UPDATE: Salvador Perez, Pitch Perfect 3 costume designer, has tweeted his response to the backlash. “I let each actor decide how their costume fit, it was their choice, Rebel, Ester & Hana Mae wanted sleeves,” Perez said on Monday.
@TeenVogue, I let each actor decide how their costume fit, it was their choice, Rebel, Ester & Hana Mae wanted sleeves, #sleevegate https://t.co/rXa8URUFd0
— Salvador Perez (@MrSalPerez) March 27, 2017
He added that actress Hana Mae also had sleeves—it just didn’t show in the Instagram picture Ester Dean posted because Mae was wearing a jacket, according to Refinery29.
To me it is about dressing women however they look and feel great, whatever size they are. It’s about choice, confidence and style!
— Salvador Perez (@MrSalPerez) March 27, 2017
Perez also took this opportunity to share what he thought of the situation. “To me it is about dressing women however they look and feel great, whatever size they are,” Perez tweeted. “It’s about choice, confidence and style!” Agreed!
This story was originally published on March 24, 2017.
Our favorite singing collegiettes are returning as sassy a cappella singers in Pitch Perfect 3 this year. What’s not so pleasing is the fact that different cast members are wearing different costumes depending on their body size.
Pitch Perfect 3 began filming in January 2017 and is winding down its filming in Atlanta. Enter: Rebel Wilson, who plays our hero Fat Amy, the hilarious mermaid dancer and horizontal running fanatic.
Wilson posted a photo on Instagram on Friday alongside her costars Brittany Snow and Chrissie Fit. What we’re assuming is an on-set photo features the Barden Bella singers in red-and-white striped outfits. They’re totally cute and have me wondering what songs their sailor-themed performance will include (I can already hear DNCE’s “Cake by the Ocean”).
But the bigger question is: why is Wilson wearing short sleeves while her costars don halter tops that show off more skin?
Ester Dean, who plays Cynthia-Rose, also posted the same outfits on Instagram. And guess what? This plus-sized actress is also the only one in the photo with short sleeves instead of bare shoulders.
Uhh, what are you trying to pull, Pitch Perfect? For a franchise that’s all about girl power, collegiette bonding and acceptance of misfits, it’s pretty insulting that the costumes are different for the larger ladies in the cast. We would have loved to see Cynthia-Rose and Fat Amy embrace their curves and wear the same sexy outfits as everyone else.
Perhaps it was a personal choice by Dean and Wilson, but it’d be pretty suspicious if the costume designers actually changed the sailor gettups to hide these actresses’ arms and backs—not to mention this qualifies as active body-shaming. Talk about aca-awkward.