Danielle Fishel from Boy Meets World Avoided Sleeveless Outfits After Weight Gain
Boy Meets World costumer Julie Yang Silver is revealing some of the show’s challenging wardrobe decisions for Danielle Fishel.
Yang Silver joined the costume team in season 3 and stayed with the beloved sitcom until it ended in its seventh season in 2000.
In the Monday, March 2, episode of the iHeartRadio “Pod Meets World” podcast, hosted by Fishel, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong, the costume supervisor shared that there were frequently “heated discussions” regarding Fishel’s outfits, especially in the last season. (Fishel did not participate in Monday’s episode.)
“I could relate to her because she was a young female navigating her teenage years,” Yang Silver mentioned to Friedle and Strong, explaining how she and producer Karen MacKain often defended Fishel during wardrobe discussions with the show’s executives.
Friedle, 49, noted, “I gained a bit of weight toward the end [of the show]. Danielle gained a little weight, but of course, it was all about how she put on ‘so much’ weight.”
The actor, who played Eric Matthews, remembered Fishel, 44, sharing that she had the opportunity to help choose Topanga’s wedding dress for her character’s wedding to Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) in season 7, “but none of them could be sleeveless.”
“She believes that one reason for this was that some executives thought she appeared too heavy to bare her arms,” Friedle remarked.
“Yes,” Yang Silver confirmed. “It was [a] constant topic of conversation.”
“The reality was, Danielle was not heavy. I kept trying to articulate to them: ‘She’s still a size 2. I don’t know what you guys are talking about,’” the costumer elaborated. “She had filled out a bit. Since Danielle wasn’t very tall, being bustier made her appear larger. But she wasn’t large—you all saw her every day.”
According to Yang Silver, the season 5 prom episode of Boy Meets World was another contentious issue.
“Trina [McGee] was seven months pregnant, and we were trying to conceal that. It was the same situation with Danielle, where they insisted on her having sleeves,” she explained. “I argued that it would look ridiculous for prom. We ended up using a shawl.”
“Karen and I were adamant, especially Karen, that we didn’t want to hear anyone critique Danielle about it,” Yang Silver added.
Friedle then inquired whether Fishel was aware that her body was a topic of discussion among the show’s executives.
“I think she had an idea,” Yang Silver replied. “But we made efforts to shield her from that … because she was a teenager. That could really affect her mental health. Karen and I frequently emphasized the importance of being gentle with her.”
In an August 2024 episode of “Pod Meets World,” Fishel discussed how her and Friedle’s weight gain was incorporated into a season 7 episode of the ABC sitcom.
“They called me into the office to inform me they would be [writing about it] — it was more of a notification than a request,” she recounted, according to People. “Obviously, it involved Will and me. Will had gained some weight, and I had gained some weight. [The writers said], ‘You both have gained a bit of weight, so we’re going to write an episode about it. Just wanted to let you know, and it’s going to be really funny.’”
Fishel added, “Will was totally cool with it immediately. In hindsight, I know he was feeling insecure, and it was painful for him. For me, it was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ I didn’t … no one had mentioned it to me. I was aware I had gained some weight, but I was still a size 4.”
