Sequin And Applique Envy
I was rooting for the girl in this article, who learned that she didn't have to dress down just because she is overweight. Good for her. In case you don't want to enter your ZIP code or whatever to read it, it's an article about the increasing versatility of plus-size styles, and how stores are trying to cater to plus-sized people who have different approaches to fashion. Although I had to laugh at this quote:
"'We have girls come in with their skinny friends all the time,' said Lane Bryant Assistant Store Manager Kelly Martino. 'And the skinny ones are always saying "Oh, I wish I could fit into that."''
Somehow I doubt that skinny chicks are clamoring to fit into the cutting-edge styles at Lane Bryant when they have pretty much the rest of the fashion world to choose from. I could be wrong, but... naah. I'm totally not wrong. Heh.
"'We have girls come in with their skinny friends all the time,' said Lane Bryant Assistant Store Manager Kelly Martino. 'And the skinny ones are always saying "Oh, I wish I could fit into that."''
Somehow I doubt that skinny chicks are clamoring to fit into the cutting-edge styles at Lane Bryant when they have pretty much the rest of the fashion world to choose from. I could be wrong, but... naah. I'm totally not wrong. Heh.
12 Comments:
Yeah, right! Those skinny friends are just being nice!
I'm actually kind of fuming about how the sized 14/16 girl was told she had great legs "for a larger woman" by her coworker! Puh-lease! Gr!
Could have also been ...
"it's an article about the increasing versatility of styles for older women, and how stores are trying to cater to mature women who have different approaches to fashion."
(shrug) I so long for approval. NOT.
Some seasons, I have looked at Lane Bryant clothes and gone, "it's not fa-a-air." I wear a size 2 or 4, but there have been years when the entire rest of the fashion world was giving me billious horrible colors to choose from, and my bigger friends kept getting pretty, pretty colors at Lane Bryant and ?Torrid?. Also, Lane Bryant at least claims to be structured for women with curves, whereas the rest of the fashion world is structured to make linear women look curvy, which makes curvy women look ridiculous.
So while I think women should have good fashion choices no matter how big they are, some seasons nobody gets good fashion choices. And in at least one of those seasons, Lane Bryant came through.
--Mris (not anonymous, just don't have an account!)
www.marissalingen.com
I love the comments that pop up here, just so you guys all know. Always refreshing perspectives.
I'm puzzled by the comment about clothes for the older woman, though. What exactly would that entail? How would clothes for older women be different from clothes in general? Are you talking about marketing clothes to older women? Like having older women in ads? Because it seems the clothes would be the same, no?
This isn't completely related to today's post, but, I had an experience yesterday that pissed me off and I read this blog and mopie.com quite a bit, and I knew this would be the perfect place to share.
After work yesterday, a small clothing store that boasted cute ponchos in their display window distracted me from my regular errands. I browsed through a few racks of ponchos, not really finding what I wanted. The sales clerk, finally noticing me, asked if she could help me find something. I asked quite simply if ponchos were all in one area or if they were spread throughout the store. She replied, “oh, well, these are the plus sizes” and quickly pointed me over to the misses. My first thought was how rude. There were several other ladies browsing in that section and her response and the tone she used made me feel as though I should feel embarrassed that I wondered into the “plus sized” clothing. Why can’t I browse for ponchos in the “plus sizes”? Maybe I don’t like the goddamn junior section! Aren’t ponchos “one size” anyway? My second thought was, WHY is the clothing industry so geared at keeping “thin” and “fat” women separated? Why must “small” and “large” sizes be quarantined to their own part of the store? It makes sense to me that stores set up this way—that deliberately separate small from large—only justify how women are viewed and treated by society. I say, nix the terminology (“plus sized” has got to go. Either that or start using “minus sized” to refer to the misses section).
http://misswheezie.diaryland.com
I cannot imagine buying anything in Lane Bryant because it was attractive. I will respect that there are people who like their clothes, but I walk through that store and am grossed out by the cheap, tacky, baggish clothing. Colors that make me look bilious and shapes that make me look like a whale. It's not at all what I want.
I generally end up haunting Ross and the Bloomingdale's sale racks for "nice," tailored clothes, and getting jeans and casual clothes at W@lm@rt, or ordering them from justmysize.com, which is the best place I've found for bras.
Ah, Mo?
I am 47 now and, no, I surely do not want to wear the same kinds of clothes 17 or even 27 year-olds wear. Well, not the stuff I see them wearing around where I live. Not this summer. Uh-Uh. No way.
See, I'm not playing the same game as the young women. Clothes now need to be the right colors for my skin (i.e. not black) and must hold up in the wash (preferably several washes) and must not demand my attention as I move through the day.
How do I look in them? Pretty damn good. Are they fashionable? I doubt it and I just do not care.
See, after a certain point in one's life "cute" or "trendy" just doesn't cut it. Clothing that makes one look like someone to take seriously start to take over one's closet.
And they're d*mn*d hard to find in certain sizes.
The older woman thing was me - it just seemed to ring similar bells. Wear what you want to wear cos it pleases you - if you take note of the media you'll never be thin enough or young enough. I don't want to shop in the section that has stuff that *they* think will look good on my bigger bod any more than I want to head off to beige world for the stuff *appropriate* to the elder matron lol
I used to work for Lane Bryant and it is true, a lot of thin women would come in the store asking for belts in size 2. And I was always happy to tell them that the smallest size we carried was a 14. It was great to see their faces drop and then they would scan the store and notice that everyone was big working in there. Then I would tell them to check out Express, because I am sure they have it in their size there. It is true though, happened at least a couple times a week. As far as stores like JC Penny jumping on the bandwagon, well the last time I checked, the plus size section was in the basement, next to the home/carpet section. Nice. I walked around that store for almost 20 minutes looking for the plus size section. It used to be upstairs next to the others, but now we are pushed into the basement in the furthest corner of the store. Let's just say that I do not shop there anymore!
Lane Bryant makes me shudder with their "hello it's made of PLASTIC" cheapo materials. Even if I find something vaguely cute, I know it'll feel like wearing cellophane. Plus, even though they're going for (mall) trendy, I still feel like most things in there are too tent-ish for me.
I don't mind a bit going to plus sized stores, but I DO mind the shunted-off-in-the-basement plus size departments in big department stores. I always feel like I transform into some small rodent, scurrying from rack to rack hoping no one notices the (gasp!) fat girl.
Lane Bryant doesn't believe it's possible to be fat and have a waist. Period. If you can accept that, you can embrace their product.
I feel so very dirty saying this, but I am absolutely in love with [shudder] Tommy Hilfiger's fat lady line. Cute colors, flattering cuts, decent quality. I frickin' hate the idea that I'm wearing Tommy, but if I make sure to buy the ones with the tiniest logos [there aren't any with -no- logos], I can make myself overlook it in the interest of looking good.
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