District of Curves has become an awesome vehicle for models, designers, retailers, and bloggers in the Washington, D.C. Metro area, and I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing the founder, Mickey Armstrong. Check out our conversation.
1. What motivated you to create District of Curves? I created DOC for a number of reasons. As a photographer, I’d worked with quite a few plus size women. I began to notice a trend in some of the stories they would tell me about their past experiences with other photographers. Their pictures would be unflattering, the wardrobe would be bad, or the photographer would be disrespectful towards them because of their size. Meaning they would make comments or ask for sexual favors in exchange for services. Implying that just because a woman is plus size, she’s easy or desperate. Stories like that would always upset me.
So initially, this started as a way to give the ladies a platform where they could feel good. It also served as a platform to help myself feel good about myself. Being a big guy all my life, I’ve dealt with body image issues and self esteem issues all of my life. Seeing the confidence grow in these women, seeing them embrace their bodies and conquer their fears and self esteem issues, and seeing them form bonds with each other, has helped me with my own issues as well. Lastly, once I got into this, I saw that there were a lot of models and aspiring models in the area, but there was no platform for them. No major plus size fashion show that they could be apart of. I couldn’t understand that. How could the Nation’s Capital NOT have a major show? So, at that point I put on my event planner hat and decided to create it. I’d been wanting to put on a fashion show for years. I just didn’t know it would be a plus size show. I got the motivation and further inspiration when I attended Plus Night Out in New York in Sept of 2013. From there, I became friends with the producer of that show, Jovanna Reyes. She offered me so much great advice and support in all that I’ve done in the industry so far.
2. There are a lot of avenues within the fashion industry. What drew you to plus-size fashion? I’ve been around it for most of my life. The women in my family are plus size, 90% of the women i’ve ever dated were plus size. Most women love to shop lol, so I’ve been around plus size fashion for women my whole life. I’ve always been better at picking out clothes for women than I have been at picking out clothes for myself. So this just kind of fit for me. Plus, I know what I like to see a woman wearing. Now, I’m not saying I’m any kind of fashion expert or anything like that. I just know what looks good and what I like.
3. Where do you see District of Curves in the future? (i.e., Can you imagine “East Coast Curves” or “America’s Got Curves”)? I see District Of Curves as having several different components. Not just a fashion show. There’s only so much a person can do with a fashion show. District Of Curves represents the entire DMV area and I see us having many different arms for the fashion industry, the body positive community, the business community, and more. Currently we are working on our new show The Plus Report, which is hosted by Monica Day. Monica is a local girl from the DMV who has become well known in the area for hosting events. She’s a plus size girl, a former Ms. Plus America pageant queen, and an all around great woman. The show is being done in talk show format. Our goal with this is to give an even more indepth look at the plus scene in the DMV. Not just fashion either. This is a way to acknowledge what’s going on in the community AND to show the world that DC has a thriving plus community.
4.What do you consider the biggest challenge within the plus-size fashion world? How do you think we can combat it? I think that’s a big question. If you look at the plus size fashion world from a national level, things seem to be great. Women like Ashley Graham are making major moves and getting everyone excited about plus!!……sort of…. If you look a little deeper, you’ll see what’s really happening is there’s even more of a divide with the plus fashion industry. The larger body types still are not being embraced on a national scale. Ashley Graham is awesome, but let’s be honest, she doesn’t have the typical body type of many of the women who support and look up to her. So there’s that division and then there’s also very much a color barrier. From what I’ve seen, Black women are largely responsible for the rise in the plus community. Black women have embraced their natural curves and bodies for YEARS and have lead the movement for all women to do so. Yet, they are still very under represented on the national stage. Look at the Lane Bryant ads that have helped to push Ashley Graham into the spotlight even more. There was a Black girl in that campaign with her. The average person couldn’t tell you her name or anything about her. So those are the issues I see. How do we combat them? Continue to push forward and create lanes outside of “mainstream” media. Use our internet resources. That’s what The Plus Report is all about.
5. Who inspires you to promote/encourage the plus-size community? My daughters are my initial motivation. Being Black, they are going to be naturally curvy. That doesn’t mean they will absolutely be plus size, however, it’s possible. So I want them to learn from an early age that it’s ok to embrace their bodies and that nothing is wrong with them because of it. Next, I would say, are my friends and family who are also plus size.
6. From a male’s perspective, what do you consider to be plus-size?Like women, men come in all different shapes and sizes. I don’t really know where the line is drawn for men to be considered plus size. We draw our images of what a person is supposed to look like, from the media just as women do. So, it’s pretty hard to determine and pin point. It’s one of those things were we know it when we see it.
DOSBB is truly grateful for having the opportunity to interview Mr. Armstrong. He is truly a great asset within the Plus-size community.
Be sure to check out District of Curves on social media!
Until the next time, be you and most importantly – love you.
Being uniquely you is being uniquely beautiful.
-B.B.
