Fashion designer Karoline Vitto celebrates the female form with clothing collection accentuating fat 'rolls’

Many of us hate our love handles, viewing the extra layers of cushion as a flaw. We try to cram our rolls into shapewear in order to get a smoother silhouette, only to end up in immense pain from our Spanx at the end of the night. But instead of encouraging women to cover up, one Brazilian designer is encouraging people to embrace their rolls by creating clothes to specifically highlight how beautiful they are.
Karoline Vitto debuted her collection at the Royal College of Art's "All At Once"graduate show. Her line consists of dresses, jumpsuits, and tops with cutouts revealing back, tummy, and boob fat in a fashionable way. To create her clothes, Vitto used materials that are normally used to suck the body in, instead using them to make the body spill out. "I have never seen back rolls being appreciated as much as cleavage, for example. So I wanted to propose finding beauty in what we tend to see as 'flaws,'" Vitto told Bustle.
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Vitto came up with the idea after hoping a waist clincher would smooth out her own figure. It did not. "The piece was so tight that it took both my mom and sister to help me put it on," Vitto said. "And the result was that, despite having a smaller waist with that piece, some rolls would pop up on my back and some would pop down. And suddenly you see yourself buying a specific type of bra to tuck the back rolls in. And then a compression top to go with that and tummy tucker pants…and it never ends." Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt, then felt too insecure to wear it.
In creating the collection, Vitto wanted to explore body image. Each piece of clothing comments on a specific beauty ideal, like a dress with an elastic strap that cuts across the breast which was inspired by Vitto's (and probably every woman's) experiences of not being able to find a properly fitting bra."I wanted to question why we submit ourselves to constant body modifications, or tight lingerie, or why we body shame ourselves so much, when we could see our bodies as something that could be appreciated by its natural texture, form or lines," Vitto said.
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While many women feel insecure about their own "jiggly parts," the collection was well received. "Women with different body types, sizes, and backgrounds have been messaging me to say that they felt somehow represented by what I was doing, and for me that's the most important thing," Vitto said. "If someone looks in the mirror and doesn't see their bodies as something to be changed anymore, my role was done. That would make me the happiest."
Most importantly, Vitto's collection teaches us a lesson in owning our body as it is. Your rolls don't have to be shameful, they can literally be a work of art.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.