”
Goerges has been talking about plus-size fashion for nearly a decade. While in school in 2015, she posted a series of photos on Instagram that recreated her pop diva looks.
Since then, he has become the first plus-sized pit crew member of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The show had a pit crew helping out with skits, usually models on set topless.
“One of the most meaningful moments of my career was [Canada’s Drag Race],” He said.
“I always remember walking into the audition room and being surrounded by 30 other guys. They were all really skinny and much more muscular than I was… different from everyone else.” I was the only one who had a body type.And I think.At that moment, it popped into my head.
“I think we have a very limited idea of what it means to be confident in your body as men. can not.
“And I think it’s a very damaging idea. And I’ve worked hard to redefine it…I love my body.I feel confident in it.” And you don’t need a six pack to feel that confidence.”
Gerges also talks about plus-size menswear on TikTok. In some of his videos he recreates his outfits and clothes that he finds cute that he can’t find in his size.
In one of his recent videos, he recreated Kim Kardashian’s famous Balenciaga caution tape look with a corset and average caution tape.
In another, he reproduced trousers printed with images of Greek statues and painted similar images on white trousers.
Others style their own plus-size clothes that they make themselves.
“TikTok and Instagram have completely different types of communities. TikTok has a huge amount of people on TikTok who are just like you trying to figure things out, want to feel confident, and are looking to you for advice. I have found that there is a great community.
“The Instagram community is very different. On Instagram, I’m pretty much bragging about what I do.”
Also, like Kapoor, we shop in both menswear and womenswear sections.
“My advice to people who want to shop in the menswear section but can’t find clothes that fit them is to broaden their thinking about clothes and what menswear is.”
“I feel like I’ve learned that clothes are just fabric. It doesn’t matter if you buy in the menswear section or the womenswear section.”
Windsor says this flexibility is beginning to be reflected across the clothing market. Many younger generations are also shopping across gender lines in stores, blurring the notion of what is menswear and what is not womenswear.
“I think it’s a little bit more fluid in how people perceive their identity and how they dress, especially with millennials, Generation Z, and Generation Alpha,” Windsor said. .
“I was talking to a high-end fashion menswear aggregator, and they found that 20% of the consumer base is women who buy their own menswear.”
