Those of us older plus-size women can remember a time when “mail order” sack-like house dresses, Lane Bryant, and the men’s department were the main shopping options for our size. We were told to dress all in black or navy because dark, solid colors were considered more slimming; god forbid anyone see our bodies for what they actually were – FAT. Even now there are designers who will not size their clothing lines for larger women because they don’t want their designs “ruined” by being on a lumpy “imperfect” body.

And yet some progress has been made in the plus-size industry in just the past few years. The classics like Lane Bryant and Avenue are still around. There are popular mainstream brands that have added plus sizing to their product lines – Anthropologie, Loft, Madewell, Target, Nordstrom. However, some brands are declaring themselves as “catering to ALL sizes of women” to get in on the burgeoning plus-size market, but still stopping their sizing at a relatively low level. They are actually catering to the “small fats,” and not including the larger sized woman. It’s frustrating (if not downright disheartening), as a larger plus sized woman, to not be included in “all.” Isn’t “all” ALL??

Why do some of us have to keep fighting to be included? In Getting DRESSED??? In Feeling Seen?? In Not Feeling Like a Second Class Citizen?

I so appreciate the stores that are including plus size…and doing it RIGHT. The first time I walked into Anthropologie, I was Blown Away by the size and appealing merchandising of the plus-size section. It was right smack in front of the register counter and ran the full-length of the store. It had its own clearance section…which was huge!! So often in “mixed size” stores the entire plus section is next to, if not mixed in with, all the other departments’ clearance section. It’s in the back of the store or the basement, in some dreary section of the store off the main drag.

It’s no wonder so many women have been shopping mainly online for their plus size clothing. The problem with that is brick&mortar stores are losing revenue to online retailers and then they don’t want to give plus size clothing much real estate because there’s not as much return as straight sizes. It’s a catch-22. We don’t want to shop in the messy basement…but because we don’t spend our money there, they’re going to keep us in the messy basement! I think we need to keep trying to vote with our $$ and show the retailers If They Sell It, We Will Come.

Another area that is slow-growing is visual representation in marketing. It’s just not enough for brands to CARRY plus size. They need to SHOW the items in their marketing on plus-size bodies! It’s like they’re saying, we’re going to carry big clothes for you, but shhh, we don’t want it to LOOK like we are. We’ll take your money, but let’s just keep that between us, shall we? Ugh. And not just PRETTY plus size models! I want to see how something looks on a big belly! I want to be able to look at a picture and know that if an item looks good on the model it will look good on me! I can’t tell that At All from a 5’9″, long-legged, flat-stomached model.

I hate to whine about something (do I though??) that is, truly, so much better than it used to be. BUT, just because it’s “better,” relatively speaking, still doesn’t make it GOOD. And The Plus Size Industry Should Be As Good as The Straight Size! And I’m afraid that if the industry seems better that companies will stop trying. They’ll think the problem is solved. But it’s not.

So with all the progress that has been made, there is the need for So Much More. I think until EVERY clothing store carries plus sizes…and fashion marketing campaigns show large plus size women…and until every single item in straight sizes has a plus-size counterpart…the fight is not over. Is the plus-size industry moving forward? Yes. But it’s just coming around the first bend. There’s still a long way to go.

And what can you do to help?

  • Spend your money at size-inclusive brands.
  • When you can, go in-store to shop.
  • Use your social media voice to tag brands in requests for more sizing range.

What I Wore for My Rant

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