“Ghostbusters” star, Leslie Jones, kicked up a stir recently when she tweeted, “It’s so funny how there are no designers wanting to help me with a premiere dress for movie.”
Stylists were quick to respond to the actress, blaming her for not reaching out to designers soon enough. Celebrity stylist Jessica Paster said, “She should have known four to five months ago the date of the premiere and said, ‘I’m not a sample size, I need to go to designers early or buy myself a dress.’”
Another stylist, Jeanne Yang, whose clients include George Clooney, Evangeline Lilly and Robert Downey Jr., did make a fair point regarding the situation, “People have this belief that showrooms and designers have racks and racks of clothing in all sizes. They Don’t.” While it is true that couture and even ready-to-wear red carpet dresses are costly to make on an individual basis, this does not mean that Jones, who is not the standard sample size 4, is at fault here.
One writer stated, “Stylists I talked to estimated that the 6-foot stunner is probably not a sample size, meaning a runway model size 4, but rather a size 8 or 10, and that could be part of her frustration but not because of any size bias.”
The stylists who are so quick to criticize Leslie Jones refuse to admit that the fashion industry is being discriminatory for forcing an actress who is not sample size to work harder and possibly even pay more for a dress than she would if she were, in fact, size 4.
The argument here seems to be that Jones, whose patronage would act as a form of advertisement for a designer, must change. This seems to be more than a little bit backwards. After all, it is much easier for a designer to create a new gown, no matter the cost, than it would be for Leslie Jones to change the way her body is fundamentally made. By refusing to cater to Jones, designers are sending the message that anyone who is not sample size is not worth their time.
It is ridiculous to pretend that this is not a form of discrimination. Sample size is an arbitrary number. Fashion models do not represent the real population in any form, so why are stylists and designers acting as if Leslie Jones is asking them for some kind of miracle?
Jones is by no means impossible to dress, and designers are only hurting themselves by refusing her business. While it may not always be economically feasible to make a custom dress for every client, refusing to serve a potential client is also a bad business decision. Thankfully for Leslie Jones, Christian Siriano is obviously aware of this.
The designer responded to Jones’ original tweet with an offer to create her a dress to wear to her premiere. Siriano has a history of dressing stars who aren’t sample size, stating, “I love Leslie and I’m a huge fan of her work…I can’t wait to create something special for her to wear. Hopefully I will see her in my studio this week to make her something new and exciting for her to wear. I support all women no matter age or size!”
Thanks to Siriano, Leslie Jones will surely look amazing at her “Ghostbusters” premiere on July 9.
