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Chapter 1: What is the life of a fit model like?
I'm generally pretty tech skeptical, but seven years ago, I witnessed something quite amazing. Yes, so this is our space. So we're building it out right now. This was back when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and I went to this white walled startup-y looking tech office in a warehouse in an industrial part of town, all very cliché.
We have an entire software team here, so we work really closely with them on creating algorithms. But this company was working on something I could really get behind. That take into account your body shape. That's Brooke McEver, director of product innovation at Unspun, which back then in 2019 was completely rethinking pants, specifically jeans.
What are your pain points in finding jeans? Pain points? Self-loathing? I don't know. Like... Buying clothes is hard.
But is it like, the butt doesn't fit, they're too long, they're too short? Listen to that, I couldn't even narrow down what's so hard about finding jeans that fit. They simply never do.
Yeah, I feel like I often, I don't have a sense of my own size, and so I'll just grab things that I think are cute, and they just don't fit, and it's demoralizing.
I still feel this way. What size am I? In some brands, I'm a size 12. In some brands, I'm a size six. I have even been a size two. I have been every size in between. And on jeans, size 30 or 32 does not correlate to 30 or 32 inches. How are you supposed to understand what could possibly fit you? This was the problem that Unspun was trying to solve. So we're size-free.
They were making jeans without sizes. And so it's kind of nice because you can go through an entire retail experience never having to look at a small or large or tell somebody what your size is or even think about it. The way the size-free technology worked was they used a giant scanner. That's the scanner, right? Yes. That room. Yes. I stripped down to my underwear.
Wish I wasn't feeling so bloated today. And I stood completely still on a tiny platform And then on the tiny platform in my underwear, I was slowly spun around. It was like being in a bad music video, just slowly rotating. And in a minute and 19 seconds, I was completely scanned. And we're taking 10,000 data points of your body, basically. Wow.
So every single part of you is factored into the equation. And then Brooke informed me that my jeans, my custom-made jeans, would be sent to me. Ta-da! Yeah, I think there's like a sense of relief that actually comes from people when they don't have to try things on. And lo and behold, the resulting jeans were, in fact, fantastic. I still have them. I wear them all the time. They're great.
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Chapter 2: How do fit models contribute to the fashion industry?
And this imperfect science, as Brooke explained to me back in 2019, is reliant on one central, mysterious figure. They have a fit model, so they choose whoever they think is like their person and then they design their entire collection around this person that was very hard to find. This person, the elusive fit model, is the basis of the company's sizes.
And this person might have measurements that are very similar to yours. They might have very, very different measurements from yours. Sometimes it's proportions. How big is their torso? Sometimes their forearm could be too long. But they will impact how a clothing brand feels. It's one of the stranger careers in fashion. And you might be able to do it. But I don't know if you'd want to.
I'll tell you why after the break.
Hey there, it's Robin from PRX. And I want to take a moment to tell you about a big year-long series from This Day, a history podcast here at Radiotopia. 2026 is America's 250th birthday. And this is where folks over at This Day have requested that I try and say semi-quincentennial 10 times fast.
Anyway, it's been 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, and over at this day, they're in the middle of a year-long series called 50 Weeks That Shaped America. This day is doing deep dives each week on the stories from 250 years of U.S.
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Chapter 3: What challenges do fit models face with sizing?
history that brought us to this very complicated moment. Some of them are new perspectives on huge moments like the Civil War or Prohibition. Others are lesser discussed stories that still had a massive impact, like the Transcontinental Railroad or the so-called Hard Hat Riots of the 1970s.
This Day is also doing a special weekly newsletter, live shows, collaborations, bonus episodes, and lots more. So as we head towards the 4th of July and beyond, this is a great time to join in. If you need a little help navigating America's big birthday, check out This Day. Go to thisdaypod.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
I was an actress working off, off, off, off, off, off Broadway. And somebody came up to me at the end of the play and said, my friend owns a modeling agency. And I did one of those looking around me like, who is she talking to? Marcy Spanier had never thought of herself as a model. I knew it was cute, but modeling? Like, no. She was like a size 14. I was like a 14, 14, 16.
I looked like a piece of peach pie. I just didn't, I didn't have a square job, which was big in the 80s.
Chapter 4: How does size-free technology change the fitting process?
I didn't have thick eyebrows. I didn't have big lips. And I was 5'7 on the nose. Most of the print models are 5'8 to 5'11. I was like, what is she looking at me for? And she said, she owns a plus size modeling agency. Why not? You know, who wants to weigh tables?
Right away, Marcy was placed as a fit model.
But I started fitting, and I really enjoyed it because I was using my brain. And then I got to work with really great designers who were all getting involved in Plus.
Being a fit model isn't about having a square jaw or thick eyebrows. It's not about being thin, and it's definitely not about being tall. Although it is actually about being pretty, which I'll tell you more about later. But fit models can come in many heights, many weights, many ages, because all kinds of clothing companies need fit models.
If you're a 16W, an 18W, or a 20W, it doesn't matter.
Plus-size clothing companies need plus-size fit models. Petite clothing companies need petite fit models. Athletic brands need athletic fit models. A brand with an older demographic will want an older fit model.
As they get older, they change size, and so they just get different clients as they change size.
But it is not that anyone can be a fit model. Fit models need to have the right stuff.
That is where a very, very small percentage is blessed with the genetic proportions.
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Chapter 5: What is the role of fit models in clothing design?
Why?
Or in small doses, because you get very muscular. I represent men also, and some guys are very athletic. And if they're not careful, oh man, my thigh again. I played volleyball last weekend and my thigh popped up. I'm a half inch too big in the thigh again. But you can't keep gaining and losing weight, and you can't keep getting built up.
But even my serving, if I serve too much, the lats get a little bigger, and so it's like, and lats affect your chest circumference. And the big fear for Zach, and for all fit models, is asymmetry. Like with snowboarding, I will literally halfway through the day be like, I'm going to ride the other direction the rest of the day.
I'm going to ride switch the rest of the day purely out of symmetry because I don't want to create imbalances in my body.
And it's not just about sport and exercise. Fit models need to be aware of all the little inconsistencies in everyday life.
Like how you stand, like your posture. Posture is a major thing with fitting. Wearing a backpack can change your posture. Wearing something too heavy on your shoulder can change... how you're standing. So I have to make sure that I go to the chiropractor to stay adjusted properly. Like as a fit model, you can never really be off duty because everything you do affects yourself.
But obviously, you know, fit models are people. And honestly, they're very cool people.
There's some people that fit as part of being an actor or being an artist or being a jewelry maker or being a mom. One of our most famous models is Lisa Howard, who has been on Broadway. She's sung at the Tonys. She's one of our fit models.
So these people aren't just sitting in a room preserving their measurements. They're doing stuff.
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Chapter 6: How do fit models maintain their measurements?
That was my exact measurement as the current size 4.
And I think this is the core insecurity that sizes tap into. They feel like an assessment, an inaccurate, ever-changing grading system where you never quite know where you stand.
Like, sizing, that's going to drive you crazy. But don't focus on that. Focus on the measurement and how the garment fits you. Like, if you can take a time to measure yourself a few key points... it's really helpful in picking out the right garments and finding your perfect fit.
Ah, but even still, to know how these clothes will fit relative to you, You must do that thing that I think we all want to avoid, the thing that makes sizing and shopping so uncomfortable, which is confronting your own body.
Grab yourself a tape measure.
Nicky Martin made this helpful step-by-step video that showed people how to measure themselves.
Make sure you go around the widest point of your back, and you want to go around the apex of the bust.
And even for Nikki, a technical designer who thinks about bodies and fit all day long, making this measurement video was kind of difficult.
It can be a psychological thing. Even myself, when I did the how-to video, I was like, oh gosh, I've gained like 20 pounds. I'm not where I want to be. But I had to put that to the side to inform the world. No matter what method,
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