“Suspenders are the best option. I mean, they only look good on fat people, honestly. And they really change your relationship with your body.
Like, what you’re feeling at any given time, or taught to ignore: ignore the pain, make yourself small. So, even if it seems like a tiny gesture towards my body, my suspenders have helped reclaim that which the world takes and takes and takes from me.”
A grid of six images. Top row from left to right: An extreme close-up photo of Aisha’s outfit, with metallic gold and black fabric filling the bottom-right of the frame on a diagonal. Photograph by Mindy Stricke. An extreme close-up photo of Alexei’s outfit, with multicoloured flowers printed on a black background, cascading down the right side of the frame. Photograph by Calla Evans. An extreme close-up photo of Anshuman’s brown skin. The bright orange of their suspenders is out of focus on the left third of the image, and almost looks like it could be a light leak on a film photo. The angled crease of what might be their elbow fills most of the frame. Photograph by Mindy Stricke.
Bottom row from left to right: An extreme close-up photo of Dee’s outfit, mostly layers of black with a little bit of patterned black, white, and brown fabric (leopard print) visible in the foreground. An extreme close-up photo of Dori’s bright yellow jacket, with the blue, black, and white lining visible on the inside. An extreme close-up photo of Jade’s blue denim, with only the small tear in it in-focus in the foreground. All photographs by Mindy Stricke.
“Most of my life has been about being different. So much so that I’m into it now… I’ve comfortably built a life on the margins. It’s cool.
But every now and again, it actually feels pretty great to be like everybody else. Like—I could just buy a dress.”
“I recently bought a pair of loose fitted mom jeans from American Eagle and have never felt more at home. I can make a feminine or butchey outfit with them and they give me the vintage feels I had only dreamed of exuding.”
A grid of six images. Top row from left to right: An extreme close-up photo of Joshna’s patterned dress, with flecks of pink, green, teal, and black. An extreme close-up photo of Noel’s outfit, with green fabric on top and orange fabric on the bottom. An extreme close-up photo of the red embroidery on the chest of Peter’s tunic. The texture of the threads can be seen in the detailed curving lines. All photographs by Mindy Stricke.
Bottom row from left to right: An extreme close-up photo of Pree’s outfit, the seam of their satiny white jacket. Both sides of one of the jacket’s buttons are visible, brown on the inside and white on the outside. Photograph by Mindy Stricke. An extreme close-up photo of the sequins on Sookie’s outfit. Individual sequins are in focus in the foreground, and a warm-toned reflection can be seen on their skin in the out-of-focus background. Photo by Calla Evans. An extreme close-up photo of the raw edge hem of Tyler’s cropped beige hoodie, which appears to be floating around their skin. Their skin is visible beneath it. Photo by Mindy Stricke.
“If I couldn’t speak and had to tell people who I was, the closest garment that would express who I was would be this garment. People can look in and see—yeah, he’s a big guy, he’s definitely influenced by Asian culture, maybe he likes martial arts.
And he has a fire—there’s a huge dragon in the back, right? So he may be Asian and—I know the stereotype of Asian is some kind of dude who is more polite—but there’s definitely fire in me, right?”
“I feel like a crop top is the most femme-y bro thing that I know to exist.”
A grid of six images. Top row from left to right: A photo of Aisha’s sparkly silver jumpsuit hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. A photo of Alexei’s floral and striped shirt hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. A photo of Anshuman’s leopard-print pants and bright orange suspenders, hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. All photographs by Calla Evans.
Bottom row from left to right: A photo of Dee’s leopard print jacket over her black dress, hanging together from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. A photo of Dori’s joyous yellow jacket, hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The solid teal lining of the jacket can be seen now, which wasn’t visible in the portrait of Dori wearing it. The background is white. A photo of Jade’s faded blue jeans, with the hems cuffed and slight tearing underneath the front pockets, hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. All photographs by Calla Evans.
It started with a dream of me walking through a field in yellow... I have named it my Dominique suit from Diahann Carroll's character from the 1980s show Dynasty. It best expresses my personality and growing confidence in my body…
There is a part of my brain that when I got into the role of Dean decided that I wanted to undermine that idea of having to appear very masculine in order to lead. So I wear make-up everyday and dress more femme than I did three years ago.”
“When I first saw it, I was like ‘I’m not wearing this. This is too much for me.’ I tried it on and I did a little twirl.
When you’re wearing a jumpsuit, there’s nothing that you can hide. You’re putting it all out there. But I felt beautiful. I felt empowered.”
A grid of six images. Top row from left to right: A photo of Joshna’s multi-coloured, multi-patterned dress hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. A photo of Noel’s red board shorts with white sea creatures on them, clipped to a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. A photo of Peter’s black and red tunic hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. All photographs by Calla Evans.
Bottom row from left to right: A photo of Pree’s long, satiny white jacket. The sleeves are tucked into the front pockets, and a green Adidas tag is visible at the collar. It is zipped up, hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. A photo of Sookie’s sequined jumper hanging from a white clothes hanger. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. A photo of Tyler’s cropped beige hoodie hanging from a wooden clothes hanger. The arms of the hoodie are attached to the drop shoulder with laces. The hanger is attached to clear fishing wire beneath a silver metal rod, so it appears to be levitating in midair. The background is white. All photographs by Calla Evans.
“It’s like a journey with the swim trunks. I think that’s why I like them so much, because they can bring up pain, historically, but then more recently, it’s so awesome and free and epic… It’s almost like I finally got to that point where it’s not a battle, and I feel OK on the beach.”
“Which version of myself do I want to go with?
Or how do I not get hate-crimed?”
A grid of six images. Top row from left to right: A photo of Aisha, a cisgender, Black, queer, mid-fat woman. She is wearing a sparkly silver jumpsuit with her hands in her pockets, looking at the camera and smiling. A blank space is where the portrait of Alexei would appear as they were not able to attend an in-person portrait session. A photo of Anshuman, a small fat South Asian person wearing leopard-print pants held up by bright orange suspenders. They are holding their belly and looking confidently straight at the camera, with their lips slightly pursed below their mustache. They have large tattoos, a nipple ring, and are wearing wire-framed glasses. They are bald, with a single pearl earring visible in their left earlobe. All photographs by Calla Evans.
Bottom row from left to right: A photo of Dee, a white woman wearing a leopard print jacket over a fitted black dress. She is standing with her hands on her hips, looking to the left of the frame and smiling. Dee has voluminous blonde hair. A photo of Dori, an African American woman wearing a joyous yellow jacket with dramatic cape-like sleeves, and a teal, black, and white patterned lining that continues down the front of the jacket. It is a yellow silk and Ghanian wax print suit made by Hoax Couture. The jacket is single-button with quadruple-sized shoulder pads. It has kimono sleeves with the vintage Ghanian wax print lining, which is an homage to African liberation. Dori’s right hand is on her hip, and she is looking down and to her left. She is wearing a bold necklace, bracelet, and earrings, and berry-coloured lipstick. She has short curly hair. A photo of Jade, a mixed/black (half white), pansexual, middle range thicc, non-binary femme person. They are wearing a deep red velvet tank top tucked into high-waisted jeans with a black belt. Their hands are in their pockets, and you can see their metallic manicure on their thumb nails. The tattoo on their chest says “this thing upon me howls like a beast” in black text. They are wearing hoop earrings and black eyeliner, looking at the camera with a straight expression. They have short curly hair with an undercut. All photographs by Calla Evans.
“You put yourself in this dress, and it goes on you and it magically fits like a glove.
It fits you in all the right places that you want it to and it doesn’t compensate… it’s really just like a superpower dress.”
“If I’m going to be stared at anyway, I may as well take control of the narrative around that… I’m just making a visual sartorial feast for my people.”
A grid of six images. Top row from left to right: A photo of Joshna, a racialized fat woman wearing a patterned tunic-style dress. The top and bottom of the dress have a green floral pattern on a black background, and a wide horizontal stripe across the middle has an abstract pattern that almost looks like confetti, with flecks of pink, green, and black. Joshna has a closed mouth smile and her eyes are closed, looking content. She has straight, shoulder-length brunette hair. A photo of Noel, a white, gay, genderqueer person, who is thick and athletic. They are wearing a black tank top and red board shorts with white sea creatures on them. They have a sleeve of tattoos on their left arm. They are standing with their hands on their hips, looking straight at the camera and smiling. They have short grey hair and are wearing thick black glasses. A photo of Peter, a fat Southeast Asian man wearing a black, soft-looking tunic The cuffs of the tunic have a satin-y red band, and on the chest there are two red embroidered dragons surrounding a black geometric shape, all encompassed in a circle of red embroidery. Peter has short black hair, and is looking directly at the camera with a straight expression. He has a relaxed posture, with his hands in his pockets. All photographs by Calla Evans.
Bottom row from left to right: A photo of Pree, a brown, trans, fat, crip, non-binary, gender non-conforming person. They are wearing a long, sweeping, satiny white jacket over a black top and black pants. Their hands are in their pockets, and they are looking directly at the camera with a straight expression. They are wearing round wire-framed glasses, and their hair is short and dyed red, with their dark-haired undercut visible underneath. A photo of Sookie, a queer, white settler, mid-sized fat, invisibly disabled, non-binary femme woman wearing a sequined, multicoloured, deep-v-neck jumper with black pants. One hand is on their hip, and they are looking at the camera with a big smile, eyes squinting with happiness. They have short hair with a side shave, and are wearing thick multicoloured glasses and a gold necklace with a pendant of what appears to be a golden animal or bird skull. A photo of Tyler, a non-binary, Two-Spirit, fat, gay, anxiety-ridden, lower class artist with mixed ancestry: Anishnabwe, Chinese, Irish. They are wearing a cropped beige hoodie and faded black denim. They have the thumb of one hand hooked in their jeans pocket, and one hand raised above their head. Their hood is up, and the hoodie is pulled up so that their whole stomach and one side of their chest is visible. They are looking straight at the camera with a slight smile. They have a bit of facial stubble, and a bit of their blue-green hair is visible under their hood. All photographs by Calla Evans.