For two and a half years, Amanda Czerniawski was a
sociologist turned plus-size model. Journeying into a world where, as a size
10, she was not considered an average body type, but rather, for the fashion
industry, “plus-sized,” Czerniawski studied the standards of work and image
production in the plus-sized model industry.
Fashioning Fat takes us through a model’s day-to-day activities,
first at open calls at modeling agencies and then through the fashion shows and
photo shoots. Czerniawski also interviewed 35 plus-size models about their
lives in the world of fashion, bringing to life the strange contradictions of
being an object of non-idealized beauty.



Fashioning Fat shows
us that the mission of many of these models is to challenge our standards of
beauty that privilege the thin body; they show us that fat can be sexy. Many plus-size
models do often succeed in overcoming years of self-loathing and shame over
their bodies, yet, as Czerniawski shows, these women are not the ones in charge
of beauty’s construction or dissemination. At the corporate level, the fashion
industry perpetuates their objectification. Plus-size models must conform to an
image created by fashion’s tastemakers, as their bodies must fit within
narrowly defined parameters of size and shape—an experience not too different
from that of straight-sized models. Ultimately, plus-size models find that they
are still molding their bodies to fit an image instead of molding an image of
beauty to fit their bodies. A much-needed behind-the-scenes look at this
growing industry, Fashioning Fat is a
fascinating, unique, and important contribution to our understanding of beauty.

"Fashioning Fatis one woman's courageous attempt to redefine beauty. It is a readable indictment of the American Fashion Industry. It is very well-argued and beautifully written." - TheWashingtonBookReview.com

"[]Fashioning Fatis absolutely worth reading." - XOVain.com

"[H]er book is...honest, thoughtful and insightful." - Pacific Standard

"Sociology professor Czerniawski goes undercover as a plus-size model in this expose to find out the truth: is it empowering or exploitative to strut ones size-14 (and up) self in front of the fashion industrys cameras? The answer is as complicated and obscure as our relationship to food and our weight, since, as the author states, & Frankly, fat means different things to different people. [] The books personal asides and insider information are enlightening." - Publishers Weekly

"Fashioning Fatis a well-written and thoughtful book that offers an interesting contribution to feminist understandings of the body. Czerniawskis narrative writing style is engaging and accessible, making this book well suited for both undergraduate and graduate syllabi. It will be a valuable resource for scholars of gender, work, embodiment, sociology of culture, and the emerging field of fat studies." - Gender & Society

"We need, she suggests, not models of different size and shape, but a more fundamental questioning of the fashion industry itself and its current domination of our conceptions of beauty, especially the beauty of women." - First Things'

"Fashioning Fatis an engaging, well-researched book which provides a much-needed critique of the limitations of a politics of visibility." - Cultural Sociology

"Fashioning Fat is a notable work that gives readers an inside look at the plus-size modeling industry. The author succeeds at giving the plus-size model a voice and offers some fashion alternatives." - American Journal of Sociology