I am doing a mini research project about how various clothing stores are marketing plus clothing of both genders.
And I’ve noticed a lot of the “boys husky” category. Just reading that makes me feel uneasy and dirty.
Does anyone else not like this phrasing? Can you think of anything better?
I’ve always wondered why they didn’t just use “plus size” like they do for girls and women. The phrase itself is gender neutral.
Husky was used 40 years ago when I was a kid. Its a bland and non offensive term for overweight boy’s clothing. It’s actually pretty clever because saying someone is husky could also mean big boned & muscular.
I don’t see a thing wrong with it. Why humiliate a teen boy with terms like plus size. He’s husky. He could play football as a tackle or center. 
Thats a lot better for the teen boy’s self esteem.
I doubt girls would consider husky a compliment. So they use a different term for their over weight sizes.
Ummmm… shit, I dunno. Malamute?
I suffered the shame of wearing “husky” clothing as a kid, but that was before the era of console gaming and fast food supersizing. Probably find those sizes in the “petite” section now.
I agree with aceplace57, and I remember it from 50 years ago.
The traditional definition of “husky” in this context is “big and strong; burly; brawny.” What about the term makes you feel “uneasy and dirty?” That strikes me as an odd reaction.
only if you’re contemplating catching and husking one
It just seems really like a really pejorative word for boys.
It also strikes me as one of those things that a mom or a grandmother would say about her child “oh he’s not fat! He’s just a husky boy aren’t you? Yes you are!” and even in that context it seems condescending to me.
Wouldn’t just having a “Boys Big and Tall” section be just as easy?
It only sounds pejorative because of the “treadmill of euphemisms” (I think the phrase is not quite that though, corrections welcome).
A euphemism generally gains the offense of the term it replaces, and eventually is replaced by another euphemism. It’s how “idiot” and “moron” were once medical terms, then were replaced by “retard”, etc etc.
I guess we have different perspectives because I don’t see it as pejorative. It doesn’t necessarily mean fat, but I agree that as a euphemism for fat it could be condescending.
ETA (forgot to say): The problem with “Big and Tall” is that the great majority of boys who fit the “husky” sizes aren’t tall, they’re just big.
What made me wince was the Chubbettes line of clothing for girls.
The jeans in my bottom left drawer are my “fat-ass” ones that I wear about six weeks out of the year, sold under the “relaxed fit” designation. I am not sure I find that any kindlier or more neutral than the traditional “husky” or “big men’s” designations.
What made me outright flinch was first encountering the Sag Harbor brand for women. I can’t believe it’s survived, however tony/country/old money the connotations might be.
Yes, I have an opinion about boys sizing/. I’m 5’10, which seems to be fairly normal, but I wear a 29 inseam, and lower-priced jeans never come in 29. So I either have to buy too long, or shop in the boys department. Which means there is absolutely no measured sizing at all. I have to pick out a bunch of pairs of 18s, and go and try them all on, so see if I am Husky or Slim, or whatever words they think of to describe the shapes of boys.
I don’t know why the hell boys clothing cannot come with the length of the inseam and the circumference of the waist measured according to some universal standard of weighs and measures that can be set in motion to determine the size of the goddam things and whom they will fit…
We have cars that stop themselves when there is a trike in the driveway, but we can’t master the technical intricacies of the bloody tape measure.
Yes, we can.
It’s the marketing department that can’t. Brands that have absolute, guaranteed sizes tend to have limited appeal because we’re so obsessed with body size. Vague designations, omission of numbers and size creep allow buyers to lie to themselves.
I wore husky sizes when I was a kid. I never thought of the term as embarrassing or negative. I was a husky kid which just meant I was big for my age.
Whenever I hear the word husky, I always think of this scene from “Taxi”, where Louie describes his clothes buying experience.
I don’t see it as negative at all. I agree with aceplace57’s reasons.
I was always a skinny kid. One time, Ward’s didn’t have a particular pair of pants I wanted that fit me in the regular boys’ sizes, so I tried on a husky pair a size smaller. Perfect fit!
That’s all I have to say about husky sizes.
“Husky” when I was a kid didn’t hurt my feelings nearly as much as when I had to buy a suit on short notice several years ago and had to take the closest thing they had to my size off the rack; turned out to come from the “portly” section.
Ouch.
Me too! Classic scene.