As a fat actor, I don’t like the concept of fat suits.

You want a fat character?

Hire a fat person.

Everybody is always bitching about how many of us there are – surely, you can find a fat actor to play your fat character.

Having said that, I myself had to wear a fat suit when I played Dolly Dimple (the fat lady) in a production of the musical Side Show.

I was fat, just not fat enough.

And I loved my fat suit – the boobs were stupendous!  Stuffed with bird seed!  I couldn’t stop playing with them!  (And was happy to let anybody else play with them if they wanted to.)

Anyhow, a designer in the UK, Daisy May Collingridge, has created a whole suite of five, what she calls, “sqishys” showing that there is no such thing as the ideal body type.

She has even named them – Burt, Hilary, Clive, Dave and Lippy.

Dave is based on her father and the others are from Collingridge’s imagination.

All of her flesh suits seem to represent fat bodies of one type or another – with exaggerated anatomical and fantasy elements.

Some people may see them as “grotesque” but that is part of the fascination.  They are beautiful and grotesque and fascinating.

They are so powerful.

And I hope they help others can appreciate the power and beauty of all bodies.

They can be worn (by an average size person) or displayed as sculpture.

Other textile artists have ventured into celebrating fat bodies, but as far as I know, no one has done it on such a life-size scale.

Collingridge expects some people will be repelled by them and others will adore them.

Squishys Article

I am absolutely on Team Adore Them.