The cliche always goes that if there is not a seat at the table for you, build a seat, or build a table, but Lydia Hudgens built the entire room and all the furniture in it, seat cushions, curtains, and all. Plus-size women have never had the opportunity to see representation the way other sizes have, but things are changing with the help of PLUS: Expanding The Frame, her fashion photography book that features exclusively 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 began to work with bloggers and influencers, slowly meeting more and more plus-size bloggers and influencers and creating content for them.
Hudgens grew up plus size during the era where anorexia and heroin skinny was chic and being fat was the worst thing you could be, especially if you loved fashion. Though at the time she was only a size 12, which is smaller on the plus-size end, she was being forced into diets by all of the people around her.
“I did Weight Watchers. I was on a nutrition plan when I was very young. I got on birth control because when they first introduced birth control, they were like it might help do something to her weight. They were just trying to figure out whatever they could do to have me be more stable with my weight,” Hudgens said.
As she aged, she became obsessed with being as small as she could. She began working at gyms and counting her calories, but her smaller body didn’t look ‘right’. “I had a huge fitness disorder for years. I think the smallest I ever got was a size eight,” Hudgens explained. “I was pencil at that point. It looks scary on me because I’m tall. My brother is a football player who’s six five, we’re just built big, and it’s not in our body frame to be small.”
While meeting and working with new plus size women, she began to love her body more, but the feeling was mutual amongst her clients. “I think that plus size people come to me because they feel comfortable being shot by another plus-size person.”
In 2023, Hudgens was approached to create a photography book by Smith Street Books, the publishing company. However, it wasn’t a plus size fashion photography book at first, originally the book was going to be a street style fashion photography book, because that was what Hudgens was originally known for, but during her years of growth photographing plus size women, her style of photography changed.
After much conversation, the book became PLUS: Expanding The Frame, where Hudgens showcased exclusively plus size women, broken into four parts: editorial, fashion, beauty, and body.
“When they approached me to do a book, they said we’d really love to have you do a street style gallery book. They initially wanted to use old images; I pushed back on that. I feel like things have changed so drastically, and also, given the opportunities that we’ve [plus size people] had for clothing have also increased at that time. I feel like there’s so much more available to us,” she said.
After that call, she booked models, stylists, and makeup artists to make this 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, such as styling, herself.
Hudgens shot a look at the model, who was wrapped in red paper, rather than traditional clothing. The photo is artsy and editorial, but such a beautiful photo says so much about the plus size industry.
“Initially, I was like, I’m not going to do this, because I feel like it’s always something that we see all the time. I always feel negatively when I see an editorial for a big magazine where they throw a [plus] model in a coat, you know what I mean? But at the same time, there’s really not that many fucking options.”
Wrapping a model in paper, which Hudgens did as the stylist for this shoot in addition to photographing it, symbolizes how there is still work to be done in the plus size fashion industry, but that women are making the most of what they do have now.
This book, which was released on Sept. 9, comes at a time when the promotion of weight-loss drugs is at an all-time high, while this book promotes beauty in all forms. Though the book has already made an impact in its short life so far, it’s made an impact on Hudgens the most.
Through tears, she said, “Going into a [book] store and seeing a fat body on display is amazing, because we’re used to just being pushed in a corner. It’s something I wish my parents had had.”
While this book may not have been there to help her through navigating her life as a plus size woman, or the women before her, Hudgens has ensured that plus size women everywhere are closer to knowing their bodies are beautiful.
