Lifestyle3 min(s) read
Published 17:01 01 Feb 2022 GMT
A model is exposing one of the fashion industry's dirty secrets.
Karoline - who goes by @coolquinn on TikTok - is using the platform to open up about her modeling journey.
One of the worst things she's had to do as a model? Pose in 5XL clothing - with the aid of a fat suit. Karoline spilled the beans in a video posted to her TikTok in November.
"I'm going to reveal a secret from the modeling industry today," she begins.
"I'm a plus-size model which means that I sometimes work for plus-size brands," she claimed, before explaining this most of these brands will carry sizes "XL-5XL" or "size 44 and up."
Chemistry student Karoline has a much more petite build which she comments on by saying: "If you have eyes you can see that I am not that size."
"So how do we fix this? Well, I have to bring something called padding to work. It's basically fat suit in pieces," she explains, adding "So you just stuff it, which makes you look a lot bigger."
Karoline goes on to describe how if the fat suit doesn't do the trick, models will just pin the clothes tighter, saying: "if that isn't enough then you just pin everything in the back. So if the clothes look really good from the front, it probably looks like s** from the back."
"It's because they want the neck and the face to look really slim and sharp which doesn't just create unrealistic standards but impossible ones," she explains.
Karoline concludes the video by suggesting that brands and companies should just use actual plus-size models instead of putting ones who aren't really plus-sized in fat suits.
"Just use real plus-size women because there are so many gorgeous plus-size women out there," she says.
The clip has racked up a whopping 784,800 views and hundreds of comments from users horrified by Karoline's revelation.
"The model industry really hate plus-sized models," one person wrote.
"I always wondered why the “plus-size” models had no double chin when I’m midsize and have one & now it all makes sense!!" added another.
Meanwhile, some users hit out at Karoline for taking jobs that she knew were ethically in the wrong.
"Don’t take the jobs if you think it’s ethically wrong. You’re contributing to the issue by taking the job," wrote one viewer.
Karoline responded in the comments, saying that she no longer takes on this kind of work.
"I did a couple of these many years ago when I just got signed with an agency in NY, and had a contract obligation but I refuse to do them now," she replied.
