Plus-size and nowhere to shop?

L.A. may be a town of excess, but it caters to the slightest of slight when it comes to fashion. A friend of mine once walked into Fred Segal and asked for a dress in a size 8 and the slip of a saleswoman smiled sadly and said: "Sorry. We don't carry a lot of large." Large? If a size 8 is considered a large here, imagine how a size 14 must feel. (Never mind the fact that a size 12 to 14 is actually the standard size for American women, according to a 2004 poll by SizeUSA.) And does that make a size 4 a medium?

I won't go on because writer Emili Vesilind is working on a feature about the size issue and the fashion industry for Image and I'll be sure to post a link when it lands online. But there's an interesting post on The Consumerist -- which I found, via Jezebel -- about a size 12 woman's encounter at a department store when she tried to find a party dress. In essence, the saleswoman told her that  most plus-size women are just scraping by and don't have busy social calenders. Here is an excerpt of the saleswoman's rationale:

"It's a demographic thing, ma'am. We do not carry plus sizes of formal wear or business suits. We find, demographically speaking, that most of our upscale clientele is smaller, so we have a really large petites department and just the basics for our plus-sized customers. It's nothing against you, ma'am. It's just demographics."

This is insulting on so many levels. All of which begs the question: Where do you find great plus-size clothes in this anorexic city?

-- Monica Corcoran

Photo: Getty Images

Comments

[judith carrillo]

Wow this is so crazy honesly I love big girls and i think that they have the right to shop anywhere and the stores should have there sizes. Women are always being critiqued of what they wear, either it looks too small or that their fat is hanging out. Well HELLO if there were more stores that carried their sizes maybe they wouldn't be in that position. Thats why I want to become a fashion desiger and open my own business and have it become world wide. This way plus size women can shop and look as good as every one else.

[kwony]

Hi,

I have a trendy plus line, Missphit, carried by department stores and boutiques (unfortunately none in LA). But you can shop us online at: www.missphit.com

I understand the frustrations with the lack of Plus options here in L.A. We are actually based in L.A. but don't have a retail store yet, only a wholesale showroom.

Anyway, the Fox Hills mall has a good plus selection with stores such as Mode Plus, Ashley Stewart, and a decent womans section at Macy's.

Good luck!

Yul Kwon
CEO
Missphit
Curvy Clothing

[JACKIE BRANDER]

I AM THE OWNER OF FRED SEGAL FUN IN SANTA MONICA. I AM A SIZE 10/12 AND HAVE ALWAYS AND WILL ALWAYS CARRY THESE SIZES.
IM SORRY FOR YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AND WELCOME YOU TO PLEASE COME SHOP AT OUR STORE. WE WILL ALWAYS FIT ALL WOMEN AS I AM WELL AWARE WE COME IN ALL SIZES!
FRED SEGAL FUN
500 BROADWAY SUITE G
SANTA MONICA CALIF 310-394-9814

[Leigh Ross]

I am a woman who loves fabulous clothes, I won "best dressed" in high school - 20 years later and a few kids I am a size 12-14 --- there is no such thing as great designer clothes in my size. Most size "large" clothes would fit my left thigh (they are made for a size 6-8) and designers of size 12 plus think us "fatties" want BIG, BOXEY clothes with no style or thought. The sales girls at all the stores are waif-like girls who have no clue about fashion. Please...listen up Fred Segal, Kitson, Maxfield, Urban Zen, Donna Karan, Satine and all you others....we aren't spening all our money on food - we have the money and desire to dress fabulous so give us what we want....Fashionably Fabulous and Fat in LA xoxox

[Annette]

As a tall, athletic woman, I am a size 12-14 but do not consider myself out-of-proportion or fat or unusual. I recently moved to the East Coast after living in CA. I hadn't realized until I moved away from LA how much not being able to get clothes easily curtailed my social life! I go out so much more now. There were times in LA that I simply could not find something to wear to a party or special occasion in the stores, and therefore could not go to an event on short notice. I usually had to order online well in advance and ended up with bland items that didn't fit correctly. I don't get it...Don't store owners want to make money in LA? I know plenty of women who have the same exact problem as me with CA clothing stores.

[Diana]

Although not in LA specifically, I buy all my plus size dresses and swimsuits from Monif C. Plus Sizes. They are based in New York, but ship all over. Their website is http://www.monifc.com. I also visited their store in New York when I was there on vacation and they had lots of great stuff!

[wholesale sean john]

like the other said! every people have a right to shop anywhere they want! don't hesitate to ask to all the stores out there about your size! remember! just be your self! and cheer-up! don't mind all people says? as long as you don't hurt anybody! continue what your doing!

-altheya-

[Cindra]

Sadly, the salesperson who relied on "demographic" information was a victim of the rampant dissemination of false information being presented as Truth.

Here at Abundance -- a Plus-Size Boutique in Sherman Oaks, CA -- we know better. There is rarely a day that goes by that we don't receive referrals from department stores in the area whose plus-size department staff have to admit that they do not have what their customers are looking for. In our ten years of successful operation we have seen our customer base increase to include women who are barely a size twelve. And while that's good for us, I don't think it says anything good about buying perception in the fashion industry. There are fabulous designs available both in designated plus sizes and from designers who've either eschewed sizing altogether in favor of brilliant designs offered in One Size or who simply offer size categories 1, 2, 3 -- a perfectly diplomatic alternative to the dreaded 1X - 4X sizing.

But aparently only small boutiques like ours have the courage to say WELCOME to all women -- average sized, plus sized, any sized women...and size 12/14 is average, no matter what department stores or snooty little boutiques may try to tell you.

NO woman should be made to feel less than beautiful, every woman is beautiful in her own way, and every woman can look beautiful in clothing that is right for her unique body and expresses the beauty of her unique spirit. And one more thing...there is absolutely no correlation between money and size. Women of financial substance some in all sizes!

[Quandried]

What about reasonably-priced clothes for those of us with curves? Given the latest unemployment statistics, I can't be the only average-sized woman on a budget who's looking for interview outfits. I'm lucky that I'm in an industry where I can wear a sweater with slacks or a sensible skirt out on interviews; if I had to wear a suit, I'd be in big trouble! But I'd like to have more than two outfits in my interview arsenal, you know?

My solution has been to carefully scour Ross, Marshalls, etc. in more upscale areas. There's a lot of patience and luck involved, but it's not like I'm spending my time doing much else.

[linda arroz]

Thank you for pointing out the truth about the issue - snobs. As the first plus size model to have a contract (spiegel catalog) and the former editor in chief of magazines. BBW (Big Beautiful Woman) and Maternity Fashion & Beauty- both special size publications, this topic surfaces every decade when retail gets in trouble. In fact, a former client, a well know swimsuit retailer whose sales were down and was spending lots of money looking for "new" customers, refused to even add plus size swimsuits to their website store. And they were closing retail locations. It just doesn't make any sense.
I always included a plus size person in all of my TV makeovers and I am always encouraging my retail and designer clients to cater to this "demographic." We have money to spend, we are interested in style and not all "fat" women are overeaters. While your articles and coverage on this subject are long overdue, perhaps you will continue to cover stores, designers and people who are larger than a size 8.

[Suzanne]

Great comments, ladies, and kudos to the shops that get it. Linda, I particularly appreciated your remarks. Just one quibble: overeaters should be able to wear great clothes, too!
I worked 5 years in a great plus boutique that benefited enormously from department store stupidity (Nordstrom's was not a good plus resource in our area). Like the rest of you, I am perplexed about the situation from a business standpoint. This is really what convinced me that fatphobia exists.

[Yvonne]

I think it's complete and utter bunk that plus-sized women are relegated to wearing the fashion equivalent of a tent. Thank goodness for the Internet, as it provides resources and advice when the fashion industry as a whole fails us. Here are a few sites I've stumbled upon in my travels:

http://plussize.about.com - About.com's channel for Plus Size fashion and advice. There's a list of designers here as well who focus on fitting plus-size women. One thing I learned from this site is that some designers who sell plus-size clothing will fit their clothes on a smaller model and size them up. This practice doesn't work well, as our bodies aren't as simple as being "large all over". Plus-size women tend to have specific areas (i.e. bustline, hips, upper thigh) that are proportioned differently than someone of a smaller size.

http://evans.co.uk - Evans is a UK-based company that will ship to the US. They carry beautiful, quality clothing in size 14-32 and wide width shoes/boots. No express shipping to the US, but it's a small price to pay for decent clothes. They fit their clothing on plus-size models and adjust their seaming, bust darts, etc. accordingly...so you won't find tents being sold here.

http://www.duoboots.com - DUO is another UK retailer for boots and shoes. Most of us women (plus-size, non-plus, and everywhere in between) have had the frustration of trying to fit wider calves in narrow knee-high boots. DUO carries an extensive range of wider fit boots and shoes.

http://www.torrid.com - Torrid is owned and operated by the same company that runs Hot Topic, so expect to find some similar styles here. Not everything they sell is emo/goth; they offer many pretty dresses and have a large clearance section if you're looking to save a few dollars. Their dress sizing is right on, too...I've never had to alter any of the dresses I bought from their website.

http://www.oldnavy.com - Old Navy has a broad Women's Plus department online. The one hitch is that if you have to return anything, you'll need to do it online vs. visiting your local store. Still, it is a good store for basic pieces. Being plus-sized and petite makes buying jeans and pants a challenge, but I find that the short lengths at Old Navy are accurate and save me from having to constantly cuff my pants or have them altered.

[Mimi]

To work around the "disadvantage" of having a womanly body, I SEW . Repeat: I SEW -- all my dresses, all my pants, all my jackets, some of my coats. My fabrics are from the best fabric stores in the US but mainly from San Francisco; my "look" is "classic designer/expensive". Home sewing does not need to look like "loving hands at home". Several years ago I spotted an Armani dress just like a garment I had made. The Armani cost 900% of what mine cost and there was NO difference in fabric, line, or quality of construction. One of my suits was mistaken for a Givenchy. ...... All it takes is a few decades of experience and a functional, un-fancy sewing machine -- knowing your fabrics and purchasing the best. Yes, you can work full time and still sew. And -- look at all the money you'll have left over for designer shoes and purses! Got a closet full of 'em!

[SanFrann]

The only way to counter this is to WRITE LETTERS to the CEOs of the shops you find the clothes you want to wear. Like Banana Republic? Bloomie's? Lucky? The CEO's are all about exploiting missed opportunities, ladies - tell them you'd like to see the same styles, just take them up to size 16 - amazingly enough, those stores that have started to carry these sizes like the Gap sell those sizes out completely - look at the markdown racks - they are full of size zeroes and twos. Are you listening out there retailers? Just add in sizes 12, 14, and 16 and the guaranteed roi is 100%.
signed, an ex-retail buyer

[Cass]

I wish department stores would at least put the plus-size section on the same floor as the other women's clothes. If I have to go to the third floor behind kitchenware to find the little corner of plus sizes, I'm not going back (I'm looking at you, Macy's). It's like they don't want anyone to know they sell fat-girl clothes.

[Call_me_Cassandra]

Was it Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC who closed their plus size department even though it was making more money per square foot of sales space than any other department in the store? Because they didn't want to be associated with plump customers? Of course, that was a couple of years ago. Poss they wish they were making that money now.

[Anette]

Check out myshape.com
They do personal shops where you enter your measurements and they provide a shop where garments fit and flatter your body shape. It is amazing!
www.myshape.com

[Marla Ginsburg]

I have just launched a clothing line called BOOMBAcouture which will be in Nordstroms next month! I created the line because there are no clothes for this woman and I AM that woman .... a busy Boomer mom who couldn't find clothing to fit my lifestyle or my shape. We've cut the line to fit real women!

[Lynne]

Right in your backyards: Harari. The Bev Hills and SM shops (Robertson's gone) have great 0X-3X selections alongside - and identical to - its regular sized clothing, which is mainly S,M, L, XL rather than number sizes. So you can get pants or skirt in an L or XL and a matching top in 1X. If it's not on the rack, ask. And they're good at putting things together. They offer plus sizes in both their quality daytime wear as well as their evening/dressy pieces. And Harari is always high-end: really nice knits, cottons, silks, velvets. Mainly their own designed brand but they also add in great up and coming designers like Blanque and Dress to Kill, with lots of one-size pieces. What's best is that their clothes are meant to be pieces rather than full outfits, and are rarely dated or seasonal. They do have a very specific look that's sustained them for years - rich boho - but the pieces independently are versatile yet distinctive. I don't own Harari or work there. I'm just a very happy and loyal client for probably 15 years and much of their merchandise fills my giant wardrobe. And yes, I do get complimented often on my unique fashion sense. One last thing: the owner of Fred Segal Fun who posted above is sincere. That department has always carried a really nice mix of larger size casual pieces and the staff is great to work with. I've been a fan for years. Give them a try too.

[Ann Light]

I have found clothes at Nordstroms, Macys, Coldwater Creek and by catalogue Orvis. I am size 2x.