The writer Aurielle Marie was overjoyed to learn that they were listed on the Out 100 list. Marie, whose pronouns are they/she, received an invitation to the Out Magazine gala in New York as part of the accolade.
The issue? They were unable to locate anything to wear to the occasion. According to Marie, many stores only carry sizes 12 and under, despite the fact that the majority of American women wear sizes 14 or higher.
The only gowns in their size, according to them, were either tacky or matronly. Marie "simply didn't like anything," despite advice from their friends, mother, and wife.
"What kind of appearance do I wish to have? I want to feel what? I then came across this picture of Lizzo. She wore this garment as she accepted her first Emmy,” said Marie, who wrote the critically acclaimed poetry collection “Gumbo Ya Ya” in 2020 and has been well renowned for writing about fatphobia, Blackness and queer identity. "The garment had a lot of volume. It occupied room. It was seductive, but not aggressively so. I thought, "I want to feel this way."
Marie noted that while they don't consider themselves to be "one of those individuals who have a weird parasocial relationship to celebrities," they respect Lizzo for both her music and for maintaining her confidence in the face of such harsh criticism.
They searched for a red carpet outfit but were unsuccessful, so they turned to TikTok, where they only had a few hundred followers, to ask Lizzo if they could borrow one of her dresses.
"I know you understand what it's like to be the biggest," In the TikTok video, Marie remarked, "in a room with all the scrutiny and hyper-visibility that comes with that. "Because I've observed you talk about it and your career's daring has inspired me to take a risk and be audacious myself. ... I need to ask. Please, please, please let me wear your 2022 Emmys gown. ”
Lizzo wore a crimson Giambattista Valli gown when she won the prize for best competition programme for her programme "Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls," as Marie alluded to in her comment.
Marie, who recently wed, announced that they were prepared to re-wear their wedding gown to the gala as it was drawing near. They weren't anticipating Lizzo's reply.
However, their appeal went viral. Someone from Lizzo's management team contacted me soon after the video was posted. According to Marie, at first they believed the DM was a joke. Lizzo reportedly watched Marie's video and gave her managers instructions to send Marie one of her gowns after viewing it.
Everyone started stomping on Lizzo's train, so apparently the dress I love from the Emmys this year was in ruins, Marie added. "The manager responded, 'But we found one that's pretty similar,'" she added."
The magenta tulle dress that was specially crafted for Lizzo's 2019 American Music Awards performance was provided to them, according to Marie, by Lizzo's manager.
Marie remarked that it was "extremely comparable in the finest aspects" and that it was delivered on time; the gown was brought to them 20 minutes before they had to board their flight from Atlanta to New York.
Marie claimed that Lizzo's crew even dispatched a seamstress to their hotel in New York to fix the dress in time for the event when the zipper broke.
Lizzo's manager told Marie, "I think we can get a seamstress to your hotel," and I was like, "I'm sorry, what? I didn't even know there was a VIP seamstress market," Marie said. "You can send me a paper bag and say Lizzo wore this at a photo shoot and I would have worn it on the red carpet at that point."
Apart from her kindness, Marie stated that they are really grateful for Lizzo since she "navigates audaciously in a body that so many people have anger for."
Lizzo was one of the first famous people to openly exist in a fat body, according to their description.
They stated they don't see many people "being kind to large people who aren't famous." Marie believes that their experience, while "wholesome," emphasises the fatphobia embedded in society, from medical prejudice to the restricted alternatives for size-inclusive apparel.
Marie stated, "I shouldn't have to ask Lizzo for a lovely dress. This is a heartwarming story, and I love that for me. But I'd love it even more if people took something like this and were able to recognise the compassion in people with bodies that are different."
