The Plus Size Thread - All are welcome!

[bagsnthings]

I was always under the impression that size 14 starts the plus size market. Ashley Stewart and Lane Bryant start at size 14 and clothing marked as "wide width" start at Sz 14 as well. Plus Size Models usually wear a size 12 and up

 

[QuirkyCool]

Yes,but ta-ta is right: many designers do not stock size 10-12.And what enrages me even more is when they CALL something a size 12,but it has a 34-inch chest.Hello....????

 

[bagsnthings]

Yep, your right!

I found the article below and it does states that it is hard to find 10s or 12s

BARGAIN 'BABES'
High-end designers attract young fashionistas to upscale sample sales



Carolyne Zinko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, August 7, 2005

More...


Everyone wants to be a VIP these days. But if you're not a very important person by nature of birth, celebrity, job or wealth, at least you can look like one. Or so the founders of Billion Dollar Babes, a traveling sample sale, would have us believe.
Fashionistas in Los Angeles and New York are well-acquainted with Billion Dollar Babes, created in Hollywood in 2001, and San Francisco shoppers are getting hooked, too. With its most recent two-day visit the other week, the sale has hit town three times now since October. Londoners got their inaugural taste in June and Chicagoans will flip through the racks for the first time this month.
What is Billion Dollar Babes? It's an upscale sample sale of clothing from designers carried by high-end department stores and boutiques, including Fred Segal, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys and Neiman Marcus, among others, that have been overproduced or whose stock designers have decided to clear.

Most are size 8 and smaller, but a few larger sizes are tossed in for the persistent scout snooping for the occasional 10 or 12. Accessories are featured too -- handbags, sunglasses, jewelry and shoes. A portion of the proceeds goes to charity -- Dress for Success in New York, Step Up Women's Network in Los Angeles, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer in London, and the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, to name a few.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Quirky, needless to say, that has irked me too I might add that when you do find larger sizes in designer, frequently they are too large, and clearly intended as career clothes for a very mature audience.

You end up shopping mostly online for designer if you're over an 8, is the bottom line (at least where I live, and this is considered by many--not me--a shopping mecca).

 

[Umm Zain]

Hi ladies! Great thread! I am a woman with a true hour-glass figure and I HATE shopping for clothes! It's always just too depressing... .

Personally, I love very tailored clothes because they fit well, which is important and can make any woman look great. I wear jeans and I LOVE Levis, the old fashioned classic style, because they have the large back pockets that makes me feel like my butt looks smaller.

Whoever said that they make the pants in larger sizes with the crotch at the knees and the waist up to your boobs , thanks! You gave me a good laugh. I have noticed this too and thought I was the one who is crazy, but no, now I know that it's not me, it's the pants!

My main problem is finding clothes that have a narrow waist, but are full enough in the bust and hip areas... I think someone mentioned Talbots and I have to agree that there really does seem to be a pretty decent selection.

 

[QuirkyCool]

I must also mention that the Belgian designers,Ann Demeulemeester,Dries Van Noten and Martin Margiela not only do up to (I think ) US size 12,but that it is also quite a generous cut.

In Belgium and Holland it is often older ladies who buy designer,and because people are very,VERY tall here there is not much size 0 going on .

But yeah,Belgian designers are not everyone's cup of tea.Mine,fortunately

Not all of their clothes are really suitable for fuller figures though...Ann,for example,does loads that looks best on an androgynous figures even if it does come in a bigger size, and Dries always uses loads of fabric which can add bulk if you are not tall. But selected pieces are great.

 

[classic1908]

my biggest problem with every single plus size runway show is that they try way too hard to make the girls seems soooooo sexy....
there is a mentality that if you are bigger, so are your boobs and butt...so you might as well show them off...
but i just think it's just cheap and unflattering...
those pencil skirts are just way too tight and it makes the girls looks like stuffed sausages...
**kind of how i look in a gucci dress......

i don't think it's very nice tha even on the runway they are squeezing girls into clothes a size too small...
i'd like everything better if it all fit better...


but thanks for the contribution ta-ta...
this thread doesn't see nearly enough action...

so-do we think there are a lot of girls who are a size 14-24 who are really fashion-oriented...
and with a budget that allows them to indulge...
is there really this huge untapped market for plus size women who aren't being serviced properly?...

i'm wondering......
what do you guys think?...

I think there definitely is a sizable market for bridge and designer price point clothes for women sized 14-24. That market includes AfAm women, in particular -- blacks have a multi-billion-dollar spending power in the U.S.

Saks Fifth Avenue has cornered the high-end market in the U.S., IMO, through its Salon Z. Nordstrom's offerings are erratic, as are Bloomingdale's -- they have some bridge, but they also have a lot of better/moderate. One time, I asked a buyer at one store about why they seemed to lack bridge things, and she said their "open to buy" was limited. I don't believe Neiman Marcus plays much in the full fashion market, except online.

One of the main problems, IMO, is the ridiculous image that larger women suffer -- the notion that most are sloppy, trashy and messy-looking like Margaret Perrin (that horror from reality TV) rather than the well-groomed Queen Latifah and although she's controversial as hell, Star Jones Reynolds.

And as another aside, American designers whose clientele skews older also do extended misses' sizes (I've seen Blass and de la Renta up to size 20 and Carolina Herrera up to 18).

 

[bagsnthings]

The models for EM look more full figured to me then "plus size", because they still hold their body proportion and they still have a "figure" if you will.

Plus size to me means that the person's body may be disproportionate and/or overly heavy in some area. I mean a plus size woman might have alot of weight that is distributed unevenly and may have to dress to "conceal" problem areas, so her style choices may be limited to what looks best on her at her current weight.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Plus size women can be proportionate ... it's all a matter of genetics. As I was mentioning before, just drop by Salon Z if you want to see the variety.

I recently saw a bit of a definition of women's sizes. It was an announcement that Talbots was going to stock size 12W, which they said was common in Europe but nearly unheard of here. The spokeswoman said that 12W is bigger in the upper arms, bust, and waist than a 12 missy, but smaller in some other areas than a 14 missy, and therefore fits some women better than sizing up to a 14.

Can I have a 10W Actually an 8W is probably what I need

 

[classic1908]

Plus size women can be proportionate ... it's all a matter of genetics. As I was mentioning before, just drop by Salon Z if you want to see the variety.

I recently saw a bit of a definition of women's sizes. It was an announcement that Talbots was going to stock size 12W, which they said was common in Europe but nearly unheard of here. The spokeswoman said that 12W is bigger in the upper arms, bust, and waist than a 12 missy, but smaller in some other areas than a 14 missy, and therefore fits some women better than sizing up to a 14.

Can I have a 10W Actually an 8W is probably what I need

I think a Marina Rinaldi 19 is what would be a 10W. MR's billed as sizes 10-22 (or 19-31 in their system).

 

[QuirkyCool]

The models for EM look more full figured to me then "plus size", because they still hold their body proportion and they still have a "figure" if you will.

Plus size to me means that the person's body may be disproportionate and/or overly heavy in some area. I mean a plus size woman might have alot of weight that is distributed unevenly and may have to dress to "conceal" problem areas, so her style choices may be limited to what looks best on her at her current weight.

That's a misconception,"plus size" just means bigger and implies nothing about disproportion.

Ta-ta...how confusing...thanks for that info! I've noticed that most designer sizing is decidedly pear shaped in a literal sense...when measured in centimetres/inches I am *exactly* the same measurement around the bust as around the hips,and this goes up/down proportionally with gain/loss...yet I fit into MJ size 10 trousers and 8 skirts,while the size 12 tops are too tight.

This is so frustrating...it means I mostly have to wear knit/other stretchy kinds of tops.

I should look out for the W sizing then...thanks.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Interesting, Quirky ... I've always been a bit pear-shaped, but I guess the average person must be more so. Oddly enough, that MJ blouse I just bought is a 6! Normally I wouldn't even try it on, but it was the biggest size in any of the stores, and the SA told me I might as well And what do you know ... so you may look for that kind of style.

 

[bagsnthings]

To me:

Full figured is size 12 to 20


Plus size is size 24 to 4X

 

[Bonchic]

I think you're right Softgrey.. There is a huge market that isn't being nearly explored enough with "plus size" clothing. I mean okay my mom is like a 12 or so (5'8") and she would love to wear alot of the fashionable clothing but doesn't want to look like a teenager. You know she wants to wear flattering clothing and still be trendy in some areas. I think most people are like if your size is in the double digits then you must not care as much about fashion. So not true

 

[classic1908]

^^
If you are a trend/youthful dresser, it is challenging. There are more options, say, if your personal style tends toward the conservative -- bridge people like Ellen Tracy and Dana Buchman, along with Talbots (there are some decent options there, but you have to look carefully).
My style (I'm roughly a 14) definitely veers conservative/classic, so I'm always able to find stuff. But I still believe that the old conflict of fashion as art v. fashion as a business is at work, particularly in the "contemporary" lines (stuff you'd find at Nordstrom Savvy, for instance).

 

[stilettogirl84]

You know How some people say- I'm not fat, I'm big boned?

Well with me it's true.

I'm just super tall, and if i maintain a healthy weight ( still having t#ts and a##) I'm about a fourteen. I have to do most of my shopping online because in the stores all I can really seem to find are clothes that my mom might like.

and to make things worse, because of my height, I have to get extra long inseams on my pants. . .



Shopping online, my favorite is bannana republic for fashion forward stuff, they go up to sixteen and have tall sizes.

Gap online has Awesome jeans, and they come in lengths (YAY!) and they have plenty of basic shirts, sweaters, khakis, ect.

Ann Taylor online has some cute stuff up to fourteen, though the selection is more limited

Shopping for clothes has just become such a pain that I'd rather look for shoes!

Wearing heels makes my feet look smaller, and (I hope) when people look at me, they think, she's not really that tall, it's just the heels. . .

 

[QuirkyCool]

You know How some people say- I'm not fat, I'm big boned?

.

Cartman comes to mind .
You sound healthy and beautiful,Stillettogirl,and thanks for the information.

I have the opposite problems in terms of height,but it's easier to get trousers/sleeves etc taken up as everything can't always be let out,I guess.

I always find it very sad when tall women won't wear heels,so kudo's for doing that

 

[buggy]

Those models are all like 10 feet tall. I'm a size 10 bottom and a size 14 top (I'm not a fan of the chest, no). Gauchos are not for short chubby folks, I can't wear tube tops because it's unflattering with my chest. Spaghetti straps look dumb. I'm lost. I am looking for an outfit to wear to a Christmas party and I can't think of anything flattering.


I got this top

And I was wondering how it'd go with this cardigan (it's more sparkley and black in person

And the bottoms, I'm lost on the bottoms. I wanted to wear a velvet gauchos and YUCK.
I was thinking maybe a skirt, minus the funky cut:

Let me know what you guys think. I want to jazz the shoes up, you know, somethin wild like red, but not look like a total dork. Any ideas? Feel free to let me know if that all looks terrible.

 

[buggy]

Oh yeah, I got this BCBGirls cardigan thinky that's black with silver (sorta like the one above). It has a scarf attatched and it's got like kimono sleeves, when I put it against the silver top, it looks so good. My husband thinks it is way too funky. "No one needs to wear scarves in Houston!" The actual top is sort of boleroish. I wish I could find a picture

 

[fashionista-ta]

Hi, buggy, these may actually belong in the "What to wear with it" thread, but we'll leave that to a mod

In the meantime ... I tend to ignore anyone who tells me something's too funky if it passes muster with me Many of the people I come across don't understand what I'm doing, and it's not all that esoteric

As for the pieces you posted, I would not put that cami with the sweater, because its beauty is in the exposed shoulders. I think in this case you want the narrowest straps possible for your layering piece (spaghetti if you can wear a strapless bra, or just enough to cover your bra straps if not). Btw, I'm a 38D and have a convertible strapless La Mystere bra that works for me. If I take the straps off, I hook one set of hooks tighter. I have a pair of black velvet palazzo pants that I wear during the holidays. Maybe something like that would work for you? The wider legs might help balance things out

Oh, and I'm not sure why you can't wear the gauchos? With the size drop of 2 whole sizes, seems like they would work fine ...