The bridal shop owner who displays plus-size mannequins in her window says she’s been shocked by some of the rude remarks made daily by passersby fat-shamming a life-sized doll!
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Debbie Shelly was stunned when she said she overheard passersby regularly joking, jeering, and laughing about her size-32 dummy.
The 53-year-old owner said she put the mannequin in a wedding dress in the window display of her store, Somerset Bridal in Minehead.
But, she says she now overhears terrible daily remarks aimed at her over the mannequin size.
Debbie says she put the mannequin up in April after having it specialty made following years of unsuccessful searches for a plus-sized dummy. But, the mannequin, which she nicknamed Fuschia, has attracted some negative attention.
Debbie jas even put up a sign asking people to show a little respect and love toward the doll.
She said:
‘There’s quite a lot of mothers with children coming up to the window.
‘They point at the mannequin and say “don’t you ever get that fat love, no one’s going to want to marry you when you’re that fat”.
‘These are mothers saying it to their six, seven-year-old children.
‘They’re trying to make their children thinking about how fat and thin they are – using the mannequin to say “you don’t want to look like that”.’
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After proudly displaying Fushia in the front of her shop, the comments began while Debbie was tending to customers, as she started hearing cruel remarks from outside her store.
‘They were laughing, jeering, pointing, making jokes and just saying really rude things,’ says Debbie.
Somerset Bridal’s sign reads: ‘Are you laughing? Or are you fat-shaming?
‘Fuschia has feelings and we think she is stunning. Please send her lots of love and not laughs.’
Debbie says:
‘They’ll do the heckling from the pavement and then come up closer to have a look and see the sign and then they think “Oh my days, what have I just said”.
‘It’s sort of not stopping them but it’s stopping people in their tracks after they’ve done it.’
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And it isn’t just Debbie who overhears the remarks either. Her clients who are trying dresses on for the big day also hear the remarks.
Debbie continued: ‘One time we had a lady who was trying on the actual dress that’s been on the mannequin that day and she could hear somebody jeering at the mannequin from outside and she could hear it and she said “What did he just say?’
‘We were like “ignore him ignore him, he’s just being stupid” and we pushed it off.
‘But she was obviously quite upset that the very dress she had tried on from the mannequin fitted her perfectly and so she knew she was that size.’
A fellow bridal shop owner made the mannequin for Debbie when she could not find one beyond a size 20.
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Debbie hopes that Fuschia and her new sign can change a few attitudes. The owner said:
‘They shout some really leery things at the mannequin and we’ve had enough.
‘And if they think that it’s okay to talk to a mannequin like that – who can’t respond back – then what are they saying to their family about people of all sizes?
‘The surprising ones are the old ladies that will stand there and go “oh my god, would you believe someone’s going to marry someone that fat?” and you’re thinking “what planet are you on”?’
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Sources:
- “Owner Of Bridal Boutique Calls Out People Who Laugh And Make Fun Of The Store’s Plus-Size Mannequin” Dad Patrol.
