Yes I'm a shopperholic, you probably know as I've mentioned before. I just love to shop shop shop. But unfortunately I can't do much as my purchasing powers are limited. Ladies, aren't we all? Hahaha...
Anyway, with all the shopping that I've been doing, I feel that shopping for plus sizes can be quite frustrating at times, especially when it comes to clothes. Do you get that at times? Pretty annoying isn't it? Especially if you are looking for something specific. Example, I get very frustrated when I have an evening function coming up and I don't seem to be able to find something that is suitable for me. Thats' why if I know that there is one coming up months ahead, I would start planning for it. That's my personal advice. Always plan ahead!
The other trick is to buy your desired dress whenever you happen to spot it cos you'll never know when you will need it. Don't ponder - Just Do It!
Many times I have learnt my lesson...when you don't need it, you'll see it, but when you do need it, you can't find it.
In this century, plus size women around the world are very clear on what they want or don't want, as compared to 10+ years ago. With so much more exposure nowadays, many of them have gained more knowledge as to what works for them and what doesn't. From my observation, sadly here in Malaysia in particular, despite the buying power of many fuller sized women, there isn't much retail shops that are dedicated to plus size clothing, due to the lack of publicity from the fashion industry, as I mentioned it in my last blog. Local brands such as Ms. Read, Flow and X-Tent are scarce (and from my findings, most of the time not very complimentary to the younger crowd of plus sizes) and we have no choice but to shop at a more expensive foreign brands such as Dorothy Perkins, Marks & Spencer, Miss Selfridge and Debenhams.
So we plus sizes generally don't have much choices as compared to our much thinner counter parts. Why is this so I ask? Well, have done some research and to my findings :-
1. The industry itself have long since is to be blamed for this shortage cos they rather spend more money, time and marketing clothing lines for thin people rather than the curvier plus size community, simply because it makes their lives easier and more profitable.
2. The retailers have a misconception that plus sizes are not trendy shoppers, therefore they automatically assume that it doesn't sell and hence they find that it's not worth to manifacture plus size clothing and keep large amount of stock.
3. Some retailers are very 'brand image' concious. They only want thin people to shop in their stores. Eg. Lululemon has recently been accused of shunning plus size customers by hiding their size 12s off the sales floor. Another example is Abercrombie & Fitch.
4. The more established designers that offers plus sized clothing on a mass-market scale isn't doing much advertising. The general public are not aware of what's available out in the market or what's new in and what's out in the latest trends.
5. The designers themselves dare not make too much or if any at all due to their cost and demand.
6. Publicity - The difficulty for plus size brands to get print media placement is caused by fashion magazines that can't or won't devote editorial space to plus sizes. For years the fashion magazines have been very stereotyped and only featured the thin and anorexic models. So because of this sort of lack of publicity, a lot of companies that carry plus size brands can't catch the attention from their would-be investors, therefore, they loose out a lot on business potential.
But now of late, they are slowly beginning to 'open their doors' to the plus sizes.
7. Fashion schools are also have a part to play... they don't or maybe very little educate the young designers about plus size designs and how to pattern plus sizes. Again this is done so simply because it is much more difficult and harder to master.
Overall I feel that plus size women have long been disliked by the media. They have always been misunderstood and shun away by the fashion industry. The media also pays too much attention on thin people, so much so that it has created a very negative effect on the general public...yes even the not so fashion conscious people. Eg. just look around you...how many girls do you see that are potential anorexic patient? Look how skinny and unhealthy they are? Get my point?
Furthermore, the amount of influence of the Hollywood stars has made on the women is so damaging to their entire well-being. Many young women these days use their favourite Hollywood stars as a 'benchmark' to create their own identity. But if the Hollywood stars are becoming extremes in their physical outlook, don't you think this will affect our young women tremendously? Instead of loving ourselves, we torture ourselves to believe that being thin = beauty. We discared any other factor of what really makes a real woman beautiful. I find that much serious damaged has been done over the past decades, not only to the thinner counter parts but as well as to our plus size sisters - psychological terms I mean. We are led to believe that it is immoral to be a plus size instead of being comfortable in our own skin. With the extreme pressures that we women face, we find ourselves hating our bodies and refuse to accept our bodies the way it is meant to be built. Yes if you feel that you are not happy with your body, you have every right to make the change & do something about it. But to go as far as to abuse and torture yourself just to be accepted into society especially in the fashion world, it is wrong! If you feel that you want to loose some weight, by all means go ahead but just remember -
be healthy always!
But as I believe, times have changed and mankind have evolved tremendously. If you would have noticed that more and more awareness of the existence of fuller figured women are now being made, thanks to the new breed of talented stars such as Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Queen Latifah, Brooke Elliott and Whitney Thompson (America's Next Top Model Winner).
So with the situation that is changing, we still cannot deny the fact that plus size shops are still very limited here in Malaysia. But now thanks to the wonders of technology, online shopping has made miracles for most of us to a certain extend. I just love online shopping cos not only I am able to do a little bit of savings while I shop..eerr..sometimes, but also the best part of online shopping is that I am able to buy whatever I want that I can't get here in my home country...and most of the time cheaper...how about that? Fantastic right?! All it takes is a little smart shopping skills...and a budget of course ;o)
Here are some of the online shopping sites that I would recomend :
ebay.com
amazon.com
dorothyperkins.com
victoriasecret.com
debenhams.com
nordstrom.com
neimanmarcus.com
midwestsport.com (for workout outfits)
forever21.com
1macy's.com
simplybe.com
fashiontofigure.com
next.co.uk
igigi.com
loveculture.com
lanebryant.com
...and many many more!
I can for-see that the industry is slowly moving towards this new era. The industry has to realise and accept the fact that women of the 21st century comes in all types of shapes & sizes. We all also have different taste in fashion. Women in her 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s all are different. I certainly feel that with the help of the media, which I think plays a vital role in creating awareness,will be able to achieve this.
Also, it would be really great to see more of these shops expand their range and have more variety of plus size clothing made available. Now that would be one of my dreams come true...
