Overheard at a Plus-Sized Woman's Store

[rdp78]

I think rdp meant "real woman" in the sense of the newer Dove ads (women with curves instead of the stereotypical Hollywood skin-and-bones look).

I wasn't thinking about those Dove ads when I wrote it but that its a good example of "real" woman and I shouldn't have used the word real but instead "woman of all shapes & sizes" that's what I really meant, duh. Anyway I'm sorry BlaqueKatt and others that I might haved offended. Not to mention it doesn't make sense either so I'm editing it.

Oh, the Gap owning Hot Topic oh, that makes me go .

[Retail Associate]

I have no comment about Hot Topic or Gap but more along the lines of Plus Size clothing vs clothing for small women.

Here in Michigan, 'they' (whoever 'they' are) have decided that people in our state are grossly overweight. The stores in my area, my store included, have a small selection of clothes for the average woman. A large selection for the overweight woman and a huge selection for the obese. But try to find something for a smaller woman and you're SOL.

I'm not a large woman. I'm not even an average woman. I'm 5'6", weigh just over 100 lbs. and it's nearly impossible to find anything to fit. I've had to resort to buying girls' jeans and underwear because everything else is too big. I've had lots of complaints from female customers who are in the same boat.

[Dreamstalker]

RA, it's the same thing in NM, at least where I was living (although there is some truth to that...I saw more overweight/obese residents than not, especially in certain regions). I pretty much had to order all my jeans online...I swear, finding a size 6 was impossible (unless you had a few hours to look at all the tags in the thrift store which I generally didn't have the free time to do). I'm tall and generally thin (5' 10"), but do have a few curves. Stuff is either cut for stick figures or people carrying much more weight than I am.

idrinkarum, you should definitely write a letter. Employees who protect customers from CC fraud should be recognized.

[NightAngel]

Yes, a letter is definately in order. It's always good for the honest people to be recognized!
Send it both to corporate AND to PFB. Make sure they hear you!

RA and DS:
Same thing here. I'm 5'6" and I wear a size 4 pants. I can't hardly find anything that fits anymore. When I do find my size inevitably they were cut for someone who is 4' tall. I've been reduced to the 3-4 dinky racks at the Family Dollar store because the brand of clothes they carry (Zoey Beth) still means small when it says small. And they have my size pants (usually) in the not- so- short version.
The last Polo cut shirt I bought says small but it hangs to my knees and I could invite a whole other person to wear it at the same time I am! How is that a small?
Oh, and this last underware I bought? Same size and cut I always buy but when I put them on the pulled up over my belly button- they're huge on me.

I hate clothes shopping to start with and now it's even worse. *headdesk*

[Dreamstalker]

And my mom wonders why I buy most of my pants at the army surplus store...because I know that a pair of BDU cargo pants that say Small will fit me with minimal fiddling required (also, they last damn near forever--I've had 2 pairs for about 7 years now and only had to replace a few buttons).

I also hate clothes shopping in general...why can't clothing brand sizes match (ie a size 6 in one brand fits the same as a size 6 in another)? I also hate capri pants, yet some stores that's all I can find (my mom and I joke that some regular-length pants are capris on me and capris are horridly-styled shorts ).

[Becks]

Yes Becky, I will write that letter! (I found my receipt with the employee's name on it). However, should I send it via snail mail to the corporate headquarters or via PFB? My enquiring mind wants to know!

Both. HQ should be interested in hearing something good. And, in my opinion, PFB could stand to have a few more POSTIVE letters.

[Retail Associate]

I hate clothes shopping to start with and now it's even worse. *headdesk*

I hate shopping for clothes, too. I have rather short legs so if I do find a pair of jeans that fit they're ususally several inches too long.

Speaking of polos to your knees...the polos we have to wear for work are so long that I can pull them down far enough so that they hang below my shorts.

Another thing about those hideous polos, they're men's sizes. Why, when 90% of the employees at a store are women, do they not offer women's polos?

[HYHYBT]

Men's pants are measured by how many inches around the waist is by how long the legs are. Simple. Why don't they do similar for all clothing?

I've heard it's because women (theoretical women, not necessarily actual human females) like to think "I'm still a size x" even when their actual physical dimensions have changed quite a bit. By having the sizes inconsistent, those theoretical women can always find something "their size" that fits.

[symposes]

Ive had different brands of pants, with the same measurements, not fit very well, even when they were a little bigger then pants ive had for awhile.
And im talking men's clothing.
I buy my pants at 1 place, get the right size, and i can go somewhere else, and buy the same pair, and they will both fit differently.

[NightAngel]

Men's pants are measured by how many inches around the waist is by how long the legs are....

I've heard it's because women (theoretical women, not necessarily actual human females) like to think "I'm still a size x"...

It's not just those theoretical women. Back when my hubby's Thyroid gland decided to stop working he gained a whole lot of weight. We'd stand at the pants rack with him sighing, "I used to be a 32x36..." (maybe 38? I really can't remember...)

Now he bicycles and has that bicyclist's body- like the guys in the Tour De France- and now he complains, "I can't find pants that fit both around my middle and all the way down to my shoes!" It's like he's too skinny for how long he is.

I guess no one can win really...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

My husband is tall and slim and he has trouble finding stuff that fits, too. It got so bad at one point if we saw a tall, thin guy in well-fitting pants, we'd stop him to ask where he got them.

I hate that "Oh, women like to think they are smaller than they are." thing That drives me nuts. I know how big my ass is. Just standardize women's clothes so I can find my size! Women's clothing sizes mean absolutely nothing. It's next to impossible to order clothing out of catalogs for this reason.

Take NY Company, for instance. Their pants are deliberatly sized down ONE WHOLE SIZE. If you wear a size 6, you will be buying a size 4. Nobody is stupid enough to think they wear a size 4 when they KNOW they wear a size 6. It's really insulting, in my opinion. We KNOW how big we are!

I would LOVE it if they sized women's clothing the way they do men's.

[Kelly Lynne]

I hate that "Oh, women like to think they are smaller than they are." thing That drives me nuts. I know how big my ass is. Just standardize women's clothes so I can find my size! Women's clothing sizes mean absolutely nothing. It's next to impossible to order clothing out of catalogs for this reason.

I would LOVE it if they sized women's clothing the way they do men's.

I agree with you. Even I'm not so insecure that I need my pants to lie to me to make me feel better about my weight. I'd be much happier if sizes made some amount of rational sense and I could find clothes that fit.

It also makes it difficult to measure progress when you *are* trying to lose weight. You know, you get all happy about being "down to" a certain size, and it's spoiled because that particular brand might just run large.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I know. I have size 4 pants in my closet. I am wearing size 10's right now. All fit. How screwed up is that?

More or less, and on the average, I wear right between a 6 (my pre-pregnancy size) and an 8. I can wear juniors, and often have better luck with junior sizes. I haven't really gained much weight...in all honesty, I think my hipbones are now a little wider than they were, just judging from how clothes fit me now.

Best way to tell how much progress you have made losing (or gaining) is to stand naked before a mirror and give yourself an honest appraisal. Toss your scale, and don't go by clothing sizes.

I dropped over a pants size when I started the low carb thing and the needle on the scale never moved. This is why Atkins people tell you to measure yourself with a tape measure to tell how much fat you've lost instead of standing on a scale. You will build muscle pretty well, so you won't really lose "weight" unless you have quite a bit to lose. Your body will simply change shape.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I hate it when I try on a 16 and it doesn't fit; I am a 16, apart from during that time of the month when bloating makes my stomach swell. *sigh* I never buy clothes then, for that very reason. And I always try on clothes before buying them; there's a great stall in Camdem Market that sells gothic clothing to fit curvy women which I always go to when I'm round that way. I have large hips and bust, so I really hate it when clothes shops assume that all women are small and skinny with no bust and hips. I'm sure there are women like that, but not all women are and clothes shops should recognise this fact. At least some shops have started doing tall and small trousers now.

[stormtreader]

I really hate it when clothes shops assume that all women are small and skinny with no bust and hips.

Or when the larger size is only larger in the bust. They dont seem to realise that your arms and stomach also increase when youre a larger size. (obviously this isnt true for everyone, but its true for me)
I never understood how all the cheap clohes shops stay in business, surely there just arent that many women/girls around that are a size 0.

BTW, Next also size their clothes down - if you take a uk size 18, youll be a 16 in Next. Ive heard that its because you associate them mentally with the pleasure sensation of being able to wear a smaller size, and are therefore more likely to shop there.