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Designers Refuse To Cater To The Average American Woman
New York, 3:48 AM
Tue Dec 22
55 posts in the last 24 hours
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Designers Refuse To Cater To The Average American Woman |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
03/01/09
I don't know what the solution to this is, really. If the 8's and 10's and 12's won't move- it won't make sense to buy too many things in even larger sizes, even if we *could* buy them.
For reference though- there are some designers that run really big- especially when they size things at XS,S,M,L,XL instead of numbers. I'd look at Alice and Olivia, Trina Turk, Rozae Nichols and 12th St. Cynthia Vincent.
03/01/09
I don't give a damn about aesthetics. (And most designers and clothing companies can shove it, as far as I'm concerned.) I further believe that a society where the ultimate goal of every woman is to look like Victoria Beckham should consider nuclear holocaust the intelligent alternative.
But even if you take the opposite road and view your body as the life-support system of your brain and intellect, that life-support system deserves a little respect. And love.
And that love doesn't come in a bucket of Häagen-Dasz, Ben&Jerry's, or Baskin Robbins. It's just a real bad surrogate. Unfortunately.
03/01/09
Wow, that's brilliant. So I'm killing myself because I'm a 12? Thanks for the newsflash, dear one. Sometimes, people are the size they are not because they are BFFs with Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's, but because of genetics.
03/02/09
I've been biting my tongue as the comments here have unraveled, but I have to say this- as someone who grew up in the midwest, in a state that has a verrrry large number of obese/overweight (and I was heading down that path myself when I lived there), I moved when I was in my 20's to a state that has a very small percentage of obese/overweight.
It was a drastic change. I now live in one of the "healthiest states" in the nation. If you look around, people here are trimmer and slimmer. Whenever I go back to my home state to visit, it's always a shocking wake-up call to see how different it is than where I now live. The difference is night and day.
Why is this? Are the people in my homestate different genetically than the people in the state where I now reside? I don't think so. Do they have more medical issues? Nope.
There's just one glaringly obvious difference- where I live now is full of gyms, rec centers, biking trails, organic food stores, and farmers markets. This is a very healthy state! People here are more aware of how to live a healthy lifestyle.
Gyms were (and still are) few and far between in my home state; no one there has heard of a Whole Foods or Wild Oats. Beef and potatoes are the main food of choice.
It's a difference in lifestyle. Plain and simple. I will believe in this until the day I die. And after all, I have the odds stacked against me- both of my parents are obese, most of my family members are overweight and/or obese, and I come from a state that prizes itself on buffets and no physical education. Oh! And I also have Lupus, which means I'm on a plethora of drugs that could cause me to gain weight (steroids, etc).
I'm going to be honest- it'd be easy for me to be fat. Odds are stacked against me. But instead I am a very healthy weight, I'm thin, and I only stay this way due to actively living a healthy lifestyle. I must- if I don't, my Lupus and arthritis could flare out of control.
It requires work and effort and I'm not saying that you're not putting any in, thatonegirlsays. I'm not saying that anyone who struggles with weight is lazy or not taking care of themselves- but sometimes it just requires a bit more work. It requires being a bit more cognizant of what's really going on. We all like to play the blame game with our weight, to blame it on other things- and often times, that just isn't the case.
03/02/09
But I'm not anyone special, I'm not anything special. I don't have super powers. I'm not rich. I'm not famous.
What I'm saying is that the media is telling me that by all means, I should be overweight and/or obese. Some of the comments here are telling me that.
But I'm not.
03/03/09
03/01/09
My problem? Shoes. By normal standards, I have big feet (to match my other bigger parts) and it seems like every shoe designer/maker/whatever stops at a size ten. I can't wear a ten, not without chopping off all of my toes. And, on the off chance I do find something in my size, it's usually hideous. I want fashionable, quality shoes in a plus-foot size. Is that too much to ask?
03/02/09
02/28/09
02/28/09
02/28/09
[vivelafemme.com]
maybe for non-chitown jezzies she does shipping?
03/02/09
[leeleesvalise.com]
I think most larger cities (no pun intended) have at least one plus size designer boutique. In houston, we have one called Strut. I'm on the edge of plus size, but I completely appreciate that there are clothes available for my size 16/18 ass. Brands like Gayla Bently, Svoboda, Roni Rabl, etc are really lovely
02/28/09
02/28/09
03/01/09
02/28/09
03/01/09
03/01/09
02/28/09
You rock!
02/28/09
I've never actually gone into one of these stores (despite having passed by one or two) because I'm not plus-sized, so I can't vouch for the quality of the clothes. However, it strikes me as being very similar to stores like Forever 21, Wet Seal, and Charlotte Russe, and I like the idea of such a store, since the aforementioned establishments don't seem to have plus-sized in their vocabulary.
02/28/09
Also, they're way more expensive than Forever 21 or H&M.
02/28/09
What? Since when is this typical? Do I live in some size 6 bubble? Obviously, not everyone around me is some svelte 6 foot size 2 model, but size 14 is not "typical" either.
Can I complain that I cannot find clothes for my frame too? Because I am short but petite sizes fit funny and often cost more.
02/28/09
02/28/09
This is no body snark but a size 14 would be very noticeable in my area of SoCal. Average strikes me as size 6-10 for women here. And I don't just mean the beach-going rich OC types, but the average office worker, student, lady you pass in the grocery store...
Maybe pressure to be fit (not just skinny, but fit) may be way higher here? This isn't just because the beach-going wealthy set the trends, but maybe just because we're, er, unclothed more as the weather is more temperate year-round?
02/28/09
02/28/09
I also still feel like a heifer when I compare myself to these models, who are all over 5'9 and a size 2. I have to keep reminding myself that while some may be naturally slim, most are starving themselves. I also have to remind myself that I am more attractive the way I am, athletic and curvy, rather than looking like a starving refugee, which is not a good look for me (believe me, I've been there). But it's hard sometimes.
02/28/09
02/28/09
At this point, I've discovered Rock & Republic jeans, which, although extremely expensive, have a 36" inseam, which is awesome (I can wear them with heels and they're still plenty long enough). They may be ridiculously pricey, but at least I get bang for my buck out of them, which is the only reason I would shell out that kind of money.
But it's still frustrating as hell to have to resort to such drastic measures sometimes.
03/01/09
The only place that I've found that carries long torso stuff is Eddie Bauer, but surely there are others out there.
02/28/09
02/28/09
02/28/09
I remember Torrid being really cool when they first opened 6 or 7 years ago. They still have some decent stuff, but you have to dig for it. The only things I've bought in the last year or so are a pair of slouchy boots and some jeans.
02/28/09
They can't just sell miniskirts and high-waisted jeans and seethrough tops in bigger sizes.
02/28/09
02/28/09