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?

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.