E! host, Nina Parker, opened up in a tweet, revealing that she had to have her Oscars gown custom-made for her due to the lack of plus-size options among popular, luxury brands that we often see on the red carpet.
Twitter | @MzGossipGirl
E! Host Nina Parker Had To Make Her Own Oscars Dress Thanks To Lack Of Plus-Size Options
The Oscars was, as per usual, a glamorous event filled with celebs rocking their best looks on the red carpet.
But there was one red carpet look that sticks out from the rest, but for a reason you may have not expected.
E! host, Nina Parker's gown was particularly noteworthy because of what it represented.
YouTube | VH1 Love & Hip Hop
Nina revealed in a tweet on the day of the Oscars that she had to have her dress custom made because of the lack of plus-size options available.
Obviously, this was much more than just an isolated incident. High end designers have been catering to smaller sizes for as long as most of us can remember.
YouTube | AM to DM
Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for anyone larger than a size 6 to get their hands on designer gowns.
A milestone in any celebrity's career is having a top-shelf designer dress them for an event.
But if that celebrity can't fit into the designer's sample size, then they're out of luck.
Take Bebe Rexha, for example!
Instagram | @beberexha
Bebe, who is a size eight, was turned down by designers, prior to last year's Grammys, who refuse to style anyone that isn't "runway size".
But she clapped back at the designers who overlooked her — throwing some serious shade at them in an Instagram video.
Instagram | @beberexha
She explained in the video that this year's Grammy's were a big deal for her because she received her first-ever nomination. But not being able to find a dress was ruining the experience for her.
"If size six-eight is too big, then I don't know what to tell you," she said. "I don't want to wear your [expletive] dresses."
Instagram | @beberexha
"You're saying that all the women in the world that are size eight and up are not beautiful and they cannot wear your dresses," she continued.
"So all the people that said I'm too thick and I can't wear your dresses, [expletive] you, I don't wanna wear your [expletive] dresses".
When questioned about the controversy by Teen Vogue, Bebe fired back again, saying:
“Yo, you wish you could’ve dressed my fat [expletive]."
Evidently, body-inclusivity amongst luxury designers still hasn't become a pressing issue, since Nina Parker couldn't find a dress for the Oscars.
"I've been doing award season a few years now, and I think a lot of people don't know that there are a lot of stylists who don't even know how to style a plus-size woman," she told Buzzfeed.
"You can be a fashionable stylist and be completely ignorant about the plus-size community and not know where to shop."
"That takes a little bit of vetting and conversations just to find someone who knows where to go and how to fit you," she said.
"[Stylist Ashley Loewen] and I found Melissa Mercedes, who's fabulous and was doing my outfits every award season."
YouTube | BUILD Series
"But, obviously, you want to have some type of variety," she explained.
"A lot of times people will say, 'Oh, well there's plus options available.' Most of them aren't completely flattering and then the ones that are available, you still want to have something custom."
YouTube | BUILD Series
"You want to get a photographer to take pictures of you and end up on best-dressed lists."
"To get them to dress you is almost impossible unless you're damn near A list," she said.
YouTube | BUILD Series
"So that was also an issue, because we reached out to those people. We heard back from a few people and then they kind of just disappeared and we didn't really hear back in a timely manner.
"We reached out and never heard back, so it was just kind of like, 'Okay, are we going to sit here and be frustrated? Are we going to do something about it?'"
YouTube | BUILD Series
"We decided to kind of break off and do our own thing, and my stylist found a dressmaker who could basically just make our idea come to life," she continued. "I think that one of the biggest problems is that people who are making these plus-size clothes are not plus size."
"It's always been a dream of mine to have a fashion line, and I definitely want to work on that."
"I want people to just stay tuned and stay on board with me because my hope, obviously, is for that to happen one day," she concluded.
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