Plus-Sized Fashion Options Recede
So you guys will have to tell me if I missed any big awesome discussions or news items while I was away, other than MeMe Roth still existing and being more or less insane, which it looks like was pretty well covered already.
Today, I’m catching the buzz that plus size fashion options are yet again dwindling. (Target is apparently “testing out” plus-sized lines, sending a chill through my heart.) There’s an overview at Jezebel:
Additionally, Ann Taylor — and its Loft division — is now selling size 16 and up online only. According to reps from the company, this is due to “low demand,” despite the fact that the majority of women are sizes 14 and up, and they, too, want stylish clothes. Indeed, sales are down 8% in the last 12 months for plus sizes compared to the 2% drop in sales for standard sizes, but the real issue is the bottom line: On average, it costs 10% more to make plus-size clothes, due to special patterns and more fabric.
(God, save us all from the “special patterns” they use to make plus sized clothes. Save money! Use fewer sequins!)
Anyway, the blame for this is falling on the recession (as is the blame for “recession obesity” in children). Once again this makes me think about the link between poverty and obesity. If poor people are more likely to be obese, then they are more likely to be the ones curtailing their spending on clothing in These Difficult Economic Times. And they are among those being punished with fewer clothing options as a result.
For those of you who know how to sew, however, there is hope: Sewing at Any Size, where JoGeek at Unapologetically Fat is posting little squiggles and instructions that mean absolutely nothing to me. But if you are sew inclined (ha ha! a pun!) head over there and sew like the wind! For the rest of us, thank god there’s Fatshionista.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Fatism, Kids, Meta
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About the poverty-obesity link, from what I’ve read (admittedly only on a blog called Spiked) poor people don’t actually have higher obesity rates than their wealthier counterparts, nor do their diets differ greatly. It just seems like a way of trying to demonise and control the poor.
But yeah, the way shops try to, um, limit their customer base – not everyone can shop online – is reeeeeeaaaalllyyyy stupid. It’s a recession, people!
If all the extra fabric is costing so much, why do those ugly maxi dresses keep coming back?
Let’s see…sales drop during hard economic times when people are losing their jobs or having their salaries cut…yep. Must be the fault of all those fashion hating fatties for not WANTING to spend $150.00 or more for a single wardrobe piece.
Yeesh! So much logic fail, so few options.
Over the years, the Target near me has pushed their plus sizes further and further back on the store. It was wedged into the mens section sometimes and most recently it is behind the maternity clothes. While all the other clothes have signs over their section identifying them, the plus sized clothes do not. If I was new to Target, I’d assume they didn’t carry plus sizes there. I used to shop for clothes there, but they carry so much less of it than they used to, that I don’t even bother looking at it anymore. This has been going on for years. I figured out awhile back they were doing the same thing old Navy did with their plus sizes- not promoting them, not offering much and then, when fat women decided not to buy there, saying there just wasn’t the market for plus sizes. But they sell online. I think they just don’t want fat shoppers associated with their store. Or maybe it’s just easy to marginalize fat women and free up room in the stores. Other women can buy clothes there, but we have to buy online, pay for shipping and then end-up with clothes that don’t fit and have to eat the shipping cost to send it back.
It pisses me off that my husband, who is also fat, can find affordable clothes that fit him in the regular mens section at both those stores. There is no special plus mens section separate from all the rest- their clothes just run from thin to fat sizes.
I blogged about the dearth of fat fashion a few days ago, especially for those of us who are deathfat at size 26 and above, and for many, the only option is to buy online or make clothes.
Why retailers can’t bridge the connection between refusing to carry and/or make larger sizes in stores = fat people not spending money in their stores is beyond me, unless they actually don’t want us to be seen in their stores, which I suspect is the main reason.
Plus, maybe, we’re not buying clothes because the collection in the one or two stores in our area have collections that are largely inappropriate for a professional woman of style. It’s so frustrating, and I actually have good brick and mortar options in NYC between the women’s sections of Macy’s and Lord & Taylors (though they tend to be mumsy) and a great strip of stores up in Harelm on 125th street (Lane Bryant, Ashley Stewart, Avenue plus a few discount stores that go up to 24W/2X.)
It’s having multiple options that get people out to the stores to shop. I remember there was one mall in the suburbs North of Detroit (when I lived out there 15 years ago) that was a fat chick mecca with 4 or 5 stores plus okay department store sections.
I get the feeling that malls look at fat chick stores like having a female character in an action film … we’ve got one, so that demographic is handled … why would we need more?
Please, please, please!!! stop complaining!
I was at Target the other day and wandered into their new plus-size section (which is STILL next to and bleeds into the maternity section, even though they don’t carry plus sized maternity) and you know what? They have some AWESOME looking tankini pieces, including tops that aren’t halters that knot behind the neck, a style I hate because it always digs into the back of my neck and is appallingly uncomfortable while also revealing wa-ha-haaay too much cleavage.
Their size range seems to go up to 26, or at least that’s the largest size I saw, although their pants/bottoms AS USUAL FOR TARGET seem to run small. I got a size 22 tankini top and a size 24 bottom and need to exchange the bottom for a 26. I currently hover around 20/22 so it’s REALLY WEIRD to have to buy a size 26 bottom (I have some size 24 pants that literally fall off me. Kind of. I have to keep hitching them up) but you know. It’s closer than it was before.
If I’d had more money I would have bought more clothing at Target. There were some very cute looking summer dresses and skirts, and some slacks and blouses that looked promising. Other stuff looked cheap and “fat,” if you know what I mean. But some of it looked really good. It’s awesome to have the option to buy clothing at a “regular” store. I hope they expand their sizing so larger women can shop there, and that they introduce plus sized clothing to their maternity line.
Edward: Okay, will do. Yay! Less clothing options! How exciting for all of us!
I feel like lately a lot of stores aren’t carrying more basic/traditional/classic type clothing. It seems to be getting harder to find plain, solid colored short sleeved tshirts, they all seem to have embroidery, trim, or weird seams by the necklines. (I like to buy ones that could be dressed up or down, and wide and/or ribbed seams don’t work). Same thing with denim, black, and khaki skirts. They don’t exist, are too short or too long, or are trendy shapes that won’t last beyond one season. While I am trying to spend less, I’m still willing to spend a bit more on something that will last and I’ll actually get use from.
Perhaps sales would be better if our options were better.
Oh, and sorry for the double post, but question for the other people in NYC.
I’ve found that I’m treated rather poorly at the Herald Square Macy’s. My plus sized friend said that she and another plus sized person she knows have had the same issues. On the other hand, my friend who’s 5’9″ and a size 4 has had good experiences.
Anyone else have that happen?
I’m not sure about other countries, so can’t comment about them, but here in Australia all fast food restaurants/corporations are given benefits, so can charge cheap prices. But fresh produce costs much more at a supermarket. With the recession, poorer families find fast food cheaper, and it’s unfair for multinationals to be given these benefits by governments.
Putting the fat issue aside, healthy eating is important, as is food education, especially food preparation. I think a lot of problems with eating stem from poor knowledge and definitely poor food prep knowledge.
At the moment, I’m still having a tough time shopping for clothes. Where I live, 99% of clothes are made in either China or India, and it seems that the outsourced factories are using measurements that are more fitting for their countries. A size 16 here where I live, definitely resembles a size 12.
Also, the other thing I’ve noticed is that most plus sized clothes for women, especially pants, are for women who are top heavy. But what about women who have weight equally distributed over their bodies and aren’t top heavy?
I don’t know. I’ve never been a skinny minnie at any point in my life, but I’ve never liked plus-sized clothing. It’s not because I want to be as thin as Victoria Beckham, but I don’t see the point of camouflaging fat. After twenty years, I think I am old enough to know that nothing camouflages fat, and that women ought to be encouraged to follow healthy lifestyles. Sure, changes don’t happen overnight, but I don’t think that plus sized clothing should be a permanent option for anyone, man, woman or child.
Here’s the thing: the stores that are getting so much coverage for being blocked frequently never advertised in the first place that they had clothing for plus size women, or weren’t even remotely affordable to even an upper middle class customer base.
What I found particularly teeth-gnashing was the coverage on the topic by the Economist, holy traditional assumptions batman!
http://fatchic.net/2009/06/03/more-on-the-plus-size-fashion-crisis-coverage-in-the-economist/
The links are within the blog post – this and this post:
http://fatchic.net/2009/06/02/plus-size-fashion-crisis/
are particularly useful because of the perspective of my blog commenters. Thought I’d share; you might be able to use this for your readers.
“…I don’t think that plus sized clothing should be a permanent option for anyone, man, woman or child.”
There’s no person, organization, government or God that’s gonna dictate what size I must be. Even though I live in the U.S., I still have a few rights left.
If clothing companies want to ignore all non-thin women, they have that right. We can’t FORCE them to make large-sized clothing. But they’ll lose money in the long run if they don’t.
No matter how repellent the idea, some company somewhere will cave and decide it’s not beneath them to clothe fat women. It’s just the sensible business decision.
This post just got me thinking…about how much I would like to smack meme but also how much I would love a thrift store that only took in plus size clothing. It is actually very hard to find plus size clothing in thrift stores.
Addish, that is a seriously brilliant idea. We need one in San Francisco!
I don’t have any awesome plus-size shopping tips to offer. I’m not plus-sized–I’m just a former fat kid who believes in size acceptance and enjoys lurking on this blog.
I’d just like to mention that Ann Taylor, in general, is the pits when it comes to customer service. I regularly shop at various retailers within the same price point, and I am consistently disappointed by the way I am treated at Ann Taylor.
I am not surprised to hear that Ann Taylor does not value its plus-sized customers. I was not even aware that Ann Taylor sold merchandise in sizes greater than 14. They certainly never did a decent job of promoting the fact that they carried larger sizes. Retailers always claim that the demand for plus-sized clothing just is not there. *Sigh* Don’t they realize that people will not buy something if they do not know that it exists?
I think it would be lovely if there were a clothing store where thin and fat women could peacefully shop together and all have a wide variety of stylish items to choose from. Does a store like this exist? I’m sorry. I realize that I am naive!
It could have been Ann Taylor, but they’re too busy digging their own grave. In the future, I plan to take my fashion-addicted, big money-spending self elsewhere.
devil, as in permanent, I don’ t mean for companies or governments to dictate, but surely, it’s a bit too much to say that it’s healthy being a size 24 when it’s not medically healthy.
Encouraging women to increase size, ie like those feeders, isn’t a good idea either. Believe me, I don’t like companies telling me how thin I ought to be, but at the same time, there aren’t that many options in the over size 18 range. I know, because I’ve been there.
The way I see it is that there is a lot of outsourcing. No company is going to cave in. It’s annoying/unfortunate/a pain in the butt, but that’s how it is because all big clothing companies factor the loss into the manufacturing costs. Believe me, when 95% of the clothes made in China, clothing labels can afford the supposed ‘loss’ because there is no loss and no, they don’t have to cloth heavier women. They’re not going to lose any sleep over it, but it’s also not helpful when fat activists say that it’s perfectly all right to be morbidly obese. That, to me is irresponsible.
Also, what is considered plus-sized? Really, where do the sizing statistics come from?
For example. In Australia, the clothing size standards exist from a 70’s women’s magazine survey that didn’t even represent all the women or a majority. So far, the same standards still apply and it’s ridiculous.
I’d be interested to know how sizing standards/measurements are gathered in other countries.
also devil, if I caused offense, I do apologize. It’s difficult for me get the tone right in words/comments sometimes.
Ana, I know you didn’t mean any offense. We’re just talking here.
We’re just so inundated with fat hatred over here that I won’t be at all surprised if WLS became mandatory in my lifetime. You can get away with almost anything in the U.S., except being fat.
As far as (who, the gov’t?) limiting clothing sizes to encourage women to lose weight? No. It violates free market principles, if any company should want to provide plus-sized clothing for sale. And it’s just too controlling. Let’s just encourage people to be healthy and let the scales land where they may.
It’s becoming like that here in Australia as well. I was shocked when Australia was labeled the fat capital of the world (based on a population of 20 million people, which is small), according to some survey, and our federal government is trying to legislate govt paid gastric banding as a solution.
I agree, limiting sizes doesn’t encourage weight loss, or improved fitness (I prefer to view it as improved fitness, because it can be difficult to lose the weight that TV shows like Biggest Loser proclaim is normal weight loss), and I wonder about the clothing dimensions, their accuracy and so on.
Shoppers can’t take clothes apart to see if they accurately reflect the sizing on the label. Fashion designers don’t help a lot either by living in their fantasy world, and clearly focusing on Asian markets that can wear their clothes. The problem is that these clothes are infiltrating western markets, and women are under pressure to diet (even covertly) by magazines that continually deny doing that.
There are many supposed plus sized clothes, where I live, that don’t move off the shelves. Some are even far too small to be considered plus size, but they’re labeled as such.
I didn’t think I’d still feel nauseous shopping for clothes in my 30’s, and have concluded that most fashion designers are misogynists.
I never knew Ann Taylor Loft *carried* plus sizes. I’d always look in the window, sigh, and move on, certain they topped out at a 12.
I’ve noticed certain stores in our local mall have these charming little signs in the window that say the size range carried in the store, which has gotten me in to some stores even if they aren’t my usual style. Because I *hate* walking in and asking if they have 18s.
As a businesswoman, I know that you can’t sell what you don’t advertise.
Also, on the “no permanent plus size” comment, it’s wildly unrealistic. For an un-fat example, when my girlfriend was an unhealthily skinny dancer and a model (and could span her waist with her hands) she still wore plus-sizes — she’s 6’2″ with broad shoulders. People come in a broad range of sizes, and you can’t tell someone’s health from their dress size. Why doesn’t everyone know this by now?
treadmill. fat is a choice. so are clothes. Hate your options? change your life. reducing your daily caloric intake by only 100 calories (3/4 of one can of pop) can help you shed up to 15 pounds depending on weight.
fat is a choice.
@recovered fatty: I have one word for you—
Really?
Ok, I lied, here’s a few more:
Should we tell all the petite women out there who don’t have enough useful options either to shut up and just get taller? I mean, if they would just eat their damned vegetables….
@wildcatjean
A skinny woman can become fat, and vice versa. But a petite woman can never become taller. A skinny petite woman buy regular clothes and get them tailored. Fat people don’t generally have that option. So that’s a terrible analogy.
Anyway, I don’t know why fat people and sitting around waiting for the world to accomendate them. Change does not happen without a few radicals acting bold. Why can’t two entrepreneurial fat people create a high fashion plus size label? Why are fat people sitting around waiting for Ann Taylor, a clothing company that has narrow sizing, to give them some clothes to wear? How does Ann Taylor know how to make clothes for plus size women. Why didn’t fat women support Mode Magazine?
http://fatchic.net/2009/07/21/alas-poor-mode-the-plus-size-magazine-that-was-so-loved/
A now defunct magazine that showcased beautiful plus sized models and fashion. Why do ads featuring plus sized women marketed towards plus sized women are not as effective as ads featuring skinny women?
http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/news/ads_with_real_women_dont_work_155861.asp
If there are more fat people then skinny people in the US, why do fat people allow skinny people dominate our society’s image of beauty? Instead of making fat a bad word, why haven’t fat women made it a positive word? A fat person can be 600 lbs but yet they don’t want to be associated with the word fat. Why is the word fat so shameful even if its truly what you are? Being fat doesn’t automatically mean that you are undesirable, unloved, or unlikable but its sadly treated as such. Those are far bigger questions to answer than wondering why mall brands won’t bring their larger lines in stores.
The fashion industry doesn’t know how to design for big women.