For the first time ever, mannequins that reflect a variety of real bodies are being featured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And when I say real, I mean they were directly designed from nine human models. While mannequins typically represent a women’s size 2, these new mannequins show a range of plus size, disabled, and even pregnant bodies. The organization that made them, Tilting the Lens, worked with The Met to create these mannequins for this year’s Met Gala exhibit, “Costume Art.” While I think 2026 is a little late for mannequins to finally represent real bodies, this collaboration is a huge jump forward for plus size and disabled representation. It also came at perfect timing for us at The Nest as we’re currently celebrating our first annual Plus Size May!
Now that we all have equitable representation of plus size bodies on our minds, I want to take a look at the history of plus size fashion. If you’re plus size and you shop vintage, you’ve probably noticed that there’s not a lot of vintage plus size clothing to be found. Despite the narrative that people used to just “be smaller,” plus size people have always existed…so what’s going on here? Where did they get their clothes, and what happened to them?
