[caribbeangirl02]

Found this article very interesting about how the Fashion Industry addresses the issue of clothing for Plus Size women. Was surprise to read how sizes have changed throughout the years. A little long for worth the time...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/ma...agazine&src=me

[Ciao]

You know, I'd actually love to see average women
modeling. Sometimes I see the VERY thin
runway models and I get sick to my stomach.
It always leads me to the question, "How much
pain and suffering did they put themselves
through to get that body, yet a lot of younger
girls look up to THEM?" True, some models are
just genetically blessed to be tiny, but a lot
of models are notorious for being bulimic and
not treating their bodies all too fairly. I just
wish for once I'd see an average, 5'4'' 140lbs
woman showing off a beautiful piece of clothing.

I really do like the change the article is talking
about. Even though it's still a shift, at least
there's movement.

[dcapulet]

On its Web site, Torrid shows its leggings and pencil skirts and lace tights on unambiguously large models.

i have to disagree here. although some of the torrid site shows true plus sizes, some of the girls look like a 10-12. They too seem to be trying to shake the "fat girl" image, although they are exclusively plus-size. There are bigger models, sure, but in the last few weeks I've been on the site and asking myself - is she REALLY plus-sized?

I worked for the mother company of that brand for a few years - before they were selling tons of 3x clothing. They didn't want to go up that high- they never thought anyone would buy it.

Interesting article, caribbeangirl02. thanks for sharing.

[Wysteria]

That was an interesting read, good find. I found the sizing hard to understand though because I'm not sure how US sizes compare to UK sizes.

Over here in the UK we've had plus size shops for years, Evans being the main one and a number of our staple fashion chain stores like New Look and Internatzionale carry plus size ranges.

Evans uses models that are about a UK size 16 to 18, which over here is actually the average size of a woman and it stocks size 14 to 32. New Look doesn't tend to bother with plus size models, it just shows the clothes. And actually, as a UK size 10, I have to say now I'm insanely jealous because some of the clothes in New Look's plus size range are more gorgeous than the ones in the regular store, lol. When I had to shop in that range I loved all the fabulously glam clothes and now... well, it's actually a little dull :/

As for models, there is a reason why there are so many of them are skinny and it's to do with the fact that all clothing samples are made in size 8 or 10 to save fabric. I agree that a lot of them are unhealthy and bad role models but then again so are really really huge people. There's a lot of stuff on UK tv about 'body confidence' and while teaching people to love their bodies is a good thing, it's skating over a lot of health issues. Love what you have but if you're endangering your health, do something about it.

The best 'plus size' role model is Crystal Renn. She's a fabulous woman with a beautiful figure, yes, she's bigger than the average but she's healthy. Not too big, not too small. And surely a healthy, wonderful body is what all women should aspire too.

[dragonwoman64]

Good read.

"Thin people are more like one another; heavier people are less like one another. With more weight comes more variation."

too true!

"The market for plus-size clothes is effectively a Catch-22: women purchase less than they might because what they see on the racks doesn’t appeal to them; manufacturers and retailers cite poor sales figures as evidence of low demand and retrench, failing to provide the supply that might meet changing tastes."

yep! I can go to the Macy's woman's department and 1/2 of the stuff there is almost clown like. I don't know who designs that stuff, if the buyers are blind or cruel, or what's happening.

it seems to me that people feel like encouraging kids/teens to feel good about themselves if they are big sends a bad message. I grew up as a heavy kid, and had to wear the worst clothes; it was horrible to go shopping. I don't think that's a recipe for encouraging self esteem, weight loss and a healthy body image.

really really huge people are pretty much squirrelled away media wise; those super thin models/actresses etc. are on tv, videos, in magazines, on and on -- ie seriously in the public eye.