The Plus Size Thread - All are welcome!

[Antigone]

I'm happy - I just discovered I'm a Banana Rep/Gap 12.

Shallow no?

 

[cait]

^ My guess is one of the tags was wrong ... I've seen that sometimes, and it does land garments on the sale rack when it happens.

Actually I'm sure they had it in the right place. Even Lane Bryan stocks 10s now, if 6 is large, 8 would be XL, and yes, 10 would be plus.

 

[cait]

I'm happy - I just discovered I'm a Banana Rep/Gap 12.

Shallow no?

I don't think that's shallow at all - congrats!

 

[xmodel citizen]

I'm happy - I just discovered I'm a Banana Rep/Gap 12.

Shallow no?

Beware, they cut generously, they're big on the vanity sizing.

 

[Antigone]

^Haha yeah I know. But last month I was a Gap/Banana Rep 14. =)

 

[xmodel citizen]

Oh OK, congrats!

 

[fashionista-ta]

Actually I'm sure they had it in the right place. Even Lane Bryan stocks 10s now, if 6 is large, 8 would be XL, and yes, 10 would be plus.

I have absolutely never heard of or seen a 6 being a large, a 6 is a small. I'm a 10 and 38DD and usually wear a medium top. A large is 12-14 or more (the American average as we all know).

Lane Bryant carrying 10s doesn't mean 10 is now a plus size. I don't shop there, but it may be a 10W. Lots of people, including me, can use a more generously cut size 10 or 12.

Given the choice between a world gone mad and a tagging mistake, my vote is for the latter

 

[classic1908]

I have absolutely never heard of or seen a 6 being a large, a 6 is a small. I'm a 10 and 38DD and usually wear a medium top. A large is 12-14 or more (the American average as we all know).

Lane Bryant carrying 10s doesn't mean 10 is now a plus size. I don't shop there, but it may be a 10W. Lots of people, including me, can use a more generously cut size 10 or 12.

Given the choice between a world gone mad and a tagging mistake, my vote is for the latter

I've seen 10W with Rinaldi and Elekta by Maska. I'm surprised that more people don't do a 10 or 12W.

 

[3RingCircus]

Surely if one can't fit a regular 10 then a size 12 is the answer, not creating 10W. Now THAT is vanity sizing!

 

[Crakk]

Hey guys. Wouldn't a plus size woman be equivalent to the size of a small man? Most small men are a size 29-30 waist, isnt that the waist size of a plus size woman, well the starting waist size or am I wrong?

 

[Luxx]

^It would really depend on the girl Crakk. Some plus sized girls might have a waist around that size and others might. Men's clothing is always sort of odd fitting on women unless they don't have hips / boobs but thats just my opinion - I feel like men's clothes don't alot for those uniquely feminine elements.

Something thats been bothering me for awhile - and I probably posted about this before but bear with me. Is the lack of plus sized clothes that reflect my personality. I'm wondering if anyone has found a way around this sort of thing. I really want to upgrade my wardrobe. I don't just want nice clothes I want something that says something about me. As it stands there is a sort of generic quality to my clothing. At least in my opinion - this is a personal issue so maybe anyone who isn't me wouldn't even notice.

Even in the nicer plus sized stores things tend to skew towards being sort of conservative / classic in nature. Which is great but its just not me. I love the kind of really sharp chic things Carine Roitfeld and her daughter wear and there is in all honesty no equivalent for that. masquerade, mentioned earlier that plus sized girls are discouraged from taking risks and I really feel that is true.

Goodness gracious I sound like such a whiner or more logically I feel like I am. Maybe I should channel these frustrations into a blog post or something but I'm still not quite sure how I feel about things. There is this sort of pressure not to steer far away from a very sort of classic look for plus sized girls. Perhaps someone can articulate this better than I can.

 

[Antigone]

^True. I noticed that too. And another thing - plus-sized clothes have a certain body frame in mind. The plus-size pear. So I can't shop in most plus-sized stores because the clothes would just look ridiculous on me, as I have flat b**bies, thick waist, and flat butt.

 

[Crakk]

^It would really depend on the girl Crakk. Some plus sized girls might have a waist around that size and others might. Men's clothing is always sort of odd fitting on women unless they don't have hips / boobs but thats just my opinion - I feel like men's clothes don't alot for those uniquely feminine elements.

Totally understood.

 

[xmodel citizen]

It's also hard to compare men and women because we have completely different shapes and proportions. So if a man and woman have the same waist sizes, the woman is pretty much guaranteed to have larger hips than the man.

 

[classic1908]

Surely if one can't fit a regular 10 then a size 12 is the answer, not creating 10W. Now THAT is vanity sizing!

It may be, but those are European brands and I suspect that there's not the same neuroses about size that some have in America.

 

[classic1908]

^True. I noticed that too. And another thing - plus-sized clothes have a certain body frame in mind. The plus-size pear. So I can't shop in most plus-sized stores because the clothes would just look ridiculous on me, as I have flat b**bies, thick waist, and flat butt.

I have pear characteristics although I've gotten more hourglassy (up top) as I got into my 40s. So some of the suit-based bridge/better purveyors work better for me.
I do agree that diamonds/apples (or type F per Kendall Farr) seem to get the short end of the stick.

 

[Iphygenia]

I do agree that diamonds/apples (or type F per Kendall Farr) seem to get the short end of the stick.

This is indeed true,but what is truer to me is that most of the time curvy girls get it really bad. I don't know about US,but the places I've been living (aka Italy and paris ) they don't have much for YOUNG curvy girls,most of the stuff is clothes that not even my grandmother would wear,shapeless,out of fashion,grey and black colored tunics..really horrible. That's one of the reasons that motivated me to lose weight....can you believe i'm size 48 ( US 14 ) and I couldn't find a decent fitting pair of jeans since summer? there are all law waist because that's what's on style here now,and I look horrendous with a low waist....
how is the situation where you like? Any good clothes for the curvt girls as well? Just curios

 

[frk-frost]

I definitely think it's a problem with colours and patterns available in larger sizes. Either it dark colours and very classic designs - or it's clown-like and not very trendy. I also have problems finding outfits that suit me on top without making me look bigger - I don't understand why that's so hard to find because there seems to be many, many women with that bodytype

 

[LaurieAnn]

^ Jones New York often has a fashion-friendly color palette ...

PS LaurieAnn, sounds like some great finds on sale

Classic1908, thanks for letting me know about Jones New York doing a petite-plus line. The Macy's closest to me has JNY in every line except petite-plus so I'll have to travel to the Bay Area to look for it there. And yes, they do have a good color palatte every season.

You know I have to really chuckle at myself over finding the skirt and jacket on sale. That just never happens to me. I always fall for the one item that's just come in and not yet on sale. I guess the fact that this is a slower than expected retail season worked in my favor. The way I look at it, the money I saved on the purchase should just about cover the cost of tailoring to make the items fit better. (Though I'm wearing the skirt already about twice a week.)

 

[masquerade]

^It would really depend on the girl Crakk. Some plus sized girls might have a waist around that size and others might. Men's clothing is always sort of odd fitting on women unless they don't have hips / boobs but thats just my opinion - I feel like men's clothes don't alot for those uniquely feminine elements.

Something thats been bothering me for awhile - and I probably posted about this before but bear with me. Is the lack of plus sized clothes that reflect my personality. I'm wondering if anyone has found a way around this sort of thing. I really want to upgrade my wardrobe. I don't just want nice clothes I want something that says something about me. As it stands there is a sort of generic quality to my clothing. At least in my opinion - this is a personal issue so maybe anyone who isn't me wouldn't even notice.

Even in the nicer plus sized stores things tend to skew towards being sort of conservative / classic in nature. Which is great but its just not me. I love the kind of really sharp chic things Carine Roitfeld and her daughter wear and there is in all honesty no equivalent for that. masquerade, mentioned earlier that plus sized girls are discouraged from taking risks and I really feel that is true.

Goodness gracious I sound like such a whiner or more logically I feel like I am. Maybe I should channel these frustrations into a blog post or something but I'm still not quite sure how I feel about things. There is this sort of pressure not to steer far away from a very sort of classic look for plus sized girls. Perhaps someone can articulate this better than I can.

to say i agree with you would be somewhat redundant

you know whats funny, i find the nice plus size stuff is more conservative than the less expensive stuff. I can find something younger and more fun at Target than at Nordstrom in the plus section. And since target runs large and their regular sizing goes up to 18 and XXL, I don't have to exclusively shop in their plus section which is more limited. I got to Nordstrom or Bloomingdales and their plus section is Michael by Michael Kors and stuff like that. Its entirely lovely but its not, as classic1908 mentioned, contemporary. Since I'm smaller on top than on bottom and can wear a large or x-large in traditional brands, I try to show my personality on top and just try and find a flattering, nice fitting pant or skirt on the bottom.

In February, I am going to London for a semester. I hope to not spend too much money in general there, but I was just wondering how the plus there compares to here in the US. Is it the same? Is there more options? Less?