Fashion

Tess Holliday Brought Up A Valid Point About The Strawberry Dress Everyone's Obsessed With

by Margaret Blatz
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Whether you prefer Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, or some other social media app, you’ve probably seen The Strawberry Dress taking the internet by storm. But, this isn’t the first time the dress has taken a walk in the spotlight. Tess Holliday wore the original dress to the 2020 Grammys, though she says it wasn't as well-received by the public when she wore it. Now that the dress has reached viral status, Holliday tweeted a valid point about the dress and thin privilege.

“I like how this dress had me on worst dressed lists when I wore it in January, but now because a bunch of skinny people wore it on TikTok everyone cares,” she tweeted on Aug. 16. “To sum it up: our society hates fat people, especially when we are winning.” Holliday acknowledged her dress did receive some positive commentary, but she's not wrong about how the recent fascination with the strawberry dress is, in part, because of its straight-size wearers. She's also not wrong about the double standard that exists with regard to straight-size and plus-size fashion in terms of what's deemed trendy or even socially acceptable. “Y’all are ignoring the most important part of my post: Society treats fat people like we are invisible,” another tweet of hers read.

The dress is undoubtedly beautiful; its soft pink tulle, sequined strawberries, and ruffles make the garment incredibly glam, with delicate, cottagecore vibes. But, its sudden and unprompted rise to fame leaves some questions, especially since the piece went from reportedly landing Holliday on "worst dressed lists" to becoming one of the highest-trending dresses in the fashion world.

Google searches for “strawberry dress” began rising in July, only to spike in August. Since then, the Strawberry Midi Dress ($490, Lirika Matoshi) has been called the “dress of the summer” by Vogue and The New York Post. It was first created back in 2019 and wasn't immediately popular. “I think people are seeing the dress as an escape from life right now,” designer Lirika Matoshi told the NY Post about the strawberry dress' sudden viral-status.

No matter where or when you first saw the dress, brings up a valid point about why this now-famous dress was originally ghosted over and about fatphobia in general. If you're ready to get your own, you can check out the strawberry dress, available up to size 2X, on Matoshi’s website.