A star of China’s hit TV series, Blossoms Shanghai, has called on fashion designers to produce more “normal size” clothes, bucking the skinny stereotype in show business.
Wang Ju, 31, complained that she could not fit into the dresses allocated to her for a fashion event.
In a video clip on Weibo on January 22, Wang revealed that she had tried on about seven ball gowns and could not zip most of them up, and those she managed to squeeze into were unbearably uncomfortable, Bailu Video reported.
“I could not fit into any of them. OK, I will accept this is my fate,” the star of the hit television series Blossoms Shanghai said.
“Logically, clothes are made to be worn by people. We have different body shapes, so that should be the priority when they are being designed. When you cannot fit into those beautiful dresses it’s like being gaslighted. It does not make sense,” she said.
Wang said it is not just a problem for her, but for many other actresses.
“I don’t think beauty comes in only one form. The existence of people of various body shapes means there are diverse forms of beauty,” Wang said.
“I hope designers will create more clothes targeting people who are normal sizes, instead of only catering for those with slender figures.”
Wang, a native of Shanghai, is a popular singer and actress, who is probably best known for her role in the television show Blossoms Shanghai.
Her comments trended on mainland social media, putting body shape stereotypes for women centre stage.
“What Wang Ju said is exactly what I think in my heart. Are fat people not entitled to wear beautiful clothes?” one online observer asked on Weibo.
“She is thinner than most ordinary people. If she cannot fit into those clothes, it’s really not her problem. Is every female star expected to weigh less than 40kg?” another person said.
Recently, another Chinese actress, Huang Yi, attracted public attention for tightly wrapping her waist in 10 layers of cling film so she could squeeze herself into a ball gown.
The day before Huang wore the dress for a fashion show, she wrote on Weibo that she could not fit into any of the dresses selected for her and anxiously sought online advice about how she could lose weight in 24 hours.