04/11/2026
Discover Plus Size Avant-Garde Fashion For Women and Men at eigensinnig wien
———————————————
Gulliver Among The Dwarfs
On Generous Proportions and Narrow Minds
A Figure of Some Substance
Vienna, which treats itself to a giant Ferris wheel and reserves entire avenues for its dead, can be remarkably stingy with living people built on a grander scale. Grandeur commands respect here, provided it has a facade. The moment it needs a suit, things get tight.
Elsewhere, we know how to make size sound like an advantage. A car is celebrated for its spacious interior, a building hailed as a skyscraper, a ship as a flagship. We admire the scale, praise the generous proportions, and pay a premium for both. Faced with a person of comparable presence, however, we generally start with a remark.
“Well, now. That’s a big fellow.”
In Vienna, that may well be a compliment. Even “a big lug,” delivered with the right warmth, is hardly a declaration of war. The difference between affection and contempt lies in a slight inflection no dictionary can capture.
Things get more complicated when the big fellow has taste.
When a giant wants an extraordinary suit that does more than accommodate him. When a woman who wears 3XL wants a blouse as independent as she is. That is when we sometimes discover how far an industry’s tolerance for nonconformity extends beyond its standard size range.
Larger sizes are still treated as though all the best possibilities have already sold out. You are expected to be grateful that something buttons up. If you wanted a distinctive silhouette, an unconventional cut, a scandalously beautiful fabric, you should apparently have had the foresight to be smaller.
At that point, my professional obstinacy takes over.
