The cliché always goes that if there isn’t a seat at the table for you, make a seat, or make a table, but lydia hudgens Made the entire room and all the furniture in it, seat cushions, curtains and everything. Plus-size women have never had the opportunity to see representation like other sizes, but things are changing with the help of Plus: expanding the frameHer fashion photography book which exclusively features plus size women.
The Brooklyn-based photographer grew up in California, but moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she became known for her location shoots. She started working with bloggers and influencers, gradually meeting more and more plus-size bloggers and influencers and creating content for them.
Hudgens grew up plus size during an era when being skinny was chic and being fat was the worst thing you could do, especially if you liked fashion, due to anorexia and heroin. Although she was only a size 12 at the time, which is small on the plus-size end, she was being forced to diet by everyone around her.
“I did Weight Watchers. I was on a nutrition plan when I was very young. I went on birth control because when they first introduced birth control, they thought it might help her weight some. They were just trying to figure out what they could do to be more stable with my weight,” Hudgens said.
As he grew older, he became obsessed with staying as small as possible. She started working out at the gym and counting her calories, but her tiny body didn’t feel ‘right’. “I had a huge fitness disorder for many years. I think the smallest I ever went was a size eight,” Hudgens explained. “I was in pencil at the time. It looks scary on me because I’m tall. My brother is a football player who’s six five, we’re just built bigger, and being short is not in our body frame.”
While meeting and working with new plus size women, she began to love her body more, but this feeling was mutual among her clients. “I think plus-size people come to me because they feel comfortable being shot by another plus-size person.”
In 2023, Hudgens was approached by publishing company Smith Street Books to create a photography book. However, at first it was not going to be a plus size fashion photography book, originally the book was going to be a street style fashion photography book, as that is what Hudgens was originally known for, but over the years of her development in photographing plus size women, her style of photography changed.
After a lot of discussion the book was made Plus: expanding the frameWhere Hudgens exclusively showcased plus-size women, divided into four parts: editorial, fashion, beauty and body.
“When they approached me for a book, they said we would really love to do a street style gallery book for you. They initially wanted to use old images; I didn’t pay attention to that. I think things have changed so quickly, and at the same time, the opportunities we have for clothing (for plus size people) have increased as well. I think there’s a lot more available to us,” she said.
After that call, she booked models, stylists, and makeup artists to make the book a reality, but due to the nature of the business being so expensive, she also had to do a lot of the behind-the-scenes work herself, like styling.
Hudgens took a look at the model, who was wrapped in red paper instead of traditional clothing. The photo is artistic and editorial, but such a beautiful photo says a lot about the plus size industry.
“In the beginning, I was like, I’m not going to do that, because I feel like it’s always something that we see all the time. When I see a big magazine editorial where they throw a (plus) model in a coat, I always feel negative, you know what I mean? But at the same time, there really aren’t that many options.”
Wrapping a model in paper, which Hudgens did as a stylist for this shoot in addition to photographing it, shows how there is still work to be done in the plus size fashion industry, but women are now making the most of what they have.
The book, which was released on September 9, comes at a time when the promotion of weight loss pills is at an all-time high, while the book promotes beauty in all forms. Although the book has made an impact in its so-far short life, it has had the greatest impact on Hudgens.
Through tears she said, “It’s amazing to go into a (book) store and see a fat body on display, because we’re so used to just being pushed into a corner. It’s something I wish my parents would have had.”
Although this book wasn’t meant to help her move forward in her life as a plus size woman or the women before her, Hudgens has made sure that plus size women everywhere are one step closer to knowing that their bodies are beautiful.
