Helping Plus-Size Brides Feel ‘Seen and Heard'

New York Times

19-07-2025

As a plus-size woman, Shafonne Myers said she has spent a lifetime feeling unseen and unheard. But when she went dress shopping in late 2003 for her March 27, 2004, wedding, the feelings of body shaming and backlash for not being a size 2 felt deeply personal.
'I didn't see any images that represented me, and I'm not talking about color or ethnicity,' said Ms. Myers, a 45-year-old marketing expert specializing in size inclusivity and the owner and chief executive of Aisle Society, a wedding media company focused on plus-size content.
'Everyone was skinny and had the same shape,' she said. 'I wanted to feel beautiful. Instead, I was made to feel I didn't exist.'
Back then, there were few magazines or advertising visuals for plus-size brides to connect with, she said, even though in the fashion industry, sizes 14 and up, which are considered plus-size, include approximately 67 percent of American women, according to Credence Research's 2023 report on the United States plus-size women's clothing market.
'Everything had to be imagined,' she said, 'what I was going to look like in my wedding dress, at my engagement party, on my honeymoon.'
Now, Ms. Myers, a Richmond, Va., native who lives with her husband, Jimmy Myers Jr., and their three children in Temecula, Calif., helps companies 'infuse plus-size programming and imagery into their marketing and sales, which includes selecting visuals that authentically represent couples,' she said.
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