This is more a question of economics, than of taste, I suppose. It seems like very trendy clothing lines don’t make their clothes past certain sizes. But with over 50% of americans overweight, wouldn’t they sell more clothes if they made them in sizes that fit more people?
Also, would the popularity of really trendy clothes wane if everybody could fit in them? i.e. is a woman of average size going to be put off by a clothing line she saw worn on a 300 lb woman?
I dunno for sure, but a lot of the ‘trendy’ styles tend to not translate well on women with a fuller figure. And, just a wild guess, but I think maybe price might be an issue. Plus sizes are already more expensive than normal sizes. Can you imagine how much they’d cost if the clothes were $50-100 BEFORE being plus sized?
I am pulling this theory out of my ass, but recently I had my class read a bunch of articles that closely linked obesity with poverty/education level. If this theory is true, I suppose it could be said that people who can afford “trendy” clothes are more than likely not going to be plus size, so perhaps clothing lines feel that it is a waste of money.
Define ‘trendy.’ Are you talking $5,000 Prada dresses or $100 Juicy sweatpants? I knew a large-ish actress who had gobs of money and loved fashion, but couldn’t find anything that fit. She used to buy two of everything and have it sewed into one, I kid you not.
Beats the hell out of me…although it is getting better.
Things I could never or rarely find as a plus-sized woman:
a classic black sleeveless sheath dress. What? Fat women don’t need a good black dress they could wear under a jacket?
straighter cut skirts - nothing like a big floofy gored skirt to make your ass look even broader
clothing made of silk or linen
Things I could ALWAYS find as a plus-sized women:
big tunic tops with appliqued kittens, holiday packages and rhinestones
stirrup pants (possibly the worst thing ever in the history of the world)
heavy bulky poly blend fabrics
matchy-matchy sets that just looked ridiculous
When I was MO - it was damned hard to find well-made, classic (forget trendy, pal - that’s a pipe dream!) clothes. There were a few diamonds amongst the drek - August Max Woman (gone), The Forgotten Woman (very high-end boutique started by a plus-sized woman with a wealthy husband) (gone), Elisabeth (Liz Claiborne’s plus-sized line), Ulla Popken (European-style - unique things), Forth & Towne (the GAP branch that had amazing classically styled, very rich looking clothes for women sizes 2-20) that lasted about 2.5 seconds before the GAP closed it.
Now - it’s a bit different. Lines like Jones New York, Eileen Fisher, Dana Buchman, Talbots, Coldwater Creek, Torrid (Hot Topic’s plus-sized line), Daphnes (NYC), Salon Z (Saks Fifth Avenue), Pamela Dennis (for QVC) all carry plus-sized lines. As far as high-end designers, there are a few, but you have to hunt really, really hard.
VCNJ~
Que?
WAG: Morbidly obese.
I read on another forum (etiquettehell I think) about a woman who was large as in tall and broad rather than obese. She and her friend went into a fashionable shop to look at the bridal gowns. While the other brides were fawned over the larger lady was ignored and when the bridesmaid complained the manager informed them that they didn’t want larger people wearing their clothes as it was bad advertising. Now that’s just one story but if clothing manufacturers of fashionable items have a similar mindset then it’s no wonder that fashions for larger people are limited.
I agree that many fashions don’t translate to the larger figure. There are designers who cater to the bigger gals, but they are expensive. I’m not a large girl, but in my opinion, bbw fashions have come a long way in the past 20 years. Back in the day there were two options: Black caftan or Hawaaiian muumuu. There are many flattering designs now. It may not be perfect, but it’s coming along.
Sorry - yes, morbidly obese.
VCNJ~
Ah, thanks. (I’ve read too many detective novels – couldn’t get past “modus operandi.” 
)
Trust me, as I’ve said before, you don’t want to see the muffin top these hips are capable of! Y’know the “trendy” jeans of the last couple years which make Paris Hilton look a little chunky? They make me look like something waiting for a harpoon and a seaboat captain with OCD.
To alter a pattern for a plus size requires more than additional fabric. You actually have to change the shape of the pattern pieces, especially for women who are not just overweight, but extra curvy. I have a few pairs of (Lane Bryant, I think) jeans which sort of mimic the low-rise, tight-ass flared bottom jeans that are (were?) trendy, but if you look closely, the “low-rise” hit me about an inch and a half below my bellybutton, instead of the trendy 4-6 inches. It needed to do that to contain the hippage directly to the side. A low-rise jean that hit me 4-6 inches below my navel would also hit that spot underneath my hip fat, and look utterly ridiculous. My jeans aren’t quite Mom Jeans, but they’re close.
Ditto with shirts. The long slim tight T that’s trendy now is an improvement, but I still look better with something that has a little more shaping to it - I’ll choose a princess seam or one of those blousey shirts with “cups” at the bust and flowing fabric down the rest over a T shirt anytime I want to look good - it defines my curves and shows off my great waist (which is broader than I like, but still a good feature on me) in a way that’s flattering. In a straight clingy T, my curves look like a poorly stuffed sausage.
So clothing designers design clothes that can be “upsized”, but only so far. It’s just the nature of sewing. After a certain point, you’re better off just starting over again with a new pattern that’s more flattering to the body type you’re now designing for. It’s not just that we have more fat, it’s that we have a different shape. And, we have a greater variety of shape. Another woman just the same height and weight as I am might be apple-shaped, with a no discernible waist and skinny legs. The same clothes will not flatter both of us, even if we wear the same size. While this is true of slim women as well, it’s more true the more fat you put on. Most of us have approximately the same arrangement of muscle, bone and sinew. Fat placement is more unique.
After reading a few responses, here’s my WAG as a sales and marketing manager in a technical field, so don’t bet the ranch on it.
To understand this, you need to realize that most corporate decisions are made with the fear that something won’t work, and the person making the suggestion or decision will be looking where to make his or her next suggestion. Corporations are often years behind the times because people don’t want to take a chance. Marketing often is done wrong, so decisions which should be no brainers are often screwed up.
The fashion industry is driven by the top designers and the haute couture shows, which are just show pieces for the new designs. However, the pieces which will go into the store are also designed by the top designers and their crew and these people are still working in a world where plus sized women are shot first and then questioned second.
After the top labels hit the streets, the secondary labels then copy cat, but essentially still keeping with the same general outline. As WhyNot has pointed out, it takes more of an overhaul to change designs to meet large sizes so it’s easier to just pump out ones for the smaller sizes.
Same thing as the Targets and other stores copy. If fact, it gets worse here (and we’ll have to thank my research assist for this valuable knowledge). Because all these dresses are getting sewed in China and other places, they don’t have American sized models to try on the clothes and you get the dreaded camel toe. (OK, I can’t afford a research assistant, my sister a seamstress hobbyist found that out on the net and I had to pretend I didn’t know what a camel toe was.)
Anyway, with the constant change in season clothes and fashion changes, I think that people are just missing the boat. I’m sure that it will occur eventually and then you’ll get others jumping on.
As a larger woman myself, I simply cannot understand why the designers don’t just find some larger women and ask them what they want in clothing. There are enough of us out there!
Some ideas: I do not want clingy fabrics. I know I am overweight, I do not want to advertise every crease and fold to the world.
Reasonable designs/prints, etc. Who in the world came up with the bright idea of putting horizional stripes on a 3X shirt? I saw it while shopping at T.J. Maxx and actually cried out in pain.
What is trendy/cute on a size 2 may not be flattering on a 1X. Babydoll tops? They make a size 2 look pregnant; they are going to make people make me lie down and call the paramedics. (No, I didn’t even try it on, but I have a good imagination.)
And don’t get me started on elastic waistbands. I tolerate them in sweatpants or pajama pants, but I am not going to buy jeans or (sob) dress pants with an elastic waistband!
To echo what others have said, in my experience those few designers who make a nod to plus sizes just say, “Oh, put some rhinestones on it! Those fat gals just love the flash!”
Anyway, it’s a good question. There’s a gold mine to be made, and its foolish to leave it it to the Blair Mail Order catalogs of the world.
“Babydoll tops” is a huge category, and depending on your shape, some of them might be lovely. Really.
This shape or this shape are very flattering on plus size hourglass shapes like me (although I think those particular fabrics are frightening.) This? Uh…yeah…no. Not in a million years. It’s got to have some shaping underneath the bust to work well with curves.
Well, to be fair, many designers and stores do appeal to plus sizes but keep the number of designs to a minimum and/or change the name that is sewn into the label so you don’t associate Calvin Klein or Prada with obesity, and some stores go out of the way to keep you from finding their plus size clothes.
For example, when I moved to NYC a few months ago I needed to get some new clothes for work. I went with a friend to Macy’s since she had a gift card. Now, Macy’s here is HUGE and having never been in the store before we approached a sales associate on the 3rd floor. We asked for directions to the plus sized section of the store and were curtly told that Macy’s does not carry plus sizes. When we held up the store map (which was useless by the way…it was a 9 story building and the map didn’t differentiate between floors, only departments) and pointed out to her that there was a section listed there marked “plus sizes” she insisted it was a typo and that we should go to Lane Bryant.
Not to be deterred, we searched until we finally found what we were looking for on the 9th floor in the very, very back. Behind the old lady sweaters with kittens and ribbed cuffs on the sleeves, behind the childrens swimsuits section, off in a completely separate room in the back of the very top floor, was the plus sized section. It had some fantastic stuff and much of it was on clearance, up to 80% off, so we had a grand time trying things on and taking advantage of the huge sale. I bought lots of stuff for work since everything was on clearance and actually got a compliment from a Broadway star a few weeks ago about one of the shirts I bought that day.
This store could have been making a fortune off of plus sized clothes, many of which were designed by the same designers we had seen on the 3rd floor, but because of the negative image associated with being heavy it was nearly impossible to find and we were told by an associate to take our business elsewhere. I guess they would rather lose the money than have fat people be able to say, “Yeah, I got it at Macy’s!”
And, see? That’s just stupid. Everyone knows the fat chicks really like airbrushed unicorns and/or witticisms about just “hand[ing] over the chocolate, and nobody gets hurt.” :rolleyes: Geez.
Actually, my friend in California says that the mall where she lives has a Macy’s Plus store right next to the Macy’s. So maybe things are changing?
And as far as tops…I just want to say I ABHOR the summer/spring trend of nearly all the plus sized tops having little or no sleeves. I don’t know about others but I can’t stand my flabby arms and so I won’t wear anything that’s more than an inch above my elbow. >,< But for some reason designers insist on that style.
I’m also a plus size hourglass figure, and none of those would look good on me simply because the “waist” on the pieces would not be in the right place on my long torso. You’ve just outlined exactly why I avoid anything with “bust details” on them-- the combination of a large bust and a long torso leads to a bad fit or an unflattering look in those shapes more often than not. I’m lucky if I can keep my torso properly covered in regular tops and pants, so I’m going to miss tunic lengths when they go back out of style.
