Why Fashion Needs Kim Kardashian

A Story by diggs

As much as people don’t want to accept she’s famous, I’m glad Kim Kardashian is here.

Because of her, the world is watching a woman with a chest and hips of the sort you just don’t see often enough. Think of the list of famous women who are really filling out a skirt. It’s short. It’s astonishingly rare for the media to celebrate someone’s outfits so much when they’re not a sample size. High fashion rarely bothers to accommodate a body like hers, but now they have a famous moneymaker on their hands, and they need to dress her.

When Kim wears an Atsuko Kudo latex dress, she’s giving a different kind of woman a powerful dose of publicity. Obviously celebrities are non-representative of most people, and Kim is babealicious, but she’s still different from the red carpet regulars. That’s why even a woman who looks like her gets fat-shamed. Elle is right about one thing. Kim does help young women with body confidence. Seeing someone so celebrated in form-fitting dresses that flaunt her hips and cleavage that people make fun of �" it matters. When celebrities and models with a smaller waistline or cup size wear a scantily clad naked dress, no one calls them out for “busting out” or “showing off their body,” the way Kim does. People aren’t used to it. However irrelevant you think her accomplishments in the DIY porn arena are, she’s relevant to “curvy girls” who see her when they look for someone resembling something like them.

It’s not her credentials as a real mover and shaker that earned her a front row seat at Paris Fashion Week, but it’s not just her beauty either �" the fashion media is up to their cropped sweaters in beautiful woman. It’s Kim’s chutzpah. It’s what made her fascinating to the populous, not only the editors who rake it in when she’s on a magazine cover.

Living in a democratic society means you can exercise your right to ignore her. Personally, I’m not one for her reality T.V. The tears, the pouting, and the fabricated conflicts don’t do it for me. But her clan is as addictive as artificial sugar for a lot of people. No matter how many times you call her vapid or worthless, or make fun of her for elevating vocal fry to an art form, she’s not going anywhere. She’s staying in the front row for awhile, and I’m thrilled.

Picture:wedding dresses 2014

Being self-manufactured and self-indulgent and all the things you hate about the world is what has fueled her path. But what she’s wearing is of utmost concern to her, and it is to Kanye, Alber Elbaz and other people who don’t care how she got here.

Her image is unavoidable whether you like it or not, and her power is far-reaching. Even women in the most Kardashian-free circles are told that how they look in clothes is as important as getting enough oxygen. If, in your personal taste, her carefully curated moves encourage you to fall asleep, that’s not the point. Her media presence in crimson plunging necklines, butt-skimming black lace, and white pencil skirts that she wears like second skin is empowering for people who never thought they would be able to breathe in them. She helps women reevaluate the way they cover themselves up with clothes. Nothing fits loosely on her, and it doesn’t have to on you either. Yes, I’m saying it, thank goodness Kim Kardashian is important because she wears tight stuff.

A woman with accomplishments, gorgeous barrister Amal Alamuddin, becomes important to fashion when she hooks up with George Clooney. But Kim is the more relevant celebrity, and she’s representing a different figure on mainstream magazine covers. Dismissing her as a fashion icon is fair, but dismissing her fame based on her past is one of the most fruitless ways to show concern for how culturally bankrupt we are. Being a human being, she serves a purpose beyond standing around and getting on people’s nerves. Her contributions to body confidence count. You might not have her bod, but like her, you don’t have the typical bod, so it’s something.

Her book Selfish will come out in April, and it’s based off of her life of self-belief. It’s the belief that lead her to know in her heart that her selfies are worth sharing with the world. It’s the belief that makes her flaunt her assets. Guess what �" the world cares. Maybe she’s taking the place of a more deserving “curvy” model, author, or actress with all this fame. Or maybe she’s paving the way.