“Calling All Chubbies”: Lane Bryant Whiplash
The picture of an old-timey Lane Bryant ad came from Roger Ebert on Twitter, who described it tongue-in-cheekily as a picture of a “tragically fat young woman.”
And speaking of Lane Bryant, my dear friend Pippit sent in a link to an article about Full Figured Fashion Week that ran in her local paper, the Austin-American Statesman.
I was shocked to hear the president of Lane Bryant say that their plus-sized customers are more interested in elastic-waist pants and caftans than on actual fashion. Well, I’m paraphrasing. Here’s the real quote:
Lane Bryant, the retailer offering sizes 14-28, believes its customers are most concerned with comfort, then fit and finally style. “She’s not there on the cutting edge of fashion,” President Brian Woolf said. “She might be a year behind.”
Don’t let the fatshionistas hear you say that, buddy.
I was pretty surprised, considering that our own Marie Denee, the Curvy Fashionista, just attended a Lane Bryant bloggers conference. She wrote about her experience here, and Fat Chic (another blogger who attended the conference) had this to say:
I was absolutely fascinated by the creative process used to come up with the different styles each month. The designers and merchants know their competition, are inspired by it and are also determined to keep on as leaders of plus size (specialty size) fashion. They really do try to have something for everyone, as their envisioned customer is quite eclectic.
The major thing I learned: high fashion really does filter down to the commercial, and while I question why that’s necessary, for a company that produces new styles on a monthly turnover schedule, I can understand the need NOT to reinvent a wheel over and over.
So are they fashion backward or fashion forward? Do they believe in Fatshionistas, or do they believe we’re not interested in following the latest trend? Are their clothes overpriced or worth the money? Do you still own a pair of Right Fit jeans? Does it all, in the end, come down to your personal taste? Someone, anyone, TELL ME WHAT TO BELIEVE!
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I am also a former LB associate. I worked there from 2000 to 2005, and was there for the Limited -> Charming Shops transition. I have seen lots of hit-or-miss quality and style issues. Some of the items have been great, like a merino wool sweater duster that has been worn, washed, dried in the dryer, wadded up, and abused but still looks great, to t-shirts you can wear for a season if you’re lucky before they get too wide and too short. There have been seasons where I wanted one of everything in the store, and other seasons where nothing appealed to me, sometimes back to back. That’s also valid for the other stores I shop: Torrid, Avenue, Macy’s, Sears… I think it’s cyclical. But when you get something that’s really poor, like it’s ruined after one wash, the colors fade, it’s pilled, etc. Here’s what you should do: TAKE IT BACK! Get your money back, and let them know you have issues with the quality! Let them feel it in the pocketbook! Use your receipt to prove how recent the purchase was. If everyone did this they could not profit from poor quality. If you approach it politely, the associates won’t be mad at you, but they might be mad for you! They want to provide great products, too, and they aren’t commission, so they get paid the same whether you return an item or not.
I think that Charming Shoppes is really missing an opportunity to use all their stores and brands to build loyalty with certain groups. Catherines for those who want comfort and ease of wearability (comperable to Woman Within, Silhouettes), Fashion Bug for those who want affordable and trendy (comperable to Torrid, and smaller juniors stores), and Lane Bryant for those who want upscale style and career clothes. I think there is too much cross-over from one store to the other. The last time I was in FB, the jeans were just like the LB jeans, same labels and sizing, too. For a long time Lane Bryant was the leader; all the other stores looked to them to see what to do right. I really feel this image is slipping.
A note on career wardrobe: I don’t know if they still do, but LB used to tailor it’s selection based on the demographics where the store was. College towns had more jeans & tees, more trendy stuff, while big city downtown malls had more career seperates and more dresses. Also, there different classes / volumes of stores that might carry more or less selection. Don’t assume that all the stores will have the same items.
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