As I've lost weight, I've noticed its getting harder and harder to find clothes that fit me in the women's section of stores like Walmart or Kohls etc.
I always see tons of jeans size 8-20 in the non-plus size section. But once you're size 6 or lower, it's much rarer and sometimes you end up in the juniors section to find anything that fits. I'm more likely to see those smaller sizes in the women's department if it's for petites, but I am definitely not petite at 5'9. AKA I can fit the petite jeans, but they look like capris instead of jeans.

I did find a good website that explains my struggle to find small sizes. It didn't make any sense why the small sizes were always gone when most of America is fat and wouldn't be buying them in the first place.
http://youlookfab.com/2011/03/14/why...under-stocked/
So there is not only discrimination of large sizes in the plus category, but there is also discrimination at the smaller end of the scale.

Now I'm kinda irritated because I don't have as much selection as I used to because they simply don't make enough small sizes anymore. I'm thin enough to wear anything, but everything is baggy.

i shop juniors.You could also try non department stores or thrift stores.

I can only shop in juniors. Even xs woman's are way too big in most stores. My sister who's a model(still a healthy weight though) has a seriously issue finding clothing small enough for her :/ She can only fit into an extra small juniors. Its very very annoying. I remember being a size 8-10 was like the best for clothes shopping. So many pretty clothes.

yup, options are so limited! it definitely goes to both ends of the scale. As a size 4/6 it's hard to find clothes, but as an 18/20 it was also hard. I'm going to second Dottington--sizes 8-10 and 10/12 were the best for clothes shopping for me.

Now, I shop thrift stores or juniors now to have more options.

Can you have the stores order a smaller size for you?

There is an extreme variety of sizes in shirts XS-XL in the SAME store! I generally fit in XS-M range, with S being the most typical right now. But sometimes XS is huge and sometimes M is small. I also thought about how tough it would be for models to find clothes when I'm struggling and I'm nowhere near as thin as them!
I think the presumption is "if you lose weight, you get to wear whatever you want because skinny looks good in anything". But it's not true. Clothes still have to fit properly or it looks like crap.

Mandee's, Forever 21, H&M and Bebe are all quite small - as long as you stick with the basics, the quality is fine in Junior's stores. For pants, designer ones run really small and I've found fancy ones in TJ Maxx and Marshall's - not a lot. Burlington coat factory too. JBrands run super small.

I would have no trouble finding the small sizes here, perhaps it's regional?

I don't have problems finding smaller sizes either. I also know which stores fit and in what sizes. For example at Express I wear a pant size 2 petite or a S button down shirt, so I order online.

At Target or Old Navy, I'd just go with the smallest size and hope they fit. It's not common for me to shop off the rack - usually just online.

No matter what you're buying, the best selection and price are always found in products geared toward the average. The further you are from spot-on mid-average, the less you'll find and the more you'll pay.

From a manufacturing perspective it makes sense. If 90% of your customers fall between a size 8 and 16, why wouldn't you focus on those sizes?

The smallest and largest are always going to have the most difficulty finding clothes, shoes, hats, socks, bras.... whatever, that fits.

Hey that's quite smart of you to notice and analyze these marketing 101 trends...Thats a required college class you know...You should sail through that class with a breeze...

I didn't know this was happening. In Brazil is sooooo hard to find plus sizes and soooo easy to find sizes 2, 4, 6 and 8..... It is quite hard to be obese here! Now the shops are starting to sell more pluz sizes, but this is something new here.

The article is interesting, but Walmart (no offence) is hardly a fashion mecca. I would hardly believe they would deliberately limit the buying opportunities of their clients if given a choice in the matter.