One of my coworkers just bought a birthday present for her 7 year old niece - jeans and a cute top. They are both a children's size 16. The shirt is a brand called 'Baby Phat PLUS' and the pants are 'Apple Cheeks'. Have they always made plus sizes for kids and I never noticed them? The jeans look like they would be a little loose on me!

They've been around for at least four or five decades. The names were much worse, though. For boys "husky" and girls, "chubby."

I have almost no memory of being slender though photos show that I was until about 4.5. I was overweight enough by first grade to remember hating having to shop with Mom in the "chubby" department (I was wearing a bra by the end of 3rd grade).

It's nice to hear that the clothes are cute - when I was a kid the "chubby" sizes were hard to find and were more often scaled down "old fat lady clothes" than larger versions of what "normal" kids were wearing. It always frustrated me (even at 8) that the people who made clothes weren't smart enough to make clothes that a kid would like. I was convinced that all adults hated fat kids, to make such ugly clothes. It was as if being fat wasn't torture enough, they had to add the component of "and your momma dresses you funny," to the already well-armed arsenal that bullies had at their disposal.

Yeah child plus sizes have been around for a while. I remember husky... For some reason, I always think of Sears when I think of children plus sizes. I'd agree, they were scale down old fat lady clothes.

These clothes are really cute - pretty rhinestone flowers on the jeans pockets, bright patterned flowery peasant shirt. I liked them myself. I'm glad that they are making some that are more fashionable - you are right kaplods, kids have a hard enough time as it is without adding in limited clothing choices.

"Husky" and "Chubby" are harsh for clothing names - in thinking about it, I do remember my uncle having "husky" jeans when we were kids and he hated it.

Sears, OMG, yes. I remember agonizing over the catalog trying to find the least hideous clothing available in the plus sizes kids size and in the junior or miss size that was the equivalent (I was also extremely tall for my age, I reached my full height and shoe size in 4th grade, so sometimes my mom would let me get "regular" clothing designed for older girls or young women, if the style was such that she could alter for me, and if she considered it "age-appropriate"). It was pure torture, because it was inevitable that if there was anything I liked at all, it was likely to be either so outrageously priced, or my conservative mom would think it was "too revealing," or "inapproproate" for my age.

ugh... sears and jcpenny's catalogues... I think my entire life I was a 14 or 16 (or beyond...) it's just that the 14 or 16 in childrens were followed by a 'pp' for 'pretty plus'. the thought still makes me want to throw things...

I remember Pretty Plus, and it was definitely NOT designed to make me feel pretty!

On the other hand, at least there were some clothes that fit me when I was an overweight kid. So that was the bright side.

Yep, I wore plus sizes whenever I was younger. I'd say probably 90% of the time it was clothing from JCPenney in the Girls Plus section. They had some cute things by the time I was a kid, but I remember the selection was MUCH smaller than the regular girls section (and usually only the store's specific brand like Arizona Jeans) and I was always disappointed that they'd have a cute t-shirt over there but not in my section. Oh well.

I don't recall having the privilege of kid clothes in my size, unfortunately . It was pretty matronly.

I noticed a few years ago when I was shopping with my Jr. sized daughter that there was a parallel line and display of clothing designed to be the same styles as the popular teen clothing but in plus sizes. What a great idea. Wonder when they'll get the idea to do the same thing for adult clothing!!!

In the UK we don't get extended sizes in kids clothes (except some do school uniform stuff) and my DD at 10 years old is 105lbs - not excessively large but large enough so that everything is 3" too small around the waist. Often if I up size to teen clothes or petite ladies the styles are not right for her as she's not developed hips/bust so clothes are proportioned wrong.

However she loves that she can get proper cute girls clothes in sizes that fit in the US. I've ordered things from Lands End and Limited Too which were great but I believe Limited Too have gone now We're in Orlando in 3 weeks time and plan a shopping trip. Some of you mentioned Sears with revulsion - is their plus range still bad? My DD is on a mission for some new jeans.

Kitty

Sears isn't bad (JC Penney either), but both do tend to be a bit more conservative than the trendier shops, but they're also more affordable (Sears and JCPenney stores seem to be trendier in bigger cities than in smaller towns), but they're also more affordable. Walmart and Target are actually not bad either (trendier and cheaper - but also more cheaply made, so they're not going to hold up like high quality pieces, but for kids that's perfect, because they grow out of clothes before they wear them out).

I think Orlando will have a lot of options.

Kitty,

Remember we are reminiscing about clothes 20 or more years ago When plus sizes in the US were horrid and designed for ladies that were 60+ years old. I don't know the state of child plus size clothes currently but overall plus size clothes have improved greatly over what they were 20 years ago. I'd check a variety of stores, Macy's is one of my favorite stores as is Dillards. Both have great sales. I would agree with Target if you are looking for clothes that she'd grow out of in the next year or so.

I think the bad memories of JcPenny and Sears - for me anyway- are not from the clothes themselves- but from getting the clothes. There was nothing to try on. Mom would drag me to the back of the store- where people picked up packages and nobody ever went- to pour through the special catalog of Pretty Plus - you know because the big JC Penny catalog she had at home didn't have this stuff in it. And then after arguing over what I would be even willing to wear- she'd pick out what she wanted and order it and then we'd have to come back to pick it up. Torture.

Especially if you'd already spent an hour in the store itself trying on clothes are realizing that nothing fit you.

Limited Too is still around, it just has a new name. It's not called Justice.

My cousin was a very large girl and she got her clothes from an awesome catalog - I don't remember what it was. I'll check with her and let you guys know. The clothes were very cute, popular items, and properly proportioned.

kitty - try old navy. inexpensive clothes and great sizes