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posts about #petiteclothing more → Plus Vs. Petite: Why Retailers Find It Hard Making Clothes To Fit Most Women
New York, 10:05 AM
Sat Dec 19
73 posts in the last 24 hours
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Plus Vs. Petite: Why Retailers Find It Hard Making Clothes To Fit Most Women |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
06/09/09
06/09/09
Right now I am wearing a pair of sweatpants I had to hack the bottoms off of because otherwise they covered my feet. Its at least the third time I've had to do this, which is really strange since I'm 5'9" with a 34" inseam. I don't think there are many women running around with a 40" inseam, so I'm really curious why some pants are cut so long.
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I am no Kelly Ripa, but I am a pretty small person. I always wonder how many women out there have my exact same proportions, but are six inches taller than I am?
I posit that this would be a market even smaller (hardy har har) than petites, and if any line would be cut, it should be this one (rather than plus sized)
06/09/09
the waist always comes up to my ribcage and the hips flare out right at the narrowest part of my waist. Long sleeves are three-quarter legnth, three-quarter length sleeves hit me at the elbow, short sleeves are cap sleeves, and cap sleeves sit on my shoulders like Lilliputian epaulettes. Shirts that fit me in the shoulder billow at the waist; skirts that should be knee-length are a couple inches too short.
Maybe tall types are such a minority that we don't even warrant a mention in most stores, let alone our own section.
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And if you want to use your inseam to get a pair or pants hemmed without trying them on- beware. Most people's legs are slightly different lengths. Always best to have both pinned on you.
06/09/09
that makes me like 27" at the ankle/foot area and about 30" ish for heels? I think that means I have really short legs?
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06/09/09
And yeah, I can and do go to a tailor. But it adds significantly to the cost of my clothes, and I'm not rich.
06/09/09
-Not made of plastic.
-Not made for "exotic dancers" or Payless.
-In size US 12/13.
Get on that, designers! CHOP CHOP.
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06/09/09
Please note I believe none of the theories I'm positing here or the notions behind the theories. It's all bullshit. But what they're thinking:
In this culture, overweight = ugly. Overweight = lazy. Overweight = unsexy. They want their products to be aspirational, and the last thing they're going to do is cater to those frumpy slobs who won't even appreciate their "artistry." They are far more worried about the downgrading of their brand (it's how they see it, not me) than having the heavy girl wearing their tags.
I think I mentioned this analogy in "the Fashion Show" thread, but it's like an artist who doesn't want their work shown in a gallery they feel is "beneath them." That's where the sizeism comes in. The overweight woman is their least desired canvas, and they would sacrifice profit before displaying their product on such a person.
Disgusting, truly.
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And coats/jackets always look like you've shrunk them in the wash, or like they've got very oddly-designed 3/4-length sleeves...
I really need to get my sewing machine working.
06/09/09
Basically I just wear skirts and dresses. In forgiving materials, in vague sizes like "large" and sometimes "extra large." What the hell else is there for me?
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The lesson, as always? Shopping for clothes that actually fit sucks bigtime for just about every woman.
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Shopping fucking sucks.
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06/09/09
TALL SIZES.
Now, I've read that the average woman is 5'4", so I imagine the bell curve has a way to go on either side before you get to a freaky outlier like me. It may just be that the majority of women are fitted best by the range of petite and misses' clothing, which is why there's no such thing as a "tall" section in any department store. (There are often "petite" sections, but my shorter ladyfriends inform me that the selections are abysmal.)
Basically, I haven't been able to buy pants for the last two years. The selections for talls are even worse if you get into plus sizes, which seem to be staunchly set at an inseam of 32 or 33. Last time I looked around at an Avenue, there were perhaps two or three pairs of "long" pants in the entire store.
The message I'm getting from the retail apparel industry is that humans must fit a very narrow range of sizes and weights, and any outliers should just...I dunno, wear a potato sack.
06/09/09
I did just find some 37" inseams jeans on sale from BCBG, but the sizes only go up to a 31 waist.
Any way you look at it in either direction it IS extremely discouraging.
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