Today at lunch, I ordered over $300 worth of plus-size sports bras from Junonia.com. While I’m thankful for the existence of online shopping so that I have access to hard-to-find items, it really chaps my ass that it’s necessary for me to have to buy hundreds of dollars of merchandise in order to try on a variety of styles and sizes and then have to return the stuff I don’t want instead of just having the option to go to a store and try stuff on.
Which leads me to my question…why is it so difficult to find exercise gear in larger sizes? Do only Barbie-sized people really exercise? With all of the trumpeting about how overweight we’re becoming as a society, wouldn’t you think that exercise clothing for people that need to lose weight would be a major niche that needs to be filled? Why is all of the available exercise gear I find at places like Dick’s sized for people who in no way need to lose weight? Even the stores geared towards plus-sized people such as Lane Bryant and Avenue don’t carry anything even remotely resembling exercise clothing.
I don’t get it. While I’m thrilled with stuff at Junonia, their prices are (IMO) extremely high. As if there weren’t enough impediments to getting sufficient exercise, having to jump through hoops such as online shopping and sports bras that cost about half my monthly income just seems ridiculous.
It is all a pernicious plot to keep overweight people from exercising. Maybe it is not fashionable to see us at the gym or on the street? I am back down to “regular” women’s sizes and the difference in selection is astonishing. I’m sorry you’re having trouble finding exercise clothing. I have had better luck at JCPenney’s and Wal-Mart than in places catering to size 6 stick-people.
Maybe it’s all an incentive to excercise, that after you’ve done enough of it, then you can buy the clothes for it since you’ll fit into them. Sorta’ like a reward…
I didn’t have any trouble buying a few pairs of sweat pants at the Big and Tall when I started exercising. And I had a lot of t-shirts that I wouldn’t normally have worn that I wear to the gym. Why do you need anything more elaborate than sweats and a shirt?
Amen, sister! I’ve recently lost enough weight that I can almost shop in regular-sized-people stores, but I have always been furious about the selection (and the price) of larger-sized clothes.
I remember being an overweight 8th grader and crying because I couldn’t fit my fat ass into the cool clothes (did you ever notice the sheer amount of gold lame one will find in a plus-size store?). I remember being a freshly-on-my-own twentysomething and not being able to afford a new bra. Seriously, does the extra five inches of material required between a B and a DD need to cost twenty dollars?
There are a very few retailers out there who seem to be getting the hint. Women exist above a size 12. And some of us want to look pretty on occasion. I’m going to stop now before I go on a rant about media imaging and a return to Renaissance values, when I would be considered hot, and all the Barbie dolls would be thought sickly.
Otto, re-read the OP. Sports bras. Trust me, big girls cannot exercise without them.
Jadis, it is another online option with all the hassles they have, but have you tried Just My Size. IIRC, they have sports bras and other workout gear at more reasonable prices than Junonia. Probably lower quality, too, but with luck, you won’t be wearing the same size for long anyway.
Try inflating your testicles to the size of large grapefruits/small cantelopes. Now try going for a jog or attending an aerobics class.
That is what is required beyond sweats and a t-shirt.
Jadis You might try Title 9 Sportswear they fit women up to DDD with the sports bras. Alas, they aren’t particularly cheap either, but it’s nice to have options.
I once took three flights of stairs at top speed sans bra. (I had to run, else I would have missed the ice cream truck.) I looked like I’d gone five rounds in the ring with Rocky. You never appreciate the idea of a sports bra until you desperately need one.
I did see about the sports bras but the OP seems to be talking about workout clothing in general beyond that. More power to anyone who can get plus-size clothes of any sort into non-plus-size stores but I still think that there’s gotta be some place in any given town where a woman of any size can get sweat pants and t-shirts without spending a fortune.
While we are on the subject, you know what else bothers me? Order a Lane Bryant magazine (my mom gets it), and all the plus size clothes are modeled by size 4 and 6 models. What’s up with that?