Favourite Plus Size Clothing Stores - San Diego?

Meeting up with my Mom in the San Diego area this coming May, and she *loves* shopping for clothes here in the US. I've been out of plus size clothing for quite some time now, and don't have a good understanding of where the best places to shop are.

I've taken her to Macy's in the past - mixed bag, because as I've noticed, there are "good Macy's" and "bad Macy's" stores. This seems to be true of a lot of dept. stores. I think some just have more selection or something along those lines.

She loves getting bargains too, so we've been to Ross (mixed bag there too, great ones in Florida for finding plus items, but there are some Ross stores that have hardly any plus items). Same thing with Marshall's, and we went to one TJ Maxx and it didn't really have anything in plus sizes. Weird with Kohl's as well - a store in Colorado had a decent selection, but not in Utah.

I am determined to get her to Nordstrom - there's a Nordstrom opening in Vancouver sometime in the next year or so at Pacific Centre, but because they don't currently ship to Canada (well, not without that dreaded FiftyOne service), she's never tried Nordstrom. Is there a particularly good store in San Diego area - with hopefully a good selection of plus sized items?

Any other suggestions for fab 'in-store' plus size clothes shopping?

Thanks in advance...looking forward to shopping with Mom

12 years ago

Nicole D

Veteran

I don't know about brick and mortar stores but Ulla Popken is a good online resource.

velvetychocolate

Thank you Nicole! I'd never heard of that site - it looks pretty good, and they do ship to Canada. Much appreciated

jennifer

How about Lane Bryant,Catherines, Dress Barn, Torrid,Ashley Stewart,Coldwater Creek, Land's End /Sears?

Thistle

What type of clothes does your mom shop for? Business wear I love Talbots. I boarder between plus size and regular size, and they have a fantastic selection of both.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

I can't speak to San Diego specifically, but: for plus sizes only, look for Avenue and Lane Bryant stores.

As you've noted re Ross, the discount stores can vary a lot by location in their range of plus sized options. Ross, Marshall's, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, Target, and Dress Barn are all worth considering.

Nordstrom is of course great on the pricier end and you could order ahead online and try on there, also. Talbots is my favorite pick for plus sized business wear and they carry plus petite, too. Check to see which stores have a plus section because I don't know if all stores have them.

Oh yeah, both Torrid and Forever 21's plus line are aimed at a younger demographic, but they can work for casual basics and the occasional fun t-shirt.

Thank you everyone! My Mom seems to like 'business casual' clothing, for the most part. She loves to shop and wants to be able to shop in-store and in- person while visiting the US. It's just nicer to be able to try stuff on before deciding what to buy. She'll also order online, but sometimes it's a major hassle ordering from US sites to Canada.

I will look and see if there's a Talbot's store that has plus sizes in the area and do a search on any Nordstrom stores in the area and see what reviewers are saying.

Very useful to hear that Talbot's has plus-petites, because my step-Grandma needs these items - and my Mom does most of the shopping for her. I just hope that plus sizes and/or plus-petite sizes aren't all "online only".

I'll make a list and look for Dress Barn Woman, Talbot's Woman, and see what Avenue and Lane Bryant have to offer, while also scoping out whether the local dept. stores have good plus-size offerings.

Meanwhile, I hadn't considered ordering online ahead re: Nordstrom. That might be a good idea! Can you pre-order a bunch of stuff from Nordstrom to be shipped to a particular store, go in and try the stuff on and keep what works and 'return' what doesn't? I realize that's asking a lot, but it would be easier and better than ordering a bunch of stuff to be shipped to Canada, being burned by FiftyOne, and then dealing with return hassles. Having said all of that, it would be way better if the local Nordstrom store just happened to have a fabulous selection of plus-sized clothing to try on and buy on the spot.

I haven't looked - do the brick-and-mortar Nordstrom stores have a good selection of plus sized clothing?

Thanks again everyone for chiming in on this topic, much appreciated

Sheila

Fashion Valley: Nordstrom, Macy's. Shopped both stores many times and they are first-rate

Thank you Sheila! Being that I'm not native to California, I had no idea about Fashion Valley mall - and it's good to know that the Macy's and Nordstrom stores there are first-rate. I'll put Fashion Valley on my list - thanks again!!

LindaSoCAl

Active Member

Delurking to agree with Sheila that Fashion Valley is the best Nordstrom in San Diego. Lots of other great stores as well including a Bloomingdales and Niemans

hedgiehog

Agree with Thistle that Talbots is a great store to try. I also border between regular and plus and I usually wind up in their petite plus, whatever the garment. If you do locate one, call to see if they carry the pplus before you go. There are two Talbots near me and only one of them carries the pplus line. They usually have a great variety and are not limited.

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