Open Letter to Plus Size Clothing Stores
While I'm not plus size, I have many friends who are so I shop at a lot of plus size stores. Since I've been blogging, I've started visiting plus size shops, online and in-store, more because I want to investigate the quality of the clothing I'm posting about. I've noticed some unfortunate habits of plus size clothing makers, and I've heard a lot of plus size women complain.
The most noticeable is that much of the plus size clothing is made for women who are six feet tall. Even the juniors cuts tend to be really tall. The sleeves are long. The legs are long. The skirts are long. The low rise pants come up to the bust line of many average height women. This doesn't make sense. Most of the plus size women I know are 5 foot 5 inches or shorter. Plus size petites in clothing stores are hard to find, and they shouldn't be.
Wide width shoe makers assume wide means big. Since many plus size women are short, they often have smaller feet. Not all plus size women wear a wide width shoe, but those that wear a small wide width will have trouble finding one in any size smaller than a nine. It should also be noted that any size women from a 2 to a 22 with a small, wide foot will have trouble finding a shoe that fits, which really shouldn't be such a problem.
The worst assumption of plus size clothing makers is that plus size women only shop online, and never need to try anything on. The more curves a girl has, no matter what size she is, the more difficult she is to fit. This means she needs to try things on. So, stores with great plus size lines (Old Navy, I am talking to you) need to carry those lines in the stores.
Plus size clothing makers, you are on notice. Start making some clothing for women of every height, not just the super tall and large footed. And carry the clothing in the stores so these women can try it on and have fun shopping with all their friends who wear all different sizes. Women just want to look fabulous. Don't make it so difficult.
Pictured:
Nikki Blonsky, a great, stylish example of petite plus size, wearing last year's version of this IGIGI dress.
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