Some may say that this belongs under the the fashion thread, but I feel this is more about size acceptance by the fashion industry. Now it seems to be at risk!
I got this today, and wanted to share it with you all and get your
feedback. As a new business owner who wants to include more than just
the 1X -3X, I'm concerned as well. I see a trend of junior plus
sizes, in which the 3X is smaller than a 1X regular selling like hot
cakes on the market. I want to be able to include the 4X-6X and to
expand to 10X. But if data is showing that the sizes above a 3X aren't
selling...I have my own take on why the larger sizes don't sell. I
suspect the store in question is Torrid, and I've found that their 4
and 5X are not true to size anyway. A 3X person is most of the times a
4 or 5X at Torrid. OK. So here is the post. Thanks for your input!
Start Post****** Today we got word of a company, who does trendy plus size
clothing, is eliminating their 4x & 5x lines due to supply and demand.
We don't want this company to think wrongly of us (or that we are
gossipy) so we won't say who (but you can all speculate) - but we
think highly of this company and their fashion forward styles. We were
a bit suprised at the announcement and are sure it was a difficult
decision.
That being said, like this company, we have heard of a premium denim
company who will be excluding all size 26+ from their collection in
the near future.
Other companies are teetering back and forth with the idea of
eliminating the desire to have anything made past a size 3x (22/24).
There are many reasons for this, a big one being that it is a lot of
red tape to get through to get manufacturers to make larger than a 3x
(costs skyrocket with the addition of 4x and 5x sizes - no, the cost
is not just a simple few inches of fabric, it is much bigger than
that, if you'll excuse my pun). But, putting manufacturing process
aside, it comes down to supply and demand, the reason our competitor
listed. And, plain and simple, bigger sizes aren't selling.
In our personal experience, when we started this venture, we wanted to
have fashionable sizes 14-36. What we realized, pretty quickly, was
that sizes 26-36 were going to be difficult sizes to create
(manufacturers flat out refuse to do anything above a 3x without
adding a huge cost per garment). Part of the dilemma was convincing
the designers and manufacturers that plus size women would actually
want to wear such trendy styles, even in 3x, 4x & 5x! Sometimes, we'd
even put the item on to show how good it looked on a curvy body. When
we couldn't make an item, we would find larger sizes at specialty
manufacturers but the prints were horrible (think the worst painting
(as a print) you have ever seen, in acetate (or other horrible
fabrics), on a shapeless garment). And they cost a FORTUNE. I didn't
realize women in this size range made so much money because garments
cut in larger sizes cost considerably more (at the wholesale level).
This is, if they exist at all.
We then decided we would try and at least get 4x & 5x cut from the
manufacturers we do the most business with. At first, it was like
pulling teeth. We paid the premium to get 4x & 5x, but the sizes 1x 2x
3x suffered as their costs went up as well (like a package deal). We
are doing a TV segment on the manufacturing process of clothes, and
you will all see what costs come into play when dealing with plus
sizes. After all the work, and begging, and pleading, and paying
premium prices for specialty sizing, what we found, however, was
disappointing. While we had many requests for 4x & 5x sizes, when push
came to shove (and the items were made in those sizes), the customers
were not there. Typically, we are stuck with a lot of size 1x as an
item goes through the sales process. 2x and 3x sizes sell the fastest.
Many plus manufacturers will agree with this statistic. When we cut 4x
& 5x, we realized we were left with a lot of 4x and 5x sizes as well.
Unsold. The styles we started with in 4x and 5x were our best sellers.
Items in which we had many requests from women stating - if you had it
in my size, I'd buy it in a second. Liars.
I read blogs all the time from women who are size 26+ (a basically
forgotten size in fashion). Many of these women are angry at the
fashion world. Upset that no one wants to cater to them. Upset that
they want to look stylish and fashionable and trendy. Upset because
they are sick of being ignored. Upset because plus models are size
8-14. Listen up ladies. You are not being ignored. You are being heard
LOUD AND CLEAR. Clothes have been made in your size. Fashionable
clothes. Trendy clothes. Affordable clothes. And you aren't buying.
That is plenty loud and clear enough for us to hear - and we say back
to you --- NO MORE (with all due respect, of course).
I remember the revolt that came when Old Navy stopped stocking plus
(well, they still have up to size 20) in their stores. And I took side
with Old Navy (and still do). This is why. The first time I heard of
this - my first thought was - "Old Navy sells plus size clothes in
their stores?". I had no idea. Meaning, I was never in there buying
anything - well, flip flops (they're $1.50). Meaning, clothes were
sitting on the shelves before they were sent to clearance (and perhaps
purchased at a loss, which is what happens when items have to go to
clearance). Why would Old Navy continue to waste valuable store space
for sizes that were not selling? If they were selling, and they were
so important to us, we should have been in there BUYING. Instead, we
b*tch and complain now. A lot of good it does us today.
Just like Old Navy, companies are eliminating or down sizing their
plus size lines, starting with the bigger sizes first. Many celebrity
lines have elminated plus altogether. You ask them why - and they have
a simple response, "It's not selling. We want to focus our business on
items that sell." Some people say - designers don't want to have their
clothes associated with fat people. Trust me, ladies and gentlemen,
designers have one thing on their mind when they design clothes, and
it is M-O-N-E-Y. If they make money on it, they want you wearing it.
Plain and simple. If there were a buzz around the fashion world that
plus women were dropping money like crazy, everyone and their brother
would be launching a plus size division.
Being a size 22 myself (and pregnant), I know I am pretty close to
falling over that line into a size that becomes very hard to shop for.
It scares me to death to think I may become a size 24 or 26 post
pregnancy (even if it is temporary) and I will have no place to shop
for clothes because, as a collective group, those sizes are
essentially removing themselves from being anyone's target
demographic, and no one wants to make affordable clothes in those sizes.
While the plus size industry continues to grow, the only plus related
industry that is growing is the diet industry. I personally feel there
is a relation between the diet industry and plus size fashion
industry, because, whether we like to admit it or not, the plus size
woman, by and large, is on the perpetual diet. This makes us great
diet product consumers and horrible fashion consumers. When I am
visiting our boutique, I see gorgeous curvy women walk out of the
dressing room, in an item that looks great on them, and say - I don't
want to buy it at this size. I am losing weight and I will be a size
18 in a month, I will come back in a month and buy it then. Needless
to say, we have yet to see someone come back a month later, the size
they said they would be, to buy the item in a smaller size. Some come
back to buy the size they initially tried on because their event is
coming up and they need something for the size they are now.
Current economic conditions aside, this is a huge problem for the
entire demographic.
Is this a gripe on women size 26+? Absolutely not. But, I want to know
- why is this demographic not in a desired demographic category? There
are certainly many women in this category. I have heard from many of
these women personally - saying they want more affordable and trendy
clothes.
What makes women in this size demographic actually commit to a purchase?
Ladies, speak up - are you down with companies removing their 4x & 5x
sizes? What should these women do? Do they even care? Are we clothing
companies who assumed we had to make everything up to 5x - well, were
we wrong? Is up to 3x enough?
Finally - are plus size women FASHION CONSUMERS? Do you have a closet
full of items that are in style (and in magazines) today?
Again, I know that this is a horrible economic climate and I don't
necessarily recommend going out and stocking your closet with clothes
when it is hard to figure out how to pay your rent/mortgage. But,
something has to be said - and I'm going to be bold enough to start
the conversation.
If we don't think about it now, pretty soon, sizes will continue to
be shaven off the top, and pretty soon, everyone is just carrying up
to size 18 or 20, which leaves a lot of us naked!*******End Post
I got this today, and wanted to share it with you all and get your
feedback. As a new business owner who wants to include more than just
the 1X -3X, I'm concerned as well. I see a trend of junior plus
sizes, in which the 3X is smaller than a 1X regular selling like hot
cakes on the market. I want to be able to include the 4X-6X and to
expand to 10X. But if data is showing that the sizes above a 3X aren't
selling...I have my own take on why the larger sizes don't sell. I
suspect the store in question is Torrid, and I've found that their 4
and 5X are not true to size anyway. A 3X person is most of the times a
4 or 5X at Torrid. OK. So here is the post. Thanks for your input!
Start Post****** Today we got word of a company, who does trendy plus size
clothing, is eliminating their 4x & 5x lines due to supply and demand.
We don't want this company to think wrongly of us (or that we are
gossipy) so we won't say who (but you can all speculate) - but we
think highly of this company and their fashion forward styles. We were
a bit suprised at the announcement and are sure it was a difficult
decision.
That being said, like this company, we have heard of a premium denim
company who will be excluding all size 26+ from their collection in
the near future.
Other companies are teetering back and forth with the idea of
eliminating the desire to have anything made past a size 3x (22/24).
There are many reasons for this, a big one being that it is a lot of
red tape to get through to get manufacturers to make larger than a 3x
(costs skyrocket with the addition of 4x and 5x sizes - no, the cost
is not just a simple few inches of fabric, it is much bigger than
that, if you'll excuse my pun). But, putting manufacturing process
aside, it comes down to supply and demand, the reason our competitor
listed. And, plain and simple, bigger sizes aren't selling.
In our personal experience, when we started this venture, we wanted to
have fashionable sizes 14-36. What we realized, pretty quickly, was
that sizes 26-36 were going to be difficult sizes to create
(manufacturers flat out refuse to do anything above a 3x without
adding a huge cost per garment). Part of the dilemma was convincing
the designers and manufacturers that plus size women would actually
want to wear such trendy styles, even in 3x, 4x & 5x! Sometimes, we'd
even put the item on to show how good it looked on a curvy body. When
we couldn't make an item, we would find larger sizes at specialty
manufacturers but the prints were horrible (think the worst painting
(as a print) you have ever seen, in acetate (or other horrible
fabrics), on a shapeless garment). And they cost a FORTUNE. I didn't
realize women in this size range made so much money because garments
cut in larger sizes cost considerably more (at the wholesale level).
This is, if they exist at all.
We then decided we would try and at least get 4x & 5x cut from the
manufacturers we do the most business with. At first, it was like
pulling teeth. We paid the premium to get 4x & 5x, but the sizes 1x 2x
3x suffered as their costs went up as well (like a package deal). We
are doing a TV segment on the manufacturing process of clothes, and
you will all see what costs come into play when dealing with plus
sizes. After all the work, and begging, and pleading, and paying
premium prices for specialty sizing, what we found, however, was
disappointing. While we had many requests for 4x & 5x sizes, when push
came to shove (and the items were made in those sizes), the customers
were not there. Typically, we are stuck with a lot of size 1x as an
item goes through the sales process. 2x and 3x sizes sell the fastest.
Many plus manufacturers will agree with this statistic. When we cut 4x
& 5x, we realized we were left with a lot of 4x and 5x sizes as well.
Unsold. The styles we started with in 4x and 5x were our best sellers.
Items in which we had many requests from women stating - if you had it
in my size, I'd buy it in a second. Liars.
I read blogs all the time from women who are size 26+ (a basically
forgotten size in fashion). Many of these women are angry at the
fashion world. Upset that no one wants to cater to them. Upset that
they want to look stylish and fashionable and trendy. Upset because
they are sick of being ignored. Upset because plus models are size
8-14. Listen up ladies. You are not being ignored. You are being heard
LOUD AND CLEAR. Clothes have been made in your size. Fashionable
clothes. Trendy clothes. Affordable clothes. And you aren't buying.
That is plenty loud and clear enough for us to hear - and we say back
to you --- NO MORE (with all due respect, of course).
I remember the revolt that came when Old Navy stopped stocking plus
(well, they still have up to size 20) in their stores. And I took side
with Old Navy (and still do). This is why. The first time I heard of
this - my first thought was - "Old Navy sells plus size clothes in
their stores?". I had no idea. Meaning, I was never in there buying
anything - well, flip flops (they're $1.50). Meaning, clothes were
sitting on the shelves before they were sent to clearance (and perhaps
purchased at a loss, which is what happens when items have to go to
clearance). Why would Old Navy continue to waste valuable store space
for sizes that were not selling? If they were selling, and they were
so important to us, we should have been in there BUYING. Instead, we
b*tch and complain now. A lot of good it does us today.
Just like Old Navy, companies are eliminating or down sizing their
plus size lines, starting with the bigger sizes first. Many celebrity
lines have elminated plus altogether. You ask them why - and they have
a simple response, "It's not selling. We want to focus our business on
items that sell." Some people say - designers don't want to have their
clothes associated with fat people. Trust me, ladies and gentlemen,
designers have one thing on their mind when they design clothes, and
it is M-O-N-E-Y. If they make money on it, they want you wearing it.
Plain and simple. If there were a buzz around the fashion world that
plus women were dropping money like crazy, everyone and their brother
would be launching a plus size division.
Being a size 22 myself (and pregnant), I know I am pretty close to
falling over that line into a size that becomes very hard to shop for.
It scares me to death to think I may become a size 24 or 26 post
pregnancy (even if it is temporary) and I will have no place to shop
for clothes because, as a collective group, those sizes are
essentially removing themselves from being anyone's target
demographic, and no one wants to make affordable clothes in those sizes.
While the plus size industry continues to grow, the only plus related
industry that is growing is the diet industry. I personally feel there
is a relation between the diet industry and plus size fashion
industry, because, whether we like to admit it or not, the plus size
woman, by and large, is on the perpetual diet. This makes us great
diet product consumers and horrible fashion consumers. When I am
visiting our boutique, I see gorgeous curvy women walk out of the
dressing room, in an item that looks great on them, and say - I don't
want to buy it at this size. I am losing weight and I will be a size
18 in a month, I will come back in a month and buy it then. Needless
to say, we have yet to see someone come back a month later, the size
they said they would be, to buy the item in a smaller size. Some come
back to buy the size they initially tried on because their event is
coming up and they need something for the size they are now.
Current economic conditions aside, this is a huge problem for the
entire demographic.
Is this a gripe on women size 26+? Absolutely not. But, I want to know
- why is this demographic not in a desired demographic category? There
are certainly many women in this category. I have heard from many of
these women personally - saying they want more affordable and trendy
clothes.
What makes women in this size demographic actually commit to a purchase?
Ladies, speak up - are you down with companies removing their 4x & 5x
sizes? What should these women do? Do they even care? Are we clothing
companies who assumed we had to make everything up to 5x - well, were
we wrong? Is up to 3x enough?
Finally - are plus size women FASHION CONSUMERS? Do you have a closet
full of items that are in style (and in magazines) today?
Again, I know that this is a horrible economic climate and I don't
necessarily recommend going out and stocking your closet with clothes
when it is hard to figure out how to pay your rent/mortgage. But,
something has to be said - and I'm going to be bold enough to start
the conversation.
If we don't think about it now, pretty soon, sizes will continue tobe shaven off the top, and pretty soon, everyone is just carrying up
to size 18 or 20, which leaves a lot of us naked!*******End Post
