In the real world, models are in a minuscule minority. This thought became the seed of a successful business venture after Nisha Somaia, 29, realised she couldn’t get an Aishwarya Rai waist in this lifetime. But it didn’t take her long to figure out that she was in a majority that was being ignored by fashion designers and big apparel brands. That’s how Revolution, a fashion store targeting “real women” (American designer Donna Karan’s coinage), came into existence in 2001.
Three years on, Nisha has lots of company. From the new kid on the block, Just My Size, to labels like Mustard and Westside’s Gia, there are six lines (including those created by Mumbai designers Narendra Kumar Ahmed and Anita Dongre) telling real women that they don’t have to look dowdy just because they’re married and have two growing children. As Somaia, who caters to waist sizes up to 44 inches, puts it: “I love Nina Manuel, she’s great, but then, how many women have a 25-inch waist?”
Real women don’t have to wrap themselves up in saris, or wear loose-fitting salwar-kameez suits, to mask their problem areas. They can look great even in western clothes. Dongre has some suggestions. For starters, she never puts horizontal stripes on the bust or the midriff; her tops have hemlines that end above or below the hip, and open necklines, as in V-necks and vertical cowl necks; her skirts and dresses fall just above or right below the fullest part of the calf; and she uses a lot of stretch fabric because of its slimming effect. Adds Ahmed: “The A-shaped silhouette is best for large women.
So is the H-shaped silhouette with a slight flair on the hem.”
For real men, too, buying clothes can be a painful experience. Which is why Chandan Widhani and Gurvinder Singh opened Just My Size, where waist sizes go up to 54 inches, to cater to men buying clothes from plus-size stores like High and Mighty in Britain and Nautica in the US. “Our surveys show that the problem area for men is the belly, so it’s impossible for them to get the right fits,” says Widhani. “And in North India, 40 per cent of the men don’t fit into regular sizes.”
Somaia is often accused of promoting obesity. But she has a convincing answer: “I’m just helping real people look and feel good.” The suffering majority will tend to agree.
