Retail Dive: Why plus-size fashion is still struggling with image problems

This article explores why plus sized clothing - especially in larger sizes - is still mostly an afterthought.

‘“For the most part, fashionable plus-sized clothing has been the domain of plus-exclusive retailers as well an increasing number of independent designers filling the unmet sartorial needs of their customers. Dalessandro is adamant that the lack of options for plus-sized women is a direct result of societal mores against more inclusive ideas about what it means to be beautiful.

‘“This has nothing to do with demand, and everything to do with how the society views women over a certain size,” Dalessandro said. “Retailers are still seeing plus-sized consumers as an afterthought. It’s not about numbers. If it were about numbers, then we’d have more options.”

‘Hana Ben-Shabat agrees. “I think it’s rooted in culture,” said Ben-Shabat, a partner in the retail practice of global strategy and management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. “The fashion industry and the film industry have always equated beauty with thinness.”‘

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6 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Yup. I do think it is changing. Albeit at a snail's pace.

DonnaF

I still find it hard to fathom that in such a materialistic and capitalistic place as the U.S., more options aren't available for Plus and Cusp size women since there's so much demand. Maybe this is why department stores and other brick'n'mortar retailers are dying.

Stagiaire Fash

I have a small quibble with the quote you pulled out, but otherwise agree entirely. I’m not so sure it’s retailers who see plus-sized customers as an afterthought. Isn’t it more designers who think that way, and who would rather design for a “standard” body than for petites or plus sizes?

Angie

Fashion Stylist

FashIntern, retailer buyers and management can dictate size curves and specifications to designers and brands. So it's not entirely the designer's discretion.

And what Shevia said.

Kari

While I obviously don’t have Angie’s insider knowledge, one experience I’ve had as a customer is when there are brands that ARE available in extended sizes, but some retailers choose only to buy/stock straight sizes from that brand, or to have their extended sizes online only.

kkards

very interesting article...for much of my early career I was part of buying/planning teams that catered to plus customers...I can tell you that its a tough business re sizing, if you think missy sizing is all over the place, plus was really challenging as to how the brands cut...and, at least back in the day, they weren't always consistent year over year.

but like DonnaF i'm really surprised that the US market is still so far beyond given the amount of money that seems to be out there as pent up demand...

Jane

Thank goodness things are changing. I think that by 2025, we will look back and I am hoping to see that a significant shift will have taken place.

rachylou

Oh, it’s a deep bias, this size/weight thing. Beyond fashion. Beyond good sense. You know, I had a doctor tell me I should be smaller, go down to 120 - 125 lbs. But get this, in the next breath she tells me at 115 lbs, she’ll put me in hospital for being under-weight. A 5-lbs difference if I went to 120. For me, that’s one McDonalds hamburger. Seriously, I can swing 5 lbs in a week by whether or not I eat one itty bitty $1 dollar burger. I’m like, ‘Do all y’all listen to yourselves?’

Jenni NZ

Well I don’t tell people that sort of thing. I struggle to lose any weight myself, so I sympathise and try to offer easy suggestions plus realistic goals. And those who can lose even a bit, definitely their blood pressure goes down, etc.
I do think the equating beauty with thinness is buried deep in current Western culture for at least 100 years- since the end of WW1 with the start of female emancipation, flappers, Coco Chanel etc. Not so long before that “Rubenesque” was the ideal.

Carla

Though I whine about having 'tall' issues (inseam and arm lengths), I do think plus size and petit folks have a much harder time at retail.

FWIW, I have twice been lured into a store by an attractive window display, only to realize the clothing would not be in my size. The lovely displays were both for stores with the unfortunate name 'Torrid'.

If only you were my doctor, Jenni (!)

OT: I miss my English primary care physician. She retired. She was very calm, very measured. She didn’t get excited about anything.

Thank you Rachylou, I appreciate it! I do think doctors can make fatter people feel shamed. I try not to do that but I am also affected by the cultural mores. Sorry Kari for going off topic.
The biggest fashion influencers like the recently deceased Karl Lagerfeld were known to be very fat-shaming. He was not the only one.

JAileen

My former doctor said to me, “Well, you’re not *very* overweight.” He was tone deaf, IMO. While a large percentage of his patients were elderly, he had rock climbing magazines in the waiting room. I ended up firing him for another reason.

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