I thought it was just a conversation about dart preferences, but I might have actually stumbled upon another insidious instance of fatphobia in the fashion industry.
Personally, I like the look of darts. They look structured and polished and give designs somewhat of a vintage aesthetic which I like.
I also love darts as a patternmaker. Darts in a design allow me to get a better fit across all sizes. They are one of the ways I can shape flat fabric around curvy, three-dimensional bodies.
Not all designers like darts, though. I’ve heard that they look cluttered, that they can take away from a minimalist look, and that they look matronly. Every designer has their preferences and that’s fine.
However, in a recent conversation, it hit me that the dislike of darts might be stemming from something deeper. The dislike of darts might consciously or subconsciously come from a dislike of fat bodies. Hear me out.
You can more easily get away with no darts when fitting skinny, small chested women, but darts (or more seamlines) are necessary to fit larger or fuller-busted women well. Because of this, darts might be associated with larger sizes in some designers’ minds. If they have a bias against fat bodies, that comes out in their design preferences as a bias against any details that remind them of plus size clothing – including darts. That is not fine.
I hope this is not the case, but I think it might be for some brands and some designers. Instead of idealizing certain sizes and discriminating against others, I wish the industry would idealize good fit and whatever design details it takes to make that happen.