Lane Bryant Flyer--Perpetuating a Lie!!!
 

Alright, this is going to be a weird rant. Although I cannot wear any clothes from LB anymore (with probably the exception of bras), I spent almost my entire 20's obese and spent thousands of dollars for clothes from this store, since I felt it was the only place I could find clothes that FIT that didn't make me look matronly. It didn't matter how cute the stuff was, it didn't look good on me, cause I was FAT. However, I still get the mailers from LB because up until last year, I was buying stuff from there all the time. I'm sure they wonder what happened to me, LOL!!

Now, onto my rant. The mailer I got yesterday, and the models. Um, these women are MY SIZE now, and no way can they fit into the clothing. But in all the pages, there they are, flat stomachs, big ol' breasts, no rolls, no cellulite, not a lot of junk in the trunk. UNREALISTIC. I know they do this to sell clothes, but it seems to me that they are perpetuating a lie that obesity is OK, and that their clothes will make you look THAT GOOD if you buy it. So maybe I want to see a size 22/24 model actually wearing the clothes, instead of people with healthy-overweight BMI ranges. So weird as it sounds, I'm pissed at LB for making me live in denial about how big I was getting. Which I know is crazy. How can I blame a store? :dizzy:

Maybe I had too much caffeine this AM...

LB models bear the same similiarity, or lack thereof, to the plus sized population as do regular models to the regular sized population.

In other words, just about none!! lol! It's called aspirational marketing - you hope to look as good as the models do, and that's whether you are a 24 or 14 or a 4. But realistically, no one in real life is going to look as good as a photo - not just because the models have unrealistically perfect bodies, but because they tweak and pin and pull the clothes to flatter, in ways you can not achieve in real life. And don't even get me started on photoshop!

Yeah, maybe dial back on the caffeine... ;)

Jay

Maybe if I couldn't find clothes anywhere that fit I would have forced myself to lose weight...

Just like if my DH would have complained about my size instead of loving me, accepting me no matter my size and never complaining about my weight, I would have felt incentive to do something about it.

I think that is where I am coming from, and yes, it is illogical.

Photoshop is a HUGE part of that. A friend of mine use to model for a plus size fashion magizine when she was a size 12. She is a size 24 now so they wouldn't hire her but even at a 12 they would edit out her rolls, perk up her boobs and nip in her waist.

I think it helps to remember that those models don't look like that either.

And yeah, I get that photoshop is done to sell, and is not a tool to keep the plus-sized population heavy.

I don't think they necessarily use "fat" models, I think they use tall average (or just a sliver) overweight models. Generally, those girls who weigh 180 and are 6 feet tall look fabulous compared to someone who is 180 and 5 feet tall. There's where the smoke and mirrors comes into play. Those 180 6 feet tall women look normal and proportioned - and can't get work in Tyra Bank's or Heidi Klum's world where being 6 ft. tall and a model requires a weight of 105 pounds. My 2 cents :)

This. In reality at close to 6 feet tall they might be wearing a size 14 at Lane Bryant but definitely not over a 20. I really wish they would put women in their adds that are in the middle of their size range! One thing I do like about the store, though, is that when you go there the attendants are all wearing the clothes and they dress themselves well in them. At least at the one I used to shop at I was always surprised how well they pull off the clothes! And many times they were just your average woman (my height vs. pushing 6 feet tall) and many times they were in the higher sizes too.

I do have to question if you're actually wearing their bras, though? If you can't fit into their clothes are you sure your band size is 36" or above? Have you measured yourself recently? Sorry I had to ask because it's always good to remeasure yourself as you lose (remember band=underbust measurement, don't add inches!).

Most clothing brands use women who are on the lower end of the range they are looking to sell to... And -then- they even photoshop the heck out of them.

Super models are size 0 or 2. Plus-sized models are size 10-14. And they're almost always 5'10"+.

For me, I do not blame the store. I worked at an office for many years, and although I wasn't ready to lose weight, I still wanted to look professional. I may not have looked like a model, but I did look nice and well-kept. Even if I get down to a regular-size I have no fantasies of looking like a clothing model.

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to dress nicely at any size. There's a demand for women who need plus sized clothing that isn't muumuus. Lane Bryant is one of the stores that fills that demand.

Or, OTOH, you might have just crawled into a hole and waited to die, which is how so many 3FC members have felt.

Jay

I agree- Lane Bryant tries to project an attitude of looking good at any size and then they have models who would look good in any clothes!! Show me a woman who's 5'6 and wears a size 18 looking smexy in some jeans and maybe I'll actually buy them. When I see a woman who's 6 feet tall and wears a 10 looking smexy in jeans, I just assume she'd look good in anything! It's like make-up commercials. Don't use all these hot young things actresses that look like they've never had a zit in their life to tell me that your foundation covers up "flaws." That girl is flawless already! Show me some tired, pockmarked, 40 year old who looks a lot better than she did when she woke up!

I see the same thing with Torrid, their models looks so "small" compared to the size of the clothes they're supposed to be selling. One thing you have to remember (as others have said) is that a tall person wearing a 12/14 is certainly different than a shorter person wearing a 12/14.

I used to be a part of Torrid's fan page and I remember a lot of women ranting that the models don't look plus sized. However if you look at some of their models' measurements, they really ARE plus sized. Between photoshopping, height and good genetics, they generally won't look like plus sized women.

Denise Bidot is a plus size model who models quite a bit of clothing lines and her measurements put her firmly in the plus sized range, yet I've seen so many people say she doesn't look plus sized.

No, I do not wear bras from there, since I can wear Victoria's Secret now. I'm currently a 36DD, and I do have a pushup bra from LB that I bought awhile back and it still kind of works, but I figure why shop there and pay an arm and a leg if I can go elsewhere

Anybody get the Junonia catalog? They have real plus-size women modeling their stuff, you can tell the difference between theirs and Lane Bryant's (or Roaman's, or Woman Within). I remember I watched the premiere episode of Biggest Loser one season (the one where they started out with somebody from each of the 50 states) and the first person they eliminated was a Junonia model from Minnesota

DezziePS: what's "smexy"?

I read somewhere that Marilyn Monroe, in today's standards, would be considered overweight....and she was a bombshell!

LB can get away with using those models because they sell for big and tall...not just .... big. I never liked the cut of their clothes on me.

Speaking of bras, the girls are shrinking. I could get away with using the 3rd set of hooks instead of the first, but now the cups are a little loose. I think I'll wait for another 10 pounds tho. Meanwhile, I can wear high-waisted pants and just stuff one into each pocket.

That MM thing is an urban legend. A few years ago some museum did a retrospective of her more iconic gowns and they published the measurements. I compared them to a Gap size chart. She would have been a zero, four at her largest (which probably WAS a 12 at that time). You can look at the pictures, she's teeny.

I hate LB. Their clothes are awful. They haven't always been, but they're so awful. How you can charge that much for something made of polyester - and POORLY made at that, I'll never know. I also hate that when you walk through the store, you can see the size 12 clothes clamped and tucked onto the size 8 (which is bigger than the average mannequin, to be fair) mannequin. THAT is the real lie - something will look like it has some structure and shape, then you pick up the actual garment and it's a big ol' box with sleeves.

I don't ask that they use models on the largest end of their size range. I know if that would sell clothes, they would do that. They are not in the business of boosting my self esteem, they are in the business of selling clothes. We all SAY we want to buy clothes shown on women our size, but the research and sales do not hold up. I DO think they should not be allowed to PIN a garment into a shape it does not make and show that online. That is false advertising.

I am so disappointed in LB. Ten to twelve years ago, they sold things that were pretty current and on trend with regular size clothes. Now they're like this super special bedazzled fat girl line of stuff that either looks like it's made for a five year old or snazzy granny.

I do agree with this. Lately I haven't found as many things there that I would buy. I'm just holding off buying too many things until I drop into the size 18 range when there will probably be a couple more choices.

I used to like them for more professional clothing, but lately it seems that their connection with Fashion Bug is having an effect on their clothes.

I can totally understand the rant, but Lane Bryant I believe sells down to a size 12 ( or is that Torrid? ) but it's at least a 14, cause that is what I wear from them. I got the same mailer, and I thought they looked like they could wear the clothes, just the smallest size they came in.

i am one of those nearly 6 ft women. according to those useless bmi charts, i could be as low as about 120 pounds and be "healthy":(((. and, sizes and pounds are constantly assessed in terms of an "average" shorter woman. So if I wear a 14, I'm considered huge according to clothes sizes. And I do have fat in my stomach that I want to get rid of. But others say that I'm not fat. it has been a long time since i even tried on anything at lane bryant so i can't say about there. but in general, i don't buy plus size tops (if the top don't go all the way down to my hips) or even plus size pants but i do have to have bigger pants because my bottom is bigger than my top. now fashion and the media have gotten so bad that size 10 is often considered "plus"??? so if you tell anyone you wear a size 10 or over, they sometimes assume you are fat. i'm just so sick of how women have to be so small to be considered "acceptable."

thinner...I envy your height, and I lie about mine. The lie has nothing to do with my weight...I just like "being a little taller." :)

This made me laugh.

hah well thanks i guess. being taller has its advantages sometimes, but it's also a disadvantage because men seem to prefer shorter women, who can be described as "cute", or "petite", where i will never inspire that "cute" feeling. i used to want to be short soooo bad. and my preference is for a tall guy my height or more, but they tend to get swamped by the barbies and some of them want the short women:(. so it's a no win situation, but the height is the one thing i can do nothing about regardless.

To be honest, I'm less likely to buy clothes on Lane Bryant and Torrid-sized. I'm conscious of the fact that I like even basic clothing on Gap models more than I like similar clothing on Torrid models, which makes me buy it from Gap instead, even though I know it's not actually going to look on me the way it does on the size 2 Gap model. If I'm on a clothing store's website, it's because I'm willing to spend money. Looking at the clothes on the bigger models already makes me frustrated because I don't feel that it looks good on them, which makes the shopping experience less enjoyable. If they looked like me, it would feel even more like a chore.

:shrug:

I've seen a lot of taller men/shorter women combination and I wonder if it has to do with the guy wanting to (subconsciously, maybe) "protect" his woman. Men are taught from a young age and grow up in a culture that enforces this idea so it probably does play into who they are attracted to. It also plays into who women are attracted to and may also be the reason the poor short guys have trouble getting dates.

I'm 5'3" so while I'm on the "short" side, I'm kind of just around average. I guess that makes it easier for me (most men are taller than me anyway) but I've been attracted to men of varying heights. I ultimately ended up engaged to a guy a foot taller than me...following my mother's footsteps I guess (her and my dad are around a foot apart). However height wasn't one of those deciding factors for me and I've been attracted to men much shorter than my fiancee.

You shouldn't box yourself in the height mentality though :) I've seen taller women dating men shorter than them and there are plenty of men that don't mind a taller lady. There are even some celebrity couples where the lady is the taller one! Look at Obama and his wife too; they're both around the same height, but she doesn't hesitate to wear heals and when she does she's taller than him!

A LB 12/14 is larger than the same size at Gap. There was a long time when I wore a 12 or 14 at LB and couldn't fit into the (rare at the time) 16 at Gap.

Even so, their "plus" models are tall 8s (really, if you ever recognize a model, you can look up their agency and their measurements are right there) and a few years ago, when they upsized their mannequins it actually made the news. They sized all the way up to an eight. If you look at the back of their mannequins next time you're in, the clothes are pulled tight so the boxy tee folded on the table looks like it has some structure to it, when it's really just a sack with sleeves. They do the same on the website. A shapeless dress will be pinned on a model with serious t and a so it looks like there is some actual structure to the dress, then it arrives at your house and it's literally a big bag with sleeves and no structure at all.

I don't shop from Torrid at all, I'm too old, I don't like the quality or style, and their tops are always ALWAYS too short from me but at least they do use models who could possibly wear their clothes (even if they usually appear stuffed into a size too small).

I just wanted to jump in and say that my daughter is 6 feet tall, weighs about 180, and wears between a 12 and 14 but she doesn't have rolls or lumps and bumps. She is a healthy weight for her size. Everything from LB would fall off her. She is probably the body type that is used by LB for models.

I couldn't agree more. About 10 years ago I used to buy my clothes exclusively from LB. I could spend hundreds of dollars there. The clothes used to be tailored with darting sewn into shirts and the pants had a flattering cut. Not to mention I never had a problem with the quality. Everything always washed nicely.

Now the clothes lack all of these things; style, cut, quality. The last shirt I bought from LB was a super thin, boxy blouse that became discolored in the wash. That was a few years ago and I haven't made a purchase with them since.