Women of all sizes deserve fabulous clothing. They also deserve the truth. Do you think it’s fair to dress models, sizes 0-8, in plus size clothing and try to sell to women who wear sizes 12+? I don’t. I think it gives an unrealistic expectation of what the clothes may look like on a larger body shape.
According to recent statistics:
* 67% of all Americans are overweight
* 31% of all Americans are clinically obese
* 62% of all American women (18 or older) wear size 12 or higher
A lot of women need plus sized clothing. They crave dressing fashionably and even sexy! In recent years, plus size models, fashion shows, and catalogs have begun to appear, and each time, the fashion media makes a fuss. This kind of attention is wonderful for the real women of the world because it means that designers are listening to their cries for fashion savvy styles.
OneStopPlus.com claims they have long recognized the plus-sized women’s desire for fashionable clothes. Now, other well-known retailers like Forever 21 are starting to identify and cater to this rising market.
With over 20+ years of experience in the fashion and publishing industries, Nancy Nadler LeWinter, a plus-size fashion expert from OneStopPlus.com, can offer insight on how the expansion of the plus-size retailers affect the overall industry and women’s perspectives on size.
“Fashion is fashion no matter what your size. The secret to looking great at any size is to play up what you like about your body and to balance your clothing. The plus size market is finally receiving the recognition it deserves.”
While I agree with Nancy’s sentiment, I wonder if she truly believes in what OneStopPlus is doing? Take a look at the models they use:
Plus size? Really?? It looks like they are dressing small frames in too-large clothing. Honestly, I’m not impressed. I think to give plus-sized women a true picture of what the fashions will look like on them, the brand needs to be responsible and use true plus-sized models. What do you think?
Compare to the models Forever 21 is using in their Faith21 line:
Stylish, adorable and plus-sized for real.
And these from Swak Designs:
Beautiful, classy and a great representation of what clothing may really look like on a plus size body! Fabulous!
Who would you rather purchase your plus-size clothing from? A brand that sells the sizes but doesn’t embrace the true “plus” size factor by using smaller models to sell their clothing or a brand that embraces the plus size women for who she is? I say, support companies who truly embrace the fabulous-ness of plus size women in our lives. After all, fashion is fashion no matter what your size but unrealistic representations don’t have to be a part of the deal. There is no shame in being a plus size, only in wearing bad fashion.
Where do you shop for plus size clothing?
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That those OneStopPlus models were supposed to be plus sized is just beyond ridiculous. What gets me is that the same fashion mavens are the first to ruthlessly slam plus sized women who are dressed badly. Well, duh, where else are they supposed to find stylish clothing if everything fashion forward on the rack is size 8 or smaller? Or worse, styles available in size 18 make a body look worse.
Thanks for the great post!
And I think both the brands (above) that used plus size models actually had far more flattering styles! At least the styles belong in this century!
Thank you, thank you, THANK you for writing this! I have a website for plus size fashion and I use some of the pictures from those sites, too. And I ALWAYS get angry at those stores using straight size models to model plus size clothing! And a lot of stores do this, roamans, onestopplus, chadwicks, etc etc. The clothes first of all look AWFUL because they don’t fit and secondly it makes you feel like they don’t understand that you actually want PLUS SIZE fashion and not straight sized.
You really hit a huge landmine here, I find this is a really big issue and it deep set in what the fashion industry wants us to believe, or believes what we want, whichever way round suits you.
AlwaysForMe.com is another plus size etailer that embraces full figured fashion with plus size models. Their collections of plus size swimwear, cover ups, activewear are trendy and stylish. They make a huge effort and investment in photography that displays the products in real sizes but on occassion they will display a style on a smaller model due to the fact that designer samples are often not available in the larger sizes.http://www.alwaysforme.com/
Thank you for this, someONE needed to say it!
I’m on the fence with this one. On the one hand I completely understand because the clothes do look too big on the smaller models. I think the models you have pictured above look great. But I’ve seen photos where the model was putting a little too much shape into the clothes for my taste. If the model is not “rolling” in the same places I am, I may still end up with an inaccurate idea of how the clothes will fit me.
You are right that the clothes look fairly fitted on these models. The problem is on the site, these items are available in size 1XL and @XL. These models are not that size, for sure.
Another example, and perhaps a better one is this:
http://tinyurl.com/yj362m9
The site if full of product shots like this.
As suggested by you, clothes will always look different on you than the clothes model. Clothes need to be tried on. I just think that if a company is going to “specialize” and sell to plus sized women, they should at least use a plus sized model…there are plenty of beautiful ones to choose from
She looks like she is swimming in the shirt!
Thanks for your comments, I appreciate your input!
Hi Tammy,
It’s CRAZY how the modeling world views weight! The only SIZE 2 I’ve ever put on my hips came out of a drive-thru window! Personally, I know a lot of women who wear a size 12-20 who look fabulous! Obviously, excess weight is a health matter that needs attention, but putting stick-thin models in plus sized clothing is absurd! Thanks for posting this! ;0)
Tracy
While every woman should feel her beautiful best regardless of what society sells us, it doesn’t help to have inappropriate sized women modeling plus-sized clothing. How frustrating it must be as a plus size woman when even the plus-size brands don’t embrace the beauty of “plus”!
I’m not plus-size, but I have to say that I’ve had this same thought so many times when I have flipped through plus-size clothing catalogs in the past. More often than not, the models appear to be about a size 6!!! That is so misleading and not at all helpful for the consumer…
It doesn’t bother me that they use “regular” models for the photo shoot since generally it comes in many sizes. However, I think the company is losing sales because less women will buy the item. It’s just easier to picture yourself in that clothing if the model happens to be shaped like you. I know it’s true for me. One of my favorite swimsuit companies started their plus size line recently and I was happy to see that they started to use real plus size models after first using the regular models. I ended up buying this fitness top from them because of it
http://www.hydrochic.com/woaeinshslra1.html It also happened to come with a sports bra which was a nice bonus (I love free stuff).
Thank you for posting this! I had an argument with my boyfriend over this one. He claims Whitney Thompson from America’s Next Top Model is plus size, when in reality, she’s only a size ten :/ he says she looks plus, and dear god, that made me think “well if media has led him to believe THAT is plus, then I must look like a friggin whale!”
The fashion media is very rediculous in the way that they portray the larger women of America. They make us out to be slobs, when sometimes we either don’t have the money to afford the clothes that we actually WANT to wear, but also they dissaprove if we wear them XD
It’s confusing. I’ve looked very nice, going to a school dance when I was younger (back when I was actually a size 12) and then these “average” sized girls walked up wearing these slinky sexy beautiful dresses, and I couldn’t find one for my size anywhere. Imagine that happening to you in middle school, last dance of the year, every girl you were standing next to snickering and not hiding it.
SCREW YOU, FASHION EDITORS AND MEDIA lol
Get realistic, why don’t they.
Also, a good store to shop at for really nice plus clothing (I get nearly ALL my clothes from there) is Torrid stores or Torrid.com.
Amazing place truly. They know me by name now, and they’re very nice and actually care about you there
They are actually PLUS SIZED WOMEN themselves working the shops 
they make you feel incredibly comfortable, and dare I say it, HAPPY.
@ZellyRawr: Thanks for chiming in! Yes, it is frustrating and I’m happy to see more companies are coming out with a better selection of clothing for Plus Size. Torrid definitely has set a great example for other companies by using actual plus-sized women to model their great styles! Three cheers for Torrid!